Citizens can make a difference at Legislative Hall

You can’t fight city hall, so goes the old saying.

The same might be said of Legislative Hall.

Nor should you try, according to John Flaherty, president of the Delaware Coalition of Open Government.

When talking to legislators about a new law, the key is persuasion, not confrontation.

Flaherty, who has lobbied for four decades, recently presented a talk at Legislative Hall in Dover for people interested in lobbying their state senators and representatives.

In Delaware, anybody can be a lobbyist. You don’t even have to register, as long as you’re not lobbying on behalf of an organization. Those who are have to register with the Public Integrity Commission.

The one exception to this rule are government lobbyists. These are people who work for state agencies, but whose main job is lobbying.

Only they’re not called lobbyists. They go by euphemisms like “legislative agents” or “governmental affairs representatives.”

“And they do a lot of lobbying,” Flaherty said.

It’s not just talk either. “They do have some pretty big shindigs, to say the least,” Flaherty said.

These “shindigs,” which legislators attend, are paid for with taxpayer dollars. So you have one branch of the government lobbying another branch. You could even argue that the government is in effect lobbying itself - with public funds.

Flaherty has no beef with lobbying by government agencies. He just thinks they should have to follow the same rules he does. Flaherty is required to register as a lobbyist, tell people he’s lobbying, and submit financial reports.

If a registered lobbyist takes a legislator to lunch, he has to report it. State agency lobbyists don’t have to.

How much do they spend lobbying the state legislature? The figure is buried within the budgets of state agencies.

Flaherty said there are hundreds of lobbyists in Dover, all of whom have their own techniques. “There is no right or wrong way,” he said.

But some basic guidelines apply. Here are tips from The Lobby Handbook, which Flaherty used for his talk:

• Know the legislative process. This will help you save time. Bills can be tracked online. You can find out the bill’s committee, sponsors and status.

• Know your facts. Be accurate. Be brief. Leave a one-page summary of facts and figures.

• Build support for the issue. Work with other people, other groups.

Flaherty also tells people to realize that there are hundreds of issues. Your legislator, no matter how diligent, won’t necessarily be knowledgeable about your issue.

Above all, Flaherty counsels patience. Enacting laws can take years. (Defeating a law, he said, is easier than getting a law passed.)

If patience is a virtue, Flaherty qualifies as a saint.

Flaherty told of one bill that that took decades to become law.

It was a bill to allow limited voting rights for felons. He started work on the bill in 1977; it passed in 2000.

That still wasn’t the end. There was a waiting period before the law went into effect. From start to finish it took 32 years.

“You need to have patience if you’re going to be down here,” he said. “Patience is in short supply.”

Flaherty’s organization, DelCOG, is, as you might guess, a good government group. Its mission is “promoting and defending the people’s right to transparency and accountability in government.”

It’s part of a national organization that works to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act.

People often take a perverse pride in believing that we live in the worst of times; that government has never been as inefficient and venal as it is now.

Flaherty doesn’t agree. He remembers the first time he went to talk - or lobby - a senator back in 1974. The senator poured himself a beer from his office refrigerator and asked Flaherty if he’d like a cold one. (Flaherty turned him down.)

That’s much less likely to happen now. “There’s a lot less partying going on,” Flaherty said. “It’s much more serious, much more professional.”

Flaherty also recalled one of the sneakier deals in the history of the state Senate.

In 1974, Republicans held a 12-9 majority in the Senate. Two members of the Republican caucus, senators Tony Ciccione and J. Donald Isaacs, offered to switch parties in exchange for leadership positions.

Voila! Democrats now held an 11-10 edge, an advantage they have maintained for four decades, or to put it another way, since before Sen. Ernie Lopez, R-Lewes, was born.

Politicians still make deals of course. That’s part of democracy. But more so than in most states, citizens in Delaware can play a part in enacting or defeating legislation.

Just find an issue you’re passionate about. Maybe something like stricter rules for government lobbyists.

For copies of The Lobby Handbook, which was compiled with the help of the League of Women Voters of Delaware, call the Delaware Commission for Women at 302-577-5287.


Don Flood is a former newspaper editor living near Lewes. He can be reached at floodpolitics@gmail.com.