Annual appropriations cycle is a dream come true for advocates and communicators

There is an action-packed annual process of budgeting and appropriations that encourages all citizens to participate and contribute (even monetarily) to the end product each October 1, the beginning of our new fiscal year.

The appropriations cycle is a dream come true for advocates, grassroots professionals, coalition-builders and communicators. There is enough content and timely developments to orchestrate an entire campaign around your organization’s “ask.”

The United States government is the largest source of grants, loans, contracts and other support mechanisms to achieve your organization’s goals. The enacted FY 2019 budget for this year is $4.407 trillion, and the President’s blueprint for FY 2020 is even higher.

The process is designed to be like clockwork. It starts in the first weeks of February with the submission of the President’s annual budget blueprint. I call it a “blueprint” because its New York phone book size does not reflect its meaningfulness. Quite simply, while the President writes the shopping list, Congress goes to the store and decides what to spend money on. Who wins the spending tug of war will be determined by political tides. The actual spending bills – 12 in all -- need to be enacted by October 1, 2019, or the government will shutdown. We saw the longest government shutdown in history – 35 days -- in late 2018.

American citizens and a multitude of those impacted – nonprofits, businesses (especially government contractors), local and state governments, higher education institutions, hospitals and healthcare providers, Social Security, disability and Veterans beneficiaries, and many others are fighting for their bottom lines.

Think about those who care about National Institutes of Health, Special Olympics, National Public Radio, Peace Corps, Appalachian Regional Commission, Economic Development Administration or programs of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Conversely, what about those who advocate for increased spending for the Defense Department, Homeland Security, Space Force or southern border wall?

The President’s budget triggers the media to write stories as if the President’s budget is the law of the land. And, that rightfully fires up activists and those directly impacted by funding cutbacks, agency and program eliminations and those supposed winners from the White House perspective.

Let’s not forget that the power of the purse belongs to Congress. The authorizing and appropriations subcommittees and full committees begin in late February – April to hold budget justification hearings to examine each program’s viability and purpose. These decisive hearings bring in Cabinet secretaries and sub-agency directors to defend the President’s budget as well as other policies. Getting a question asked by a member of Congress at these hearings can help build a case for your cause.

As the Cabinet secretaries and agency directors prepare for testimony, their senior Congressional affairs officers and often the witnesses make pre-emptive Hill visits to air out any dirty laundry behind closed doors rather than during the hearing. That is where well-prepared Congressional staff and your member of Congress champions of your program or project can make your case.

This is also prime time for citizens from all stripes to weigh in, using all of the tools available to them. Senators and Representatives need valuable and measureable “constituent” input as they draft, negotiate and pass -- in a divided Congress -- 12 spending bills that make up the federal budget.

Each appropriations subcommittee posts its deadline for written testimony or comments “for the record” about the FY 2020 appropriations levels under its jurisdiction. Make sure you are clear on the agency jurisdiction for each subcommittee before advocating. It is imperative that one follow the guidelines each subcommittee posts.

Some House and Appropriations subcommittees allow for in-person testimony from outside witnesses. While it is a coup to land a coveted seat at the table for these hearings, it is a wonderful way to leverage your organization’s input. This allows for video and photographic opportunities to leverage.

There are also the annual organizational sign-on letters that circulate around town, bringing together like-minded organizations to fight for funding for specific programs or projects. This is very time-intensive but it can translate into the next stage of the process – identifying and solidifying champions on Capitol Hill for your budget request.

That translates into Member of Congress sign-on letters to the House and Senate subcommittees, and now we are starting to get real in the level of support one can build for your priorities.

While the members of Congress serving on the Appropriations Committees have a front row seat and may be more able to engage at all levels of the process, the chairs and ranking members seek to include all of their colleagues’ input into final funding decisions. All 12 House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees set deadlines I n March and April to get formal input through an online portal. Congressional staff may have questions about your request or need help with the details of appropriations submissions, so you must be very available and ready to leap into action when these inquiries arise.

Many members of Congress have website forms or a set of questions staff will share with those constituents or national organizations seeking their office’s help with an appropriations request.

An organization seeking to save a program or increase funding for it may be able to make a lot of noise in the media, within its community and internally, what matters the most is the support and personal engagement of members of Congress.

While you may have heard “yes” in your advocacy (optimism is an important trait in our breed), what matter most is the level of yes as funding decisions are being made.

Let’s face it; the annual appropriations process has all of the elements for an exciting campaign – money, deficits, excesses, drama, divisions, timelines, multiple acts, scoundrels, pretenders, experts, media potential, coalitions, hidden gems, persuasive appeals, deadlines and consequences.

Mike Fulton directs the Washington, D.C., office of the Asher Agency and teaches public affairs in the West Virginia University Reed College of Media’s Integrated Marketing Communications program.

Top Tips for Making the Most of the Appropriations Process

·       Spend quality time on the substance of your funding request(s) or asks.

·       Draft a one- or two-page, information-rich white paper with the national need, specific funding ask, geographies to benefit, rationale for project and benefits (jobs or cost-savings are bonuses), and full contact information (name, title, organization, email, office and cell phone numbers).

·       Make sure you target the correct appropriations subcommittee.

·       Bring your two Senators and Representative into the conversation early and ask for their support.

·       As of this time, earmarks or “Congressionally-directed appropriations” are not available so your request may be a “plus up” of funding from the President’s budget or a “carve out” of existing annual funding for a specific agency.

·       The appropriations process is also utilized to kill new regulations or cease certain programs.

·       And, in recent years, a few authorizing bills were attached to the omnibus or minibus spending measures (clean bills are the preference but if not else is moving in a divided Congress).

·       Understand the deadlines, forms to be completed and staff who should be consulted.

·       While following the rules and timelines, know that they can be broken. For instance, the Constitution calls for the House to initiate spending bills but every once and a while the Senate moves first. The 12 spending bills should be passed and acted upon individually, but occasionally it is politically expedient to combine multiple bills or all of them into “minibus” or omnibus” measures.

·       If you can, find like-minded organizations that would support or join your appeal for the funding and project / program it will make possible.

·       Weigh in at every opportunity – Congressional office request; Congressional requests to the Appropriations Subcommittees; testify or submit input for the record, follow Subcommittee and Full Committee mark-ups, House, Senate ad Conference Committee negotiations.

·       Identify insiders who can help you follow the process (if you are not in town or do not have a member of Congress on the Appropriations Committee).

·       Consider taking a trial or purchasing CQ’s appropriations tracker to offer bill texts and committee reports before they are made public.

·       The earlier a project / program gets funded in the process, the easier it is for it to be increased or retained.

·       Sharing adverse news (competitors or opposition groups) or consequences of funding your project / program should be shared with your key supporters as early as possible.

·       If you are working with a coalition or other organizations on the same request, make sure that you are all using the same white paper and background materials to advocate in “one voice.”

·       If you learn of potential funding and are told by a Congressional aide or Committee staffer to keep it confidential, do so or face the consequences.

·       Be available at key appropriations action periods (deadlines for forms, mark-ups, House, Senate or Conference Committee consideration).

·       Regardless of the outcome -- positive or negative -- convey appreciation for everyone’s hard work and support and ask what you could do better next year.

·       Know that if successful you will have to work to secure the funding through the appropriate agency (competitive grant, cooperative agreement, contract or other vehicle).

·       Follow all ethical guidelines and avoid “quid pro quo” situations.

·       Say Thank You (and mean it)!