Deep Dive Breakout 3: Engaging Your Grassroots Network in Regulatory Advocacy

Regulatory issues can be wonky and hard for potential advocates to comprehend. This session will look at ways to demystify regulatory advocacy and channel high-quality public comments to regulators. We will also discuss ways to build successful relationships with career regulators.

Moderator: Jon Simons (NCTA – Internet & Television Association) 

Panelists: Rachel Feinstein (Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington), Andy Dennis (America’s Credit Unions), Brandon Graham (NAMI) 

Notes:

Case studies on regulatory advocacy 

RACHEL: Fireplace & BBQ

• All three branches of government must be considered as avenues for advocacy. 
• Building relationships with career staff: 
  • Provide learning opportunities and resources 
  • Invite career staff to trade shows, tour manufacturing facilities 
  • Invite local/regional office regulatory staff to tour facilities 
  • First-hand accounts and interactions with the people and products related to the issue make a big impact 
  • Don’t forget about state and local staff or offices – national is important, but those local staff are an excellent resource and often have a direct line to the DC/HQ offices. 

ANDY: Overdraft Protection Case Study 

• The issue: 2 different proposed rules from different agencies on the same topic. 
  • CFPB would require overdraft disclosures for credit unions $10B+ in assets and comply with TIL (Jan). 
  • NCUA would disclose overdraft fees on call reports for credit unions above $1B in assets (Dec). 
• The players: CFPB, NCUA, President, Congress 
• Considerations and strategies: 
  • CFPB proposal effective date is 2025: there is time to get the message out there, run education, earned media, control the narrative 
  • NCUA effective date was March 2024 
  • Not all credit unions are immediately impacted 
  • War on “junk fees” by President and CFPB 
• Strategies: 
  • Lean on congressional allies 
  • Host “fireside” chats at conferences and Hikes 
  • Submit joint letters by trade groups 
  • Write op-eds/LTEs by various stakeholders 

BRANDON: Centering lived experience in regulatory policy  

• Mental health touches many different policy issue areas 
  • NAMI national staff works to build relationships with agency officials (WH/DPC, HHS, DOJ, HUD, Labor, VA, FCC, etc) 
  • Find ways to bolster advocacy with stories from real people 
  • Center the narrative with real stories from real constituents or advocates 
  • Mental health parity: mental health should be covered and treated the same way physical health is 
• HHS: Mental Health Insurance Parity (2023) 
  • 60% of the 9,500+ comments received were from NAMI grassroots advocates 
• FCC: Georouting calls to the 988 lifeline (2024) 
  • Over half of the 2,800 express comments received were from NAMI grassroots advocates 
• In both: real people, telling real stories about the needs of their community 

Establish tools and resources that can be used for regulatory advocacy 

RACHEL 

• Regulatory comment letter templates 
  • Comment letter templates for your organization and for your members/advocates 
  • Advocacy software platforms can connect to regulatory comment pages, but they often are batched together into one delivery if they are too similar 
  • Recommendation: create a Word doc template letter for advocates to customize, copy, and send. This might work better for simpler rulings or legislation pieces when you hope to build numbers. A more technical ruling might require more attention – town halls with segments of advocates depending on the ruling. 

ANDY 

• Make it easy! 
  • Pre-write media pieces for advocates to sign off on 
  • VoterVoice provides rotating messages and agency-restricted parameters 
  • Use a variety of advocates & make sure they are relevant to the issue at hand 
  • Host regulatory committee meetings (or establish a regulatory sub-committee) 

BRANDON 

• Time is a valuable resource 
  • Invest the time to… 
    • Understand the tools/opportunities you have (software, capacity, allies, partners) 
    • Make it easy (templates, reminders, one-click) 
    • Make people feel comfortable (one-off support & assistance) 
      • Tip: every time they do a comment letter push, they offer the story banking option along with it if the advocate isn’t comfortable with their story/comment being on the public record. 
    • Cultivate relationships & keep them involved (stay connected, find the individual ways to plug them in) 
    • Spread the word (tout activity, share stories, follow-up) 
      • This helps to build and maintain momentum 

What are opportunities for advocates to engage in regulatory advocacy outside of comment letters? 

RACHEL 

• The comment period engagement 
  • The basics 
    • Attend public meetings – you might be one of 10 people in the room
    • Send the agency a letter requesting more time for public comment if needed
    • Request meetings with the career and political staff 
    • Request an EO 12866 meeting with OMB/OIRA before, during, and after comment period closes 
    • If the issue affects small businesses, work with the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy 
      • Tip: invite the SBA Office of Advocacy staff to speak to your members or advocates during a conference or fly-in 

ANDY 

• Find the fun 
  • Host monthly committee meetings 
  • Culminate those meetings during fly-ins or conferences 
  • Organize off-cycle “fun” meetings with regulators 

BRANDON 

• Lift up overlooked stories 
  • NAMI centers story sharing and collection into our ongoing advocacy work 
  • When providing comment opportunities, we ensure people can share their stories privately too 
  • And use those stories to share directly with agency officials 

Navigating when you go to political appointees vs. career staff, strategically 

RACHEL 

• Rocking the boat 
  • Regulatory agencies are like a ship that is invaded by pirates every 4-8 years 
  • Consequences of going to political appointees, above the careers 
    • When you go to a political appointee, you’re going to the pirate, not the crew of the ship 
    • Consider the consequences and how your asks might be remembered years down the line 
  • When you have a friendly relationship with career staff, the process is easier 
• The role of Congress in the regulatory process 
  • Letter from members of Congress to an agency expressing a sentiment/concern 
  • Outreach from Congressional staff to regulatory staff (congressional liaison) with technical or process questions 

ANDY 

• Everything is politics 
  • How is the agency governed? Termed position or Presidential appointee? 
  • What is the agency’s relationship to Congress? 
  • Is the advocacy ideological or technical?
  • How often will you engage? 
  • What is the tenure of your staff? 

Finding your best message deliverers for different rules – how do you humanize an issue? 

RACHEL 

• Making sense of technological feasibility 
  • If you are going to claim a rule is not technologically feasible, make sure you back that up
  • Bring in manufacturers, retailers, and engineers, to talk about process issues 
    • It goes both ways: humanize the regulator to your advocates too. This helps change some advocates’ tone. 
  • Be mindful of your paper trail and laying the groundwork for future litigation (by your org or members) on the rule

ANDY 

• Find your friends 
  • Depending on the issue and agency, your messenger will change 
    • President/CEO of the Association vs. staff 
  • Association members, industry, coalition partners 
  • Related: external industry partners 
• The Chevron Doctrine 
  • Ambiguous legislative statutes are no longer left up to agency definition – must go through the courts. 
  • Allows for litigation on virtually any rule. 
  • Could have big (but COSTLY) regulatory wins & losses, which will mean the statute drafting process is even more important. 

BRANDON 

• “What’s the impact on me?” 
  • We have to humanize policies for decision-makers, but also… 
    • Explain the real-world impact to everyday people 
    • Most advocates don’t do this professionally 
    • Spell out WHY and they’ll see themselves in your priority and action 

QUESTIONS 

• Where do you begin? How do you start the process of building a relationship with a staff or agency? (RACHEL) 
  • Identify the staff contact for that piece of regulation and ask for more time. Become a helpful resource for them. (if a ruling comes out and you need to take action right away) 
  • Utilize your network – professional organizations, associations, etc 
• How much hand-holding is involved in getting quality stories from advocates? (BRANDON) 
  • Typically, the email is brief. Instructions on the website with prompting questions – have you faced long wait times? Is your care expensive? 
  • Follow up with promising stories and meet one-on-one to develop the story, write it, shop it to media, etc 
• How do you determine when to use the advocacy software versus the individual submissions and how do you track that? (RACHEL) 
  • Usually, you’re working with the advocate as they are developing their comment and they will tell you about it or you will see it on the docket  
  • Take guidance from the agencies – software for wider reach, individual comments for technical specificity