Thoughts on Creating a Legislative Agenda

Legislation is at the very core of being a Member of Congress. From a staff perspective, the desire to be involved in the development and consideration of legislation is often a primary motivation for coming to Capitol Hill. From a Member perspective, it is an opportunity to literally help put ideas into our nation’s history and to seek policy changes to address issues of concern to one’s constituency.

While not every Member of Congress is driven by a desire to legislate, they would be wise to develop and implement a legislative agenda if they wish to continue serving in office. It can be daunting, particularly for inexperienced staff or Members, to think about creating a broad legislative agenda. However, it also should be viewed as an exciting, if not exhilarating, opportunity.

So, what is a legislative agenda? A simple definition is that it is the legislative work that a Member of Congress does while in office. It can be for the term of an entire Congress, a single session, or over the course of a career.

You have two primary tools at your disposal when constructing a legislative agenda. One is the introduction of legislation, including bills, amendments, and resolutions. The other is the cosponsorship of legislation other Members have introduced. A secondary tool can be letters, either solo or with colleagues, to Administration officials, Congressional Leadership, committee chairs, etc. The votes a Member takes are yet another tool. The work done with these tools can be supplemented by floor remarks, whether live or inserted as appropriate during, One Minutes or Senate Morning Business, legislative debate, Special Orders, or Extensions of Remarks.

To use these tools effectively, you must know where you want to go. Two questions should help you determine this. The first is “What do you or your Member want to accomplish?” and the second is “What do your constituents want or need you to accomplish?”

As a Member, Chief of Staff, and Legislative Director (LD), you must think about these questions broadly. For example, are you a freshman or less senior Member who wants to serve on the Ways and Means or Appropriations Committees? What are the most important issues to the district or state? What issues, whether you want to or not, must you engage on in order to be prepared for your next election? The answers to the last two questions can be found through your local media, constituent correspondence and contact, time spent in the district.

As a Legislative Assistant, I encourage you to think about these same questions but with a special focus on the issues within your portfolio. For example, if you handle veterans’ affairs and there are a large number of veterans in your district or state, you should consider if there is legislation your boss can cosponsor or introduce that would address any requested or needed action. You should have some idea of potential bills, actions, or areas of need from constituent mail and meetings with national and local veterans’ organizations.

From there, you can develop a list of potential actions that could constitute a veterans’ legislative agenda. A best practice would be to then meet with the Veterans Committee staff to understand if the Committee is supportive or has concerns about any of the bills or actions you are considering. The Committee may be willing to help you draft a bill or letter to the Administration and will share with you any concerns they have about your proposed actions.

If they have concerns, you can of course still recommend that your boss take action but if you do, you need to make sure they understand the committee’s position and that the Committee knows and understands why your boss and you are taking the action.

Once you have your legislative agenda and have shared it with your LD, it is a best practice to also share it with your Communications Director. Ideally, the three of you, perhaps with the Chief of Staff or Member, will map out the actions of your veterans’ legislative agenda and maximize the opportunity presented for earned press and district goodwill.

For Members, Chiefs of Staff, and LDs, when considering the broader legislative agenda, it is important to think about how it could help you advance on your current committee or to service on another committee if that is what you wish. For example, if you want to serve on Ways and Means, consider whether there is an opportunity to serve on the Budget Committee. If there is, dive deep into the areas – health, tax, and entitlements – that are within the Ways and Means Committee’s jurisdiction. If you are not on Budget, try to get on a subcommittee of your current committee that touches some of the issues within Ways and Means jurisdiction and work with the Ways and Means Committee to constructively engage on those issues. Talk to the committee staff and see if there are bills they would like your boss to cosponsor or if there are letters your boss could lead, etc.

Additionally, at a minimum, each office should have a legislative agenda that addresses the economy, health care, and national security. These are very broad areas, and many issues can fall under them. For example, tax, the national debt, trade, and transportation can all be considered economic issues. A great way to develop a legislative agenda is to ask each member of the legislative staff to develop one for the issue areas they handle and then to review and refine them into one strategy. You may also consider inviting other staff members to participate in the exercise; these include the District Director, field representatives, caseworkers, and press team and could include all staff for that matter.

One of the most memorable things I have read about creating a legislative agenda involved former President John F. Kennedy. During his time in Congress, he visited each of the communities in his district to discuss what they needed to spur economic development. He then returned to Washington, DC and introduced legislation to address the needs he had discovered and worked to move pieces of it on different appropriate vehicles.

Finally, some of the most memorable advice my former boss, The Honorable William M. Thomas (R-CA) ever gave me comes to mind. “Mike, you don’t give people things they don’t want.” For the past two decades, that advice has come to mind on many occasions, and I believe it will help you as you work to craft your legislative agenda.

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