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DRAFT LEGISLATIVE ACTION PLAN

The Board of Early Education and Care

Subcommittee on

Research & Communications

DRAFT DATED October 2, 2010

This Legislative Action Plan is developed in follow-up to the Board of Early Education and Care’s annual retreat where the Board identified priorities for the Department (EEC) including that “State and local leaders understand how EEC initiatives serve and benefit their communities” with a focus on “improvement of its relationship with the Massachusetts Legislature.”

In an effort to assist the EEC in effectuating this priority and in becoming well-positioned to advance its FY12 budget and legislative agenda, the Board’s Subcommittee on Research & Communication talked to a range of stakeholders and observers to assess the current state of the relationship between the EEC and the Legislature and to obtain guidance on how the EEC can most effectively engage the Legislature in furtherance of key short term priorities and the Department’s broader mission to support all children in their development as life long learners and contributors to the community, and to support families in their essential work as parents and caregivers.

This document identifies principles for successful engagement of the Legislature by the EEC and describes model plans for strategic outreach and communications in the near- and mid-terms. These model plans are offered to inform the EEC’s decisionmaking about how to approach the Legislature (a) immediately prior and subsequent to the upcoming November elections and (b) after the new Legislature is seated and committee assignments are made in February 2011.

The next few months present the EEC with the opportunity to create legislative strategies; develop, improve, and maintain relationships with key members and staff; hone its communications tactics; and review its capacity to maintain strategic communications and relationships over time. The Board and its Subcommittee on Research and Communications stand ready to assist the EEC with strategic guidance, if requested.

  1. WHY THE LEGISLATIVE RELATIONSHIP IS IMPORTANT

As the EEC knows, legislators are public servants endeavoring to help the constituents of their districts and to advance issues of importance to them. There are many legislators particularly dedicated to issues impacting the lives of children, and they can be great allies in advancing the needs of the kids and families at the heart of the Department’s work. They make policy that impacts the work of the Department of Early Education and Care, and they can direct the expenditure of both state and federal funds through both formal and informal channels.

Many current legislators have a particular interest in and affinity for the Department of Early Education and Care because they played vital roles in the creation of this young consolidated agency back in 2004-2005. They thus have a personal stake in the EEC’s performance and success, and remain keenly interested in its doings so that they can continue to advance the work of the Department on behalf of children and families within the Legislature.

By building the relationship between the Department and the Legislature, key legislators and staff will be able to operate as effective allies to the EEC within the House and Senate. In order to effectively execute the work of the EEC in FY12 and over the longer term as the Commonwealth endeavors to incentivize and support improved program quality, a strong legislative relationship, centered around strategic allies, is and will be imperative.

  1. BUILDING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DEPARTMENT OF EARLY EDUCATION AND CARE AND THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE

A. GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Legislators usually want to help.

It was overwhelmingly evident that key legislators and staff want to help the Department in its work on behalf of children. Legislators with a keen interest in the EEC are invested in its success and often played a role in the creation of the Department. Their inquiries and offers to help stem from a desire to partner with the EEC and to understand the EEC’s work so that they can be helpful allies inside the Legislature.

Relationships matter.

Establishing and maintaining open and ongoing communication with legislators and key staff members has a myriad of benefits, including the ability to avoid or minimize crises, obtain important information needed to advance elements of the EEC’s agenda, effect policymaking, and help ensure adequate funding to state budget line items. Relationship building is a prerequisite to being able to advance a legislative agenda and to effectively impact deliberations on the budget.

Visibility builds trust.

The presence of the Commissioner of EEC in the State House building is an important part of relationship building and establishing a foundation of trust that both benefits the EEC and the field as a whole.

Communicate for impact.

Legislators and their staffs oversee a mindboggling array of issues and often need concise communications that, paradoxically, also include relevant context for the information conveyed so that they can understand and follow the work of the EEC. Specific strategies can assist the EEC in developing effective communications for policymakers.

Communicate strategically.

Because of the volume of material vying for legislative attention, legislators and their staffs can only afford to turn their attention to the EEC on an as-needed basis and the EEC can target its communications accordingly. In order to fulfill their responsibilities, legislators in general need to understand (a) the benefits of EEC initiatives in their districts; (b) any changes that will impact their districts; (c) the importance of early education and care and the efficacy of this investment of public dollars; and (d) the overall work and priorities of the Department. In addition, a core group of legislators needs to more intimately understand the work and priorities of the Department, how it fits into a broader vision for education reform, and how and to what end state funds are being expended by the EEC.

  1. MODEL PLANS FOR STRATEGIC OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATIONS

These model plans are aligned with the Guiding Principles noted above and are provided to inform the EEC’s own efforts to develop implementation strategies to foster its relationship with the Massachusetts Legislature and help state and local leaders to understand how the work of the EEC serves and benefits their communities. The first model focuses on the immediate timeframe both before and after the upcoming November elections. The second model targets the period after the new Legislative session begins and committee assignments are made.

  1. Immediately prior and subsequent to the November 2010 elections

Develop a communications strategy about the vision and purpose of the EEC.

There is a need to clarify the vision and purpose of the EEC’s work and connect budgetary and programmatic decisions to that vision. A useful tool might include a one page document that covers how the Department’s work is compatible with educational goals across the P-20 system, and how the complex of programs and grants run by the EEC furthers the Department’s objectives.

Develop a communications plan to ensure legislators and staff obtain sufficient context when discussing programs and developments.

As noted above, legislators and their staff require concise communications that also include relevant context for the information conveyed so that they can understand and follow the work of the EEC. Simple strategies can help. For example, if referring to a program, the EEC could cite the state budget line item or federal funding source from which it originates. If the name of that program has recently changed, or reflects a consolidation, the EEC can indicate the former name(s) in order to help the recipient develop an improved understanding of the EEC’s work.

Identify and communicate the impact of EEC’s programs and services in the legislative districts of key representatives.

The EEC has voucher recipients, grantees, and licensees throughout the state, and EEC can help legislators to understand the impact of EEC’s work within the districts that they serve.

Meet with Leadership, Allies, and Rising Stars.

Organize meetings with key legislators in order to solidify, develop, or improve their relationships to the EEC.

Develop a Legislative Agenda and coordinate outreach strategy with the Executive Office of Education.

The EEC is already taking important steps to shape its legislative priorities.

  1. After the new Legislature is seated and committee assignments are made in January and February 2011

Meet with Legislative Committee chairs and key staff positioned to assist the EEC with the FY12 budget and its Legislative Agenda.

Organize meetings with leadership of the Joint Committee on Education, House Ways and Means, Senate Ways and Means, Speaker of the House, and President of the Senate, and important staff people in their offices to educate them about the vision and purpose of the EEC and communicate to them the EEC’s needs and priorities in the FY12 budget and reasons underlying the EEC’s Legislative agenda.

Reconnect with Leadership, Allies, and Rising Stars.

Let key legislators and their staffs know what the EEC’s needs and priorities are going into the 2011 legislative session.

Create an opportunity to educate the Legislature about QRIS.

As QRIS becomes formally adopted and implemented, legislators are going to hear from constituents raising questions and concerns. If the EEC is able to arm legislators and their staff with information about why the EEC developed the QRIS, its current and potential functions, its administration, and its benefits to children, families, and programs in their districts, then legislators will be equipped to respond to their constituents. Early January might be an optimum time to reach out to the newly seated Legislature.

Develop a communications plan to ensure that the EEC is strategic about who needs to know what and when they need to know it.

There is typically a concentric circle of information flow, with in-depth information and frequent contact provided to a core group of legislators and outreach to other legislators targeted to meet their needs. Most legislators need to know about (a) the benefits of EEC initiatives in their districts; (b) any changes that will impact their districts; (c) the importance of early education and care and the efficacy of this investment of public dollars; and (d) the overall work and priorities of the Department. In addition, the core group of legislators needs to more intimately understand the work and priorities of the Department, how it fits into a broader vision for education reform, and how and to what end state funds are being expended by the EEC. A sample approach is described below:

  1. Contact 8-10 key individuals to remind them of EEC’s commitment to working with them, and their colleagues in the Legislature, and to more effectively communicate to them the goals of the Department of Early Education and Care and its plan to achieve those objectives. These are the individuals in the Legislature who have the most interest in and capacity to impact early education and care issues.
  1. Contact these 8-10 individuals every 3-4 weeks via phone or email. These individuals are key policymakers on early education and care issues, and can both provide and require frequent updates. Outreach by the EEC to these individuals can include (a) check-in phone calls; (b) brief emails regarding recently published research or newspaper articles; (c) emails or phone calls regarding major grant awards anywhere in the state, or minor grant awards impacting an entity in their district; and, importantly, (d) phone calls regarding any actual or anticipated controversies flowing from the work of the EEC.
  1. Contact the legislators representing the geographic area in which any grantee of the Department of Early Education and Care is located. Provide details including the name, address, and phone number of the recipient, the name of the grant, the amount awarded, and the date of the award. This will assist the legislator in understanding the impact of EEC’s work within his or her home district and in reaching out his or her constituents.
  1. Tailor messages to individual legislators. Understand any specific interests or concerns of the core group of 8-10 legislators. Capture information about the impact of EEC’s services and initiatives by district or by town so that legislators can more immediately grasp the importance of the Department’s work.
  1. Consider elevating or hiring a senior person with intimate knowledge of the EEC and its programs to develop close working relationships with legislators and key staff and to assist in executing the recommendations above.
  1. Publicize a legislative liaison so that legislative offices will know whom to contact with questions or constituent matters. This will help them to channel their communications directly to the EEC.
  1. CONCLUSION

The EEC has an important window of opportunity in which to strategically focus its relationship with the Massachusetts Legislature and ensure that state and local leaders understand how the EEC serves and benefits their communities. The Board of Early Education and Care and its Subcommittee on Research & Communications are prepared to serve as a resource to the EEC and to support the Department in its efforts, if requested to do so.

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