Public Policy Marathon

By Lisa Sieren

About this time last year, UWCI’s Public Policy Director Sarah Ramsey and I just looked at each other and said, "Isn’t this supposed to be our calm time of year?" Just this week, we were looking at our summer calendars and I had the same thought again. The truth is we never have a calm time of year. Even when the legislature is not in session, United Way’s ace public policy team is still at work.

Taking a page from Colin, I thought I’d use this blog to write about what we policy folks do once the legislative session is over. Here are the highlights:

Give thanks: We spend a great deal of time writing thank you notes to legislators and public officials. We make sure to give recognition where recognition is due, thanking those legislators who worked hard for United Way’s key priorities during session.


Put on the thinking cap: Starting in June, United Way meets with staff, volunteers and community partners across the state to discuss potential policy issues. In particular, UWCI’s impact leads highlight needs that affect the strategies they are working on to reach our goals in the areas of Education, Income and Health.


See what sticks: Once we have a list of potential policy issues, we spend a great deal of time researching the issues and potential policy solutions. This includes speaking with key experts in these areas and looking at best practices from other states. We then determine the viability of a policy solution—whether it is even achievable. We talk to elected officials and key government agencies about our ideas to gauge support. And, of course, our trusty lobbyists provide us a lot of input as well.


Make friends: The number one thing we work on outside of session is building relationships. This means meeting with legislators, the governor’s office and state government agencies. We want to know their priorities to look for potential partnerships and to understand where their focus is. We also invite them to United Way events so they can better understand our work. When we have good relationships with elected officials, they are more likely to give us their ear on our legislative priorities and look to us for input on legislation.


Those are just a few of the things we do outside of the legislative session. This is one of the most exciting times of the year, with the possibilities of new policy issues at the forefront and the time to strengthen relationships. Stay tuned for upcoming blogs about how you can get more involved in our work outside of session.