As a Regional Coordinator for the USPSA, I oversee the all-volunteer force of our Youth Advisory Council for seven western states. In each state we have a national representative and in some cases a state coordinator. We all work together to pursue endorsements from our personal rolodexes, local media, local elected officials and first responders, civic organizations, and on and on up the chain to Congressional Representatives and Senators to be co-sponsors of our bill. Almost every single case of a Congressional co-sponsorship was a result of one of our YACers having direct contact with that politician as their constituent and their dogged pursuit to get the message about the Academy in front of them.
I had little to no experience with grassroots organizing before I became involved with the Academy movement. There were many things I cared about policy wise, but never knew how, or clearly felt as passionate about any other as I do the Academy to take action. In this case I have a strong opinion, and the ability to articulate it, even though learning how to get that message out has been harder than I thought. In many cases, it has been like trying to grow grass, without the benefit of a sod farm. One blade at a time…
This past Sunday we had our monthly conference call with Chris and Shawn and all the state chairs and coordinators. We reviewed all the goings-on in the House and Senate, as well as all the endorsements and publicity at the local level. I find that we are all most excited to hear about these Congressional updates because a new co-sponsorship somehow feels the most tangible in moving the cause forward, even though it is often the grassroots work that gives us the credibility because we have such vast and growing support for the idea.
My biggest challenge in working with my team is keeping them engaged at the grassroots level, especially since it felt like we had such huge momentum in 2008. Not only was it a monumental election year, but we held a National Conference in DC in April and had a wildly successful Youth Conference in July which resulted in huge co-sponsorship gains after the YACers stormed Capitol Hill. And then, reality smacked down, the economy faltered, health care debates derailed, and my little lawn suffered a huge drought.
But a very interesting piece of information came up on the conference call that I think bears repeating LOUDLY. At this point in the 111th Congress, we have 75 co-sponsors in the House for H.R. 2102, The US Public Service Academy Act. At the exact same time in the 110th Congress, we had less than half that number of co-sponsors. Less than half! So in fact, all the fertilizing we have been doing since then and now IS WORKING! All the Op-Ed writing, all the emailing, all the phone calling, all the tweeting, all the elevator speech-making, all the little things that feel like they get lost are actually growing into real co-sponsorships from real Representatives. The drought is over my friends, and we are coming to plant you in the lawn next!
