As drone technologies have improved in recent years, so has the debate on Capitol Hill about how drones should and should not be regulated. While drones have been used extensively for various military applications for numerous years, the commercial and private use of drones has been a slow growth market segment. As such, the last time Congress reviewed legislation and regulation for non-military drones was in 2012.

However, that is about to change, with hundreds of thousands of drones being used by hobbyists and major companies, like Google and Amazon, who want to use the drones for automated package delivery systems. The objective of Congress is to provide guidance to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and its establishment of drone policies.

There are Washington DC lobbyists and advocates split on two sides of influencing regulations and rules for drone usage. On one side are the hobbyists and personal users, along with corporations, who want to see a broader range of reduced regulations. On the other side are proponents for tighter drone rules, increased safety, and control over their use.

Earlier this year there was much interest and attention placed on the re-authorization of a bill to enable the FAA funding and guidance to create regulations for commercialized drone testing and testing sites. As the FAA continues to explore its approach and what regulations it will eventually put into effect for drones, there have been an increase in lobbyist activities on Capitol Hill, with various groups meeting with the White House, FAA officials, and NASA officials.

Among one of the more recent changes enacted by the FAA is mandatory drone registration for recreational drone owners, which took effect back in December 2015. This change was implemented to help address concerns about safety and privacy. For commercial operations, the FAA currently reviews and authorizes business usage of drones on a case-by-case basis. It is hoped that, once the FAA establishes new regulations and rules, it will make it easier for businesses and will eliminate the current procedures.

Both Google and Amazon have been rather active with their lobbying to attempt to speed up the process. These companies understand any regulation will probably be created in stages, as they expect the FAA to want more research and experimental testing to be completed, prior to developing federal regulation on the open use of drones by businesses for commercial delivery purposes.

Some drone manufacturers, along with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), are among those advocacy and lobbyist groups pushing for tighter controls and increased safety features in drones. ALPA would like to see legislation requiring registration when a drone is purchased in a retail store or online. In addition, those in support of increased safety features would like to see a bill introduced which would require manufacturers to build drones with avoidance and sensing technologies to help keep drones away from nearby people and objects.

It will be interesting to see the outcome of lobbying efforts, and what regulations and rules the FAA does create in the future. If your business wants its voice heard in Washington about its position on drones or other important issues, with the representation you deserve, call Lobbyit now at 202-587-2736 to help you get the most out of your elected officials and government agencies.

 

As the older generation of lobbyists is retiring, there is a growing number of younger people from the Millennia generation shaping the future of Washington lobbyists. In the past, lobbyists spent time developing and cultivating relationships inside the legislature offices. These relationships are critical to attempting to sway politicians’ opinions to that of the lobbyist, and to gain support for their issues and/or causes.

However, today, largely in part of advances in technology, the Internet, and social media, younger lobbyists no longer have to spend the long hours indoors. Rather, they can utilize social media sites, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to foster and develop virtual relationships with politicians and the politician’s staffers. As such, it allows them to change how lobbying is conducted and how it influences political outcomes of legislation.

Social media has become an essential tool for lobbying efforts. Lobbyists no longer have to meet face-to-face with politicians and other advocacy groups to influence and sway their opinions. They can post updates to Facebook and Twitter, grow their network of connections through LinkedIn, and more. Thanks to the Internet and social media, young lobbyists are able to multitask and accomplish more in less time than in the past, while also relying upon others to re-post and share content.

How to Become a Lobbyist

Another major shift for younger lobbyists concerns the steps they take when they want to become a lobbyist. In the past, the baby boomer lobbyists simply started working in the public service sector right out of college as a legislative aide, to develop their skills as an effective lobbyist, and then went on to become a lobbyist right away.

This is no longer the case. An underlying cause for this change has to do with the mandatory two-year lobbying ban regulation. After working as a legislative staffer, or other such position in the public sector, potential lobbyists must wait two years and spend this time working in the private sector before they can start lobbying or working for DC lobbying firms.

As such, more and more Millennial lobbyists are establishing careers in relevant private sector positions, to develop various skills vital to being persuasive lobbyists and to avoid the two-year ban altogether. Typical career paths aspiring lobbyists are taking include becoming lawyers, government analysts, and public speakers.

While they are working in the private sector, they start participating in lobbying internships and other such programs to gain further experience. It is during this time they start to foster and build relationships with other lobbyists and politicians. Once they have completed their internship, they formally register as a professional lobbyist and continue expanding their network of relationships.

Lobbyists today do much more than communicate with politicians the issues and causes of their clients. They must be able to not only be persuasive, but also analyze the impacts of legislature, and the impacts it will have for their clients. For nonprofits and business organizations, it is in your best interests to have lobbyists on your side. Otherwise, you have no control over what decisions are being made by Congress.

Call Lobbyit at 202-587-2736 now to discover how we can help your nonprofit or business and provide the representation you need in Washington.

 

In our last post we explored the difference between grassroots and direct lobbying. In this post we’ll uncover the differences between advocacy and lobbying. The lines can easily become blurred between advocacy and lobbying (especially grassroots lobbying), making it important to distinguish between the two. Let’s look at the differences in detail:

What Is Advocacy?

Advocacy is generally defined as arguing in favor of a cause or idea, whether it’s environmental protection, minority rights, or the myriad other issues that affect people every day. There is no limit to the amount of advocacy a person or organization (such as a nonprofit) can do.

What Is Lobbying?

Lobbying can generally be defined as any attempt to influence a politician or public official on an issue. Lobbying is further broken down into:

• Direct lobbying: Any attempt to influence new or existing legislation via communication with a member of the legislative body or other government representative who has a say in the legislation.
• Grassroots lobbying: Asking the general public to contact their legislator and/or mobilizing the public around a legislative issue. Organizations, such as nonprofits, cannot ask their members to contact their legislators or government agencies regarding the legislation, though, as this is considered direct lobbying. Examples of grassroots lobbying include creating an online petition to generate public support for a cause, distributing flyers, and organizing a public demonstration or rally.

Nonprofit organizations can engage in some lobbying without having to register; however, the IRS has strict rules about what portion of an organization’s budget can go toward lobbying activities, and federal funds cannot be used for lobbying.

Examples of Advocacy vs. Lobbying

Advocacy

• Telling a member of Congress how a policy affects constituents
• Using social media to get the word out about a cause/issue
• Meeting with a government official to explain how a particular problem/issue is affecting a particular group or organization, the environment, etc.

Lobbying

• Asking your member of Congress to vote for or against, or to amend or introduce, particular legislation
• Emailing members of your group asking them to contact their member of Congress in support of or opposition to legislation or pending regulations
• Generating an online petition asking members of your organization (direct lobbying) or members of the public (grassroots lobbying) to contact their legislator(s) to support or oppose particular legislation

 

Who Can Advocate?

Anyone can engage in advocacy. Educating policymakers about the needs of your organization or community is something anyone can do. You can advocate by organizing supporters on important issues and encouraging them to email or call their elected officials, using social media to educate people about issues/causes, and meeting with elected officials to let them know in person how an issue is affecting the community/organization.

Keep in mind that asking elected officials to support or introduce legislation crosses the line into lobbying. Sometimes advocacy alone isn’t enough, and legislation is necessary to fully address an issue or problem—this is where an experienced DC lobbyist can be a huge help. The expert lobbyists at Lobbyit have been helping small and mid-size organizations establish their voice on Capitol Hill for years. We offer competitively-priced lobbying packages for organizations of every size.

There is a common perception that lobbying and public relations (PR) have become more enmeshed in recent years, with lines blurred between the two. Part of the confusion lies in the simple fact that both lobbyists and PR specialists seek to influence others. Given the perceived overlap of lobbying and PR, we feel it’s important to distinguish between the two and outline the objectives of both. Let’s take a closer look.

Lobbying Defined

DC Lobbying Firm is generally defined as seeking to influence political decisions on behalf of an individual, organization, or group.

Lobbyists typically work with state and federal legislators and members of regulatory agencies to advocate for the proposal, passage, defeat, or amendment of laws or regulations—whether at the local, state, or federal level. Lobbyists are professionals who seek to understand the concerns, needs, and interests of their clients and use their knowledge of the legislative process to educate key decision makers. Lobbyists are sometimes unpaid volunteers who lobby because they feel strongly enough about an issue that they feel compelled to advocate for it.

Lobbyists represent a range of clients—from trade groups, to nonprofits, to labor unions, to corporations and religious organizations. They are prohibited from paying elected officials for their vote on an issue.

Those who meet three criteria must register as a lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. The criteria include:

1. Having earned more than $3,000 over a three-month period from lobbying
2. Having had more than one lobbying contact
3. Having spent more than 20 of their time lobbying for a single client over a three-month period

Now let’s look at public relations.

 

Public Relations Defined

The definition of public relations (PR) is broad, but generally describes using communication to achieve a variety of goals on behalf of an individual, organization, or group. These goals can include:

• Promoting a product or service
• Internal communications (such as relaying the performance of a company to its employees)
• Communicating the performance of a publicly-traded company (investor relations)

PR has changed considerably alongside evolving technology over the last decade. The introduction of social media and other forms of digital communications have both enhanced and created new challenges for PR. Social media has enabled two-way communication between brands and consumers, and it has created an outlet for influencers (ordinary citizens) to promote brands online. While lobbyists may also use these tools, they generally do so to a lesser degree, as face time packs more of a punch with legislators.

As an article in NPR highlighted, lobbyists may target Capitol Hill, but PR folks often swoop in first to “conditioning the legislative landscape”—in other words, shape public perception. Another key difference between lobbying and PR is that lobbyists are required to disclose their activities (subject to the criteria mentioned earlier), while PR specialists are not.

Both lobbyists and PR specialists play their own unique role in communicating information and furthering the interests of the individuals, organizations, and groups they support.

The expert DC lobbyists at Lobbyit make representation in Washington a reality for organizations of all sizes. Our lobbying service packages are competitively priced with small and mid-size organizations in mind—we believe that everyone deserves equal representation in the halls of Congress.

At its very core, lobbying is a vital part of American democracy. Our Constitution says that “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” Lobbying is a way to ensure that grievances are heard and, ideally, resolved.

For better or worse, our laws and legislative processes are complex. They can be downright overwhelming to individual citizens or business owners. Lobbyists understand the legislative process inside and out. They act as liaisons between the public and representatives in Congress, helping congressional members understand issues they may not otherwise know much about.Lobbyists are connected to congressional staff, business leaders, and politicians in ways everyday citizens generally aren’t.

Why All the Negative Talk About Lobbyists?

The lobbying industry has faced its share of criticism from economists, academics—even the POTUS in his initial run for president.

Some see lobbying as existing only to benefit special interests, and the richest industries and corporations. There’s no denying that wealthy industries have benefited heavily from lobbying. In 2004, for example, a conglomerate of 93 U.S. corporations lobbied for a temporary tax break on offshore money they wanted to bring back to U.S. banks. Their argument: The money saved would be used to create jobs. They spent $283 million in lobbying costs and saved $63 billion in taxes—a 22,000 percent return on investment.¹

Depending on your viewpoint, you may see creating jobs as a top priority and take no issue with the strategy used by this corporate conglomerate. Or you may view their move as nothing more than an unethical means of tax evasion.

Whatever position you take on this specific example, the reality is that lobbyists represent all points of view on every issue imaginable—from environmental protection advocates, to energy extraction interests, to issues facing children and the elderly.

As a recent example of democracy in action in the lobbying arena, plant-based food companies—many of which advocate for improved animal welfare and environmental sustainability—are realizing the power of lobbying to help them stand up against the agribusiness giants. Food critic and researcher Michele Simon recently launched the Plant Based Foods Association, a membership-based trade group of plant-based food producers that already has its own part-time lobbyist.²

Representation Across the Board

Like any industry, the lobbying sector may have a few bad apples, but, on the whole, lobbyists are law-abiding professionals who represent not only corporate executives, but also workers, labor unions, trade associations, nonprofits, religious organizations, and academic institutions. At their best, lobbyists are advocates who work hard to understand the interests of their clients and use their knowledge of the legislative process to effectively educate key decision makers about the impacts of their decisions.

There is no denying that large corporations have much deeper pockets than small and mid-size businesses, nonprofits, and charities, the latter of which deserve equal representation. Thankfully, lobbying firms like Lobbyit are committed to ensuring that these organizations are heard on Capitol Hill by offering affordably-priced packages and transparent contractual arrangements. In a true democracy, everyone has a voice.

Sources:

• http://visual.ly/amazing-roi-corporate-lobbying
• http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2016/03/seitan-tofu-tuna-fysh-lobby-plant-based-foods-association