14 THE NAFCU JOURNAL March–April 2023 Grassroots Efforts Strengthen Overall Advocacy “I think the most important component of legislative advocacy is connecting lawmakers to their constituencies and communities,” said Allyson Gale, director of political affairs at NAFCU. “Legislators and their staff receive hundreds of letters on different issues and policies, but the most effective communications—written or in-person—are the messages that let them know what is going on two blocks from their district office.” Explaining how proposed laws will affect the constituents who elected them resonates in a stronger way, said Gale. “The message is more impactful.” Getting involved in grassroots advocacy—communicating directly with lawmakers—is not an easy task, admitted Gale. “We understand that members are taking personal time away from their businesses and families to get involved, so we support them with talking points, formatted emails, contact information for their legislators and advice.” The Grassroots Action Center on the NAFCU website includes alerts requesting members to contact their legislators about specific issues, a bill tracker and information about candidates and elected representatives. In recent years, members were very involved because there were so many issues surrounding COVID-era programs, such as the Small Business Administration’s paycheck protection program among others. These programs were implemented so quickly that issues arose just before or as the programs were implemented, said Gale. “Members are still involved, but we’d like to see even more involvement in 2023 so we can provide better information early in the process.” Face-to-face meetings in person or via Zoom are scheduled by NAFCU staff to give legislators or their staffs a chance to hear directly from their credit union members. “We’ ll make the connection between members and staff because it’s a great starting point,” explained Gale. It’s important to remember that legislative staff are an important part of the conversation because they inform and educate representatives and senators, and are also tasked with representing the district, she said. Professional lobbyists believe that creating strong relationships with staff is a critical part of the job—you can often gain access to staff more easily, have longer conversations and position yourself and your association as a trusted source of educational information, she added. Although NAFCU calls on general membership as well as those who are a part of its legislative committee to participate in email campaigns or meetings to address issues with legislators, there are times that individual credit unions request meetings with lawmakers to express concerns. In these cases, the NAFCU legislative team works to put the right “pieces of the puzzle” together for a productive conversation. “Last year, a credit union in Kentucky was concerned about proposed changes to the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund that specifically affected their community and members, so we coordinated a meeting of legislative staff and credit union representatives to discuss the issues,” said Gale. “You never see immediate results in legislative advocacy, “ Credit union business models and fields of membership vary widely, so it is important that we are always hearing from and working with members to give staff on the Hill a thorough overview of how new laws and rules impact credit unions. We offer NAFCU members a variety of ways to get invoved with our legislative affairs and regulatory affairs efforts. ” BRAD THALER, VICE PRESIDENT OF LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS, NAFCU
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Nzc3ODM=