“Our Voice in Concord is Only as Loud as Your Voice at Home.”
You are likely familiar with this mantra. It succinctly captures the essence of our grassroots strategy, particularly highlighting its significance in our home state of New Hampshire.
The New Hampshire General Court, the state’s legislature, consists of 400 members in the House of Representatives and 24 in the Senate, making a total of 424 legislators. Given New Hampshire’s relatively small population of approximately 1.38 million, this results in a remarkably low citizen-to legislator ratio. Because of this, there is a real possibility that you or someone in your shop knows one of these folks.
Making these personal connections is a key component in successful grassroots campaigns.
Every year, we are faced with several issues at the Statehouse. These issues range from repealing or modifying the state’s safety inspection program to reforms to the state budget and everything in between. Soon, our Legislative Committee will approve our 2024 priority bills, which will be communicated to our entire membership.
When faced with these issues, we lean on you to help make our case and move the needle in our favor. Your help can range from making phone calls to legislators you know to sending pre-composed emails through our grassroots advocacy website.
When your help is needed, we will send out “Call-to-Action” emails alerting you of what needs to be done. Most of the time, you will be asked to make calls or send an email to your legislator(s), which is simple and only takes a few minutes to do.
We also encourage you to engage your staff to do the same. Please note that all outreach to an elected official is important, but a personal call from a constituent is one of the most powerful things you can do.
We look forward to sharing with you our 2024 Legislative Forecast which will include legislation that may impact your business and some which could be a direct threat. But we still ask that you respond. We need to respond to all issues as a unified front.
We are stronger as a team representing the NH motor vehicle industry as a whole. If we start separating or cherry-picking issues, our message becomes weaker, and our grassroots campaigns are less impactful. It’s imperative that legislators hear from you!
Remember: you and your staff are their constituents, not “hired guns” roaming the halls of the Statehouse. The decisions they make have a direct impact on your business. Let’s be loud; let’s be heard. This starts at home. Your voice is key to successful grassroots campaigns.
As always, we are here to help. You can contact me at dbennett@nhada.com or (603) 224-2369.
