The most recent act of legislation in the Philadelphia area that captured my attention was Councilman Bill Greens proposal to pull the SRC (School Reform Commission) in order to allow successful Philadelphia public schools to enhance their education without having to deal with the restrictions of the School Reform Commission.
Since running for City Council in 2007, Councilman Green has been a strong proponent of improving public education in Philadelphia. He has proposed a number of different pieces of legislation with regards to Philadelphia Eduction, including a policy outlining over 30 different recommendations to help fix Philadelphia Schools in the spring of 2010.
After hearing of this, I chose to use him as the legislator to reach out to for my lobby. After having trouble getting a hold of him at his city hall office by Phone, I decided to send a letter by mail with hopes that it will receive close contemplation. The letter included a praise of his former legislative moves in city hall, followed by introduction of who I was and why I was writing to him in regards to education reform. My focal concern was on his recent push against the SRC. I expressed my support for his decision but questioned the specific policies he was concerned about. And what was the ultimate factor that made him decide to make this move. It'll be interesting to see his response (If I get one) to my letter. Hopefully It will give my a more hands on look as too how legislators go about making their decision process.
The School District of Philadelphia has faced a lot of challenges in 2011. From the mass budget cuts of the spring, to the firing of Superintendent Arlene Ackerman in the summer, there has been massive reform and lack of organization in the district. My in depth studying and lobbying of education reform has led me to study closer to the local acts of legislation that effect education.
The most recent act of legislation in the Philadelphia area that captured my attention was Councilman Bill Greens proposal to pull the SRC (School Reform Commission) in order to allow successful Philadelphia public schools to enhance their education without having to deal with the restrictions of the School Reform Commission.
Since running for City Council in 2007, Councilman Green has been a strong proponent of improving public education in Philadelphia. He has proposed a number of different pieces of legislation with regards to Philadelphia Eduction, including a policy outlining over 30 different recommendations to help fix Philadelphia Schools in the spring of 2010.
After hearing of this, I chose to use him as the legislator to reach out to for my lobby. After having trouble getting a hold of him at his city hall office by Phone, I decided to send a letter by mail with hopes that it will receive close contemplation. The letter included a praise of his former legislative moves in city hall, followed by introduction of who I was and why I was writing to him in regards to education reform. My focal concern was on his recent push against the SRC. I expressed my support for his decision but questioned the specific policies he was concerned about. And what was the ultimate factor that made him decide to make this move. It'll be interesting to see his response (If I get one) to my letter. Hopefully It will give my a more hands on look as too how legislators go about making their decision process.
Lobbying Blog Post #4
Steps:
Dominate Something: talk to district leader via email or phone or even in person
Do a few things well: give a few good reasons why he should support this issue and help to lower drinking ages. Provide sources and information that can help to persuade him.
Make the strategy personal: talk about why the issue would be personal and useful to yourself/your community.
Force multiply: find more people my age and older to support this issue and
Facts of the case:
George Corson worked for almost 30 years for Railroad Friction Products as a mechanic repairing locomotives in a railroad maintenance facility. During this time, he was routinely exposed to asbestos dust, which has long been known to be carcinogenic. In 2005, he was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer, the only known cause of which is asbestos. He filed a lawsuit against Railroad Friction Products in a Pennsylvania court, raising several state-law tort claims against the manufacturers and distributors of the asbestos-containing locomotive products. Corson claimed that the products were defective and he had never been properly warned about the asbestos. He died two years after his diagnosis.
In 1911, Congress passed the Boiler Inspection Act, which over time has involved into the Locomotive Inspection Act in place currently. The Locomotive Inspection Act addresses matters of safety and liability concerning trains and railroads.
In 1926, the Supreme Court ruled on Napier v. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad that the Boiler Inspection Act did preempt state laws.
Railroad Friction Products argues that the Locomotive Inspection Act was supposed to preempt state laws, and Pennsylvania’s laws are intruding on a field that Congress has reserved for federal regulation. Kurns contends that Congress did not clearly intend to preempt state laws, and that in any case, the LIA only addresses locomotives “in use” on railroad lines, not locomotives at maintenance facilities. Furthermore, she argues, if the LIA did preempt state laws, workers like Corson would have no way to seek justice.
I predict that the court will rule that the LIA does preempt state laws. They have ruled this way in the past, and from the transcripts I read, it seems that most of the people involved seem to think agree that the LIA preempts state laws. In fact, it might not be possible for RFP to comply with both state and federal laws, and when there is such a conflict, it seems natural for federal laws to “beat” state laws.
In the end, I chose four people to contact: Don Schwarz, the Philadelphia City Health Commisioner; Leroy Nunery, the acting superintendent of the Philadelphia school district; Wayne T. Grasela, the senior vice president of the school district’s Division of Food Services; and Darrell Clarke, the new president of city council. Don Schwarz does hold a powerful position, yet he is also directly involved with the health of Philadelphians. Given that Philadelphia’s child obesity rate is 40%—twice the national rate—I’m sure he is interested in ways to combat child obesity. Leroy Nunery has of course a great say in what schools do, and while he may be less concerned with child obesity, there is ample evidence that a healthy diet improves academic performance, which I think would interest him. Wayne T. Grasela is perhaps the least powerful but most directly relevant of the people I am contacting. Looking at the web page for the Division of Food Services, it is clear that efforts have already been made to improve school lunches. School breakfast, lunch and after-school dinner menus for the month of January are even downloadable from the site. In my letter to him, I begin by applauding the steps that have already been taken before urging him to continue supporting healthier school lunches. Darrell Clarke doesn't have much involvement with the school district directly, but city council does pass legislation regarding all of Philadelphia, so I think it would be good to have him support healthier school lunches.
Of course, it isn’t enough to be one person asking for something, so I’ve created a Facebook group called Philadelphia Students for Improved School Lunches to spread the message and urge other people to contact decision-makers about improving school lunches. I know that there are many people who would support healthier school lunches, but I haven't been able to find other groups that push directly for better school lunches, only things like banning soda or vending machines. On the group page, I have also made available for download some Keynote slides for parents to present at PTA meetings, and shirts that say “Good Students Eat Good Food” available for purchase. With the profits from the shirts I can purchase more shirts to distribute for free to school district employees, which they can wear to show support for improved school lunches.
Finally, I have written to Don Sapatkin, a health writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, suggesting that he do a piece on the state of Philadelphia school lunches. Such an article would be fantastic for drawing more attention to the issue of school lunches. I am waiting to hear back from him. If he declines to do such an article, I have notes prepared to write my own op-ed piece that I can try to get published.
With immigration being one of the least important problems in the US at the moment, it will be a little difficult to have anything done about illegal immigrants. Getting the government to actually do something productive about immigration would take lots of people to make it at the top of the priorities list. In order to change the minds of the decision makers in regards to immigration amnesty, I must contact bigger organizations that already have some sort of connection with the government. If the organizations isn’t big enough, it won’t have that much of an effect because chances are that there don’t have much of a connection with the government, which makes them as powerless as myself.
I plan to email a few organizations that I think are well acquainted with the government and explain to them why I think they should keep pushing the members of the government to put immigration amnesty as one of the top priorities on their list. One of the organizations I will be contacting about this issue is the National Immigration Forum. I chose them because, looking at their website, I see that they are very well on top of the status of all things surrounding immigration. They have information about the senate, the President, debates, and so much more. If the information hey give me is sufficient, which I’m confidant that it will be, they will be the only organization I will contact.
Through working with this organization we could put together events and spread the word to allow an immigration amnesty day for the illegal immigrants already here. We can help bring awareness to more communities because it seems as though nobody really cares about this issue. People who have immigrants in their families will be the easiest target because they could have family members who are illegal in the country and would like them to be legal citizens.
I called this organization and they didn’t answer. I guess I’ll have to try another one.
