Dear Valued IGA Member,
As you know the IGA Board of Directors has been working with Leadership in both houses to secure limited public access to the Capitol. We have worked to establish an effective, albeit limited, process for lobbying the floor. If you wish to lobby the floor by requesting a meeting with a member off of the floor you can enter the Capitol and present your business card to an Assembly Sergeant posted in room 126. Your card will be taken to the member(s) on the floor. If that member agrees to meet, you are escorted to Room 219 outside of the Speaker’s office where you may confer with the members. Masks and physical distancing are strongly recommended.
During Monday’s Assembly floor session a handful of our colleagues used this process to lobby bills on the floor. They have reported that process works and that they were able to meet with members off of the floor. Legislative staff worked assiduously to develop and deploy this process and for that we are very grateful. They noted the low utilization rate on Monday and inquired as to why individuals were reluctant to enter the building. Anecdotally, we have heard from our membership that there are a number of reasons people are not entering the Capitol, including; a desire to avoid exposure to COVID-19 and direction or lack of direction from employers relative to returning to work.
Below is a quick three question, anonymous survey designed to help measure IGA member attitudes about returning to the Capitol. You can assist us by taking a brief moment to respond.
We will continue our efforts on your behalf to ensure that there is access to the Capitol and that we and the public are able to exercise our right to petition the Government, however, we need to exercise this right if we hope to maintain our ability to lobby. Please help us by responding to the survey. Thank you for your time.
