CSBA members lobby lawmakers on home turf
BMAD reaches three-fourths of Legislature
Published: July 9, 2012
School board members and administrators fanned out across the state to advocate for schools in the home offices of state lawmakers on Board Member Action Day June 8, CSBA’s first advocacy day to focus on state Assembly members and senators in their district offices instead of in the state Capitol, part of CSBA’s redoubled efforts to shape legislative policy.
Advocacy team members like Don Remley, a retired superintendent now on the Oroville City Elementary School District school board, said CSBA’s new “go local” strategy was effective for his team. They met with state Sen. Doug La Malfa in the Republican’s Oroville district office and with Republican Assembly member Don Logue in Chico.
“It was much less of a hassle,” Remley said afterward. “I think the members we met with were more comfortable too. Senator La Malfa [a rice farmer] drove his truck up to the office and met us with us in his plaid shirt and jeans. He looked as if he’d just come in from the fields.”
“We had more school board members participate than in previous years, and we covered more legislative offices, visiting three-fourths of legislators’ offices,” said CSBA Assistant Executive Director for Governmental Relations Dennis Meyers. His department is planning a second BMAD on federal issues in the fall.