ATLANTA – When the General Assembly adjourned after having passed hundreds of bills, that’s not the end of the process for people wanting to see their proposals become law. Here’s some advice from experts on how to get the governor to sign them – or veto them.
“I’ve worked with some developing nations, and our access to government is beyond compare,” said Polly McKinney, a lobbyist for the Voices for Georgia’s Children advocacy. “The fact that you can just pick up the phone and call the governor is not something people anywhere else can do.”
Well, there’s no guarantee you’ll get the governor on the phone, but his staff does take messages. And McKinney says that can be a good way to demonstrate the amount of popular support for a given bill.
“The most important thing is to be polite and respectful. Honestly, I think everyone in state government tries to do what they think is right,” she said, echoing advice given by other veteran lobbyists.
Threats, protest rallies and claims of political influence are usually not effective and often backfire, insiders say.
Governors have 40 days to sign or veto legislation after the General Assembly goes home, or the bill becomes law anyway.
Gov. Nathan Deal usually signs almost every bill that the legislature passes because he and his staff have worked with lawmakers, advocates and lobbyists during the session to address his concerns, legislators say. And they praise him for being willing to meet to hear their reasons for or against bills.
And a good way for individuals to get an appointment with Deal is to ask their representatives or senators to request it, and it helps if they are speaking for a group or association and not just themselves, advises Brian Robinson, Deal’s deputy chief of staff for communications.
Robinson and his team regularly post to Facebook and Twitter about the governor’s doings, but they don’t monitor social media as a way to gauge public opinion. However, they’re not blind to it.
“Just a few years ago, the cannabis oil bill would have generated much controversy, but public opinion showed strong support building for this change as Georgians learned more about why it was needed and how it would work,” Robinson said.
Deal wound up campaigning on that issue and even choked up Thursday when he signed this year’s version into law before a large audience and banks of television cameras.
In his first term, Deal’s decision to relax some of the spending reforms to the HOPE Scholarship from the prior year were also shaped by what ordinary Georgians were saying, according to Robinson.
“Public input also played a role in how we implemented reforms to save HOPE,” he said. “That collaborative process delivered a bipartisan bill to save a program that’s beloved by Georgia voters. Tough choices had to be made, but the input from many people rendered a final product that was as fair as one could expect.”
Governors also get advice from aides in their office as well as the heads of state agencies impacted by the legislation. Many lobbyists concentrate their personal attention after the session on these staffers and merely send a letter to Deal.
Still, the decision to sign or veto may revolve around technicalities. Attorneys carefully consider the wording and possible unintended consequences of each bill.
Once Deal has decided to sign a bill, there is one more consideration before he puts pen to paper, the order in which he does it since many take effect immediately. Often several bills make changes to the same section of existing law. To keep one from confounding the provisions of another, they have to be signed in a logical sequence.
Timing sometimes depends simply on people’s schedules.
“We try to accommodate legislators interested in a bill signing, and we try to find a time when they can all be here,” Robinson said. “The governor always wants to get around the state each year too because these laws affect everyone, and we have to look on the schedule to see when those trips are possible. He wants every part of Georgia to know their needs and interests are represented in state government, and their opinions matter.”
Follow Walter Jones on Twitter @MorrisNews and Facebook or contact him at walter.jones@morris.com.
