2023 Legislative Plan

Click the "Watch" tab to view the October 2022 video 

Click on the "Watch" tab above for the video and the slides from the Lobby Training #1: Government Affairs October 10th, 2022 training. This training video provided up to the moment insights (as of late fall 2022) on the dynamics in Congress by segment, deepening understanding for the opportunity in the remainder of the 2022 session, considerations for what messages resonate and the role CCL can play within our December lobby meetings. 

Overall Guiding Principle for Lobbying in 2023

Looking ahead to 2023, everything we do in the field is done to support our efforts to build political will in Congress for bipartisan climate policy (especially carbon pricing). Some specific examples of working in the field include:

• Local and state policy work
• Implementation, support and defense of the climate provisions in the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act)
• Service activities such as tree planting and energy efficiency drives

Our activities aim to build support for policies and climate action, enable collaboration with other groups, and provide opportunities for more people to find us.

Lobbying in 2023

We will hold two big coordinated lobby events this year where we will bring a united message and specific ask(s) to every Congressional office. Having two focused events allows us to magnify the impact of each event and work with the schedule constraints of our MOCs and staffers.  

June Lobby Day

This is an in-person lobby day in DC. The timing of other Congressional priorities will provide a good opportunity to push for the passage of climate and forest legislation. It might even be exciting! Pool your resources and try to get someone to DC from your chapter for this big lobby day. This will take place after our June National Conference.

November Lobby Week

We will lobby en masse the week after our virtual Fall National Conference on November 4-5. We want a face-to-face meeting in the district/state or a virtual/online meeting with your MOC’s DC policy staff for every MOC.  Meetings with local district congressional staff are our third choice if you can’t get a face-to-face meeting or a meeting with a DC staffer.  

Other MOC Meetings

In some situations, our relationship with MOCs or their staffers allows for engagement opportunities throughout the year. If a staffer or MOC requests a meeting, we always say Yes! If they ask us for help, we strive to give it promptly as long as it's consistent with our goals and agenda. 

If we don’t yet have this kind of relationship, we can work to establish it. Some ideas include:

• Being mindful of demands on their time (e.g.,  we're hearing that MOCs and staffers are especially pressed for time these days, so we suggest limiting meeting requests outside the June and November Lobby events).
• Being helpful to them in the district (e.g. writing LTEs to highlight MOC efforts to work on climate issues).
• Joining events where they see us (e.g., town halls or events they attend).
• Making our work noticeable to them (e.g., on social media or by naming them in our print media).
• Praising them publicly for the good things they do for the climate. 

In summary, we look for ways to build the relationship with the MOC outside the meeting format unless the MOC or their staff want more meetings with us. That is the goal of our spring in-district activities this year. Every positive step on climate legislation makes the next one easier. We continue to work towards a world where Democrats and Republicans are both working to advance solutions.

CCL's Bottom Lines

CCL has always viewed that the most effective way to get legislation passed is to have a laser focus on the legislation that is bipartisan and satisfies our two bottom lines: emissions reductions effectiveness while protecting lower income individuals and families.  In other words, the integrity of the following two bottom lines is essential for CCL staff to recommend support to our volunteers support for any comprehensive policy:

1.        That policy should have a reasonable expectation of large emissions reductions once implemented. We understand this to mean exceeding U.S. Individual Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) under the 2015 Paris Agreement. We also understand such emissions reductions to be achievable with a single well-designed carbon pricing policy. 

2.        That policy should ensure that at the very least the two lowest income quintiles (i.e. the poorest 40%) of Americans “end up ahead.” By this, we mean that for the vast majority of households in each of those quintiles, increases in income as a result of the policy should exceed cost increases as a result of the policy.

• Jenn Tyler
• Kyle Kammien
• Hardy Almes
• Jamari Hartley

• Download the Google Slides presentation
• Download the video

• Jenn Tyler
• Kyle Kammien
• Hardy Almes
• Jamari Hartley

• Click to download the podcast here