BPWUSA ERA TASK FORCE

1
BPW/USA ERA TASK FORCEUnratified States Action
Plan
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Form A Coalition With As Many Groups as Possible
Who Are Willing to Work on This Issue

• Concentrate on building teams with clearly
  defined roles and tasks
• State regions
• Make assignments simple
• Formulate an internal network for communications
• Train in actions and messages

3
Recruit Contact People Who Are Passionate About
Passage of the ERA

• One to two key influentials who can recruit other
  grassroots leaders
• Identify people who are invested in your success
  and willing to use their position
• Utilize these individuals to influence decision
  makers and lead public opinion
• One to two spokespersons only for press!
• Team leader for legislative contacts in field
• Team leader for Session
• Team leader for grassroots activation

4
Begin a Public Education Campaign

• Five Cs of Media Relations
• Credibility
• Comfort
• Confidence
• Compelling story
• Control

5
Selling Your Story
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What Reporters Want

• Access to news sources
• Timely responses
• Meet deadlines
• Short, clear, accurate answers
• Brief background materials

7
Use Public Education Campaign To Recruit Members
In Coalition

• Utilize your members to write Letters to Editor
  at key times
• Always provide talking points for letters that
  are 200 words or less
• Use members for calls to legislators, letters to
  legislators at key action times
• Always provide talking points one or two!

8
Coalition Sends Questionnaire to ALL State
Legislators

• Questionnaire should ask1. Do you support
  ratification of the federal Equal Rights
  Amendment?2. If yes, would you sponsor a Bill
  for that issue?3. If no, please explain your
  reasons.
• Make sure legislator knows your coalition is
  monitoring their response.
• Let them know constituents will follow up and
  then do it!

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Increasing Response Rate

• Be willing to meet with legislators.
• Follow-up calls or letters are important thanking
  respondents.
• Recruit yess to be Bill authors or sponsors
• Important to meet with nos to find out their
  objections and try to answer them.
• Do this BEFORE session starts when possible

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Bill Author and Sponsor

• Start with friends
• Legislators, Lobbyists
• Give Bill author and sponsors 1-page talking
  point sheets. Include responses to
  anti-arguments on that sheet.
• Identify Senate and House author
• Discuss with each author best way to move Bill in
  appropriate committees and on each House floor

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Moving the Bill

• Committee strategy who moves first
• Follow Bills progress putting pressure on
  legislators and recruiting more individuals and
  groups.
• Utilize news outreach campaign
• Count your votes
• Committee, floor
• Have a presence
• Make it hard to ignore you
• Train your volunteers

12
Keep to Your Strategy

• Develop a SWAT Team that will be on-call for
  assistance (brainstorming, role playing, review
  of written testimony, etc.)
• Capitol nerve center
• Action alert system
• Message center for coalition

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Keep to Your Strategy (cont.)

• Update it with new information
• Weekly team meetings
• Identify conditions that encourage your success
• Monitor opposition and contain quickly
• Know your enemy, their message, their strengths
  and weaknesses
• Go after their credibility rather than trying to
  counter every point they make. Once you discredit
  them, what they say is no longer relevant.

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Building Nerve Center

• What legislators and lobbyists will help?
• Key meetings with legislators and Governor before
  session?
• Keep overall message consistent, but
• Determine actor specific messages
• What moves committee chair, chamber president,
  Governor?
• Womens Legislative Caucus

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Keep Your Friends Informed

• Legislators
• Lobbyists
• Network
• Friendly reporters
• Legislative Days
• Volunteers at Capitol
• Messages to desks
• Visibility in Rotunda

16
Keep Score

• Keep track of what worked well and what didnt,
  and use this information in future efforts as
  well as sharing it with campaigns in other
  unratified states.