Responding to a Bill

1. Introduction
2. Video
3. Start a Grassroots Advocacy Campaign
4. Document Your Efforts
5. Perform Grasstops Advocacy Efforts
6. Checklist: Responding to Bills 1-pager

Introduction

Gathering information on relevant legislation is often half the battle.  What you do with the information could be the deciding factor in policy outcomes.  Follow the tips shared on this page to learn how to best leverage FiscalNote's collaborative and actionable tools when responding to a single bill.

Video

Perform Grasstops Advocacy

Should a bill move to the point at which action is required, the fastest way to perform grasstops efforts is to create a mailing list in FiscalNote.  Each bill page allows you to contact possible government stakeholders who have a direct impact on the legislation in question.

In the Basic Information section of the Overview tab, click 'Email Sponsors'.  Choose recipients for targeted messaging, such as only staffers, for your first touch:

FiscalNote will produce a list of all email addresses in the BCC field, allowing for mass communication.

The Whipboard provides an opportunity to mail a more specific set of government contacts.  To get started, click the Whipboard tab, make any adjustments to the pre-set voting predictions by column based on your own knowledge, and save.  When your prediction adjustments are is ready, click Save, then click Mailing Lists:

Choose 1 or more columns (Yes, Lean Yes, Toss Up, Lean No, No) to send a specific message in the hopes of persuading your opposition to align with your position and vote accordingly.  Conversely, send a mass mailer to your biggest government supporters from this legislature or voting body, and ask them to urge their peers to vote with them.

Mailing Lists provide the opportunity to perform grasstops advocacy efforts in the hopes of moving a bill to your desired outcome.

*Click here to learn more about Mailing Lists.

Document Your Efforts

Any activity performed in direct response to a specific bill should be documented with Actions.  Whether you called an official's office, met with a staffer, or sat in on a committee hearing, Actions allow you to document the type of activity performed and share a brief summary with your colleagues.

Click 'Actions' from the sub-menu, and click Add Action to get started:

FiscalNote will already link the bill to this activity for you.  As a result, all response activities documented with Actions can be accessed by your colleagues.  Use them to provide both yourself and your team a record of the most important intel gained.

*Click here to learn more about documenting Actions with Stakeholders

Start a Grassroots Advocacy Campaign

If you are also responsible for your organization's grassroots advocacy efforts, FiscalNote helps to streamline the entire process via integration with VoterVoice, our award winning grassroots advocacy platform.  

If you have access to both platforms with your FiscalNote subscription, start a campaign immediately when you come across an important bill by clicking the 'Create Advocacy Campaign' tab in the Basic Information section of the Overview tab:

If you need access to VoterVoice for advocacy efforts, please contact your Account Manager.

*Click here to learn more about VoterVoice. 

Checklist: Responding to Bills 1-pager (Click here to Download)