.
 

Custom On-Site Training

Advanced Legislative Strategies
Floor and Conference Action
(Our public course)

Do your government relations professionals need an advanced understanding of the detailed rules and procedures used in the House and Senate? This advanced conference is designed for those who must understand the rules and procedures used to delay, reshape and defeat legislation.

This program is for your staff who need to:

  • Master the floor and conference processes that spell success for your advocacy efforts

  • Learn about House and Senate--written and unwritten-- procedural rules--and how to take shortcuts.  

  • Know when and how legislation will be considered on either floor. 

  • Determine how bills can--and cannot-- be amended

  • Anticipate whether a bill will go to conference. 

  • Understand the appropriations process--and how to be engaged at every step of the process.

  Custom Training Information

Sample Agenda Lunch and breaks will be scheduled each day
Day One

Welcome and Introduction

Congressional Dynamics and the Legislative Process: How Knowing the Procedures Enables the Formulation of Strategies and Tactics and Ultimately Influences Congressional Action

  • Three Key Elements of Congressional Behavior- Politics, Policy, and Procedure
  • Learn why it is important to understand the process
  • Identify new opportunities where you can influence congressional action

The Committee System and Committee Markups

  • Understand why the drafting of legislation is strategic to its survival (CD 8.20, 8.30)
  • Learn how key legislative decisions are made during markups
  • Vehicles for markup
  • Committee and chamber markup rules
  • Committee Reports

Mastering Legislative Procedures: A Member’s Perspective

The House Rules Committee: Gatekeeper to the Floor (CD 8.90)

  • Briefly review the history of the Rules Committee, its power, and its role in recent Congresses
  • Find out how the resolutions or "rules" granted by the Rules Committee structure floor debate and amendment opportunities (CD 8.91)
  • Learn the nuances and procedural implications of the different types of "rules" by walking through the common types: open, modified, closed
  • Examine the procedures that govern floor consideration of the "rule"
  • Understand the stages when the House resolves into and rises from the Committee of the Whole
Major Legislation on the House Floor and the Amending Process
  • Understand the specific rules that govern the amendment process and voting (CD 8.111)
  • Examine the different types, forms and degrees of amendments (CD 8.121)
  • Learn the strategic importance of knowing when to offer an amendment
  • Consider the complexities of the "germaneness rule"
  • Walk through a real-life example of the House amending process
Day Two

The Dynamics of the U.S. Senate

  • Learn how the Senate's rules are designed to slow down or even defer, action on legislation by granting enormous parliamentary powers to individual senators (CD 12.50, 8.03)
  • Analyze how legislating in the Senate differs from legislating in the House (CD 8.151)
  • Discuss the 111th Congress in terms of political dynamics, leadership, and the role of partisanship

Scheduling and Calling Up Bills on the Senate Floor

  • Examine what takes place during the various stages of a typical day on the Senate floor
  • Take a behind-the-scenes look at the strategies and factors involved in scheduling legislation for Senate floor action including the interaction between the majority and minority leaders, the competing interests of senators, and procedural factors
  • Compare and contrast the scheduling of minor versus major legislation
  • Analyze the role of unanimous consent and other measures for bringing bills to the floor (CD 8.201, 8.202)
  • Learn about the practice of placing a "hold" on legislation (CD 8.190)
Senate Floor Procedures
  • Study the sequence of floor procedures that occurs after a bill has been scheduled and called up for consideration on the floor (CD 8.210)
  • Discuss the importance of the floor manager's role
  • Learn the rules pertaining to filibusters, cloture, and post-cloture filibusters (CD 8.230)
  • Examine voting procedures, and the strategies behind the use of motions to table, reconsider, and recommit (CD 8.240)
Amending Legislation on the Senate Floor
  • Examine the amendment process in the Senate (CD 8.220)
  • Learn to distinguish different types, classes and degrees of amendments
  • Discuss the modification, withdrawal and disposition of amendments
  • Understand how members’ strategies are influenced by the order in which amendments are voted on
The Role of the Conference Committee in the Legislative Process
  • Examine how conference committees have changed as Congress has changed, i.e. growth of subcommittee power, the rise of omnibus bills, use of multiple referrals
  • Learn how differences between the House and Senate are solved via amendments between the houses, and the advantages of using this process (CD 8.260, 8.270)
  • Discuss pre-conference maneuvering in the House and Senate and the key factors that determine whether a bill does or does not go to conference
  • Distinguish between House and Senate procedures for going to conference, and the conferee selection process (CD 8.270)
  • Examine the political and strategic role of instructing conferees before the conference committee meets
The Conference Committee in Action
  • Discuss the selection and the role of the conference committee chairman, how the meeting location influences the dynamics of the conference committee, the different styles of conference committees, and how subconferences are used to streamline the work of large conference committees (CD 8.280)
  • Examine the scope of what the conferees may debate, negotiating strategies used by conferees during the bargaining process, and how institutional differences--particularly the issue of germaneness--impact the bargaining process (CD 8.282)
  • Review the role of the committee staff, other members of Congress, the executive branch, and lobbyists in this final stage of the legislative process

 

Day Three

Congressional Floor Strategies and Tactics

  • Review actual applications of parliamentary procedural "tactics" employed by House and Senate Members/ staff to achieve their objectives
  • Presentation of actual case studies of strategies and tactics used on the House and Senate floor to influence the results of legislation
  • Discussion of "options" used to influence legislation pending resolution by the full House of Representatives and the Senate
Strategies and Tactics You Can Use to Create Results for Your Organization
  • Formulating and implementing political lobbying strategies
  • Sponsors, champions, and handlers
  • What federal agencies need to know
  • When to engage in the legislative process

Influencing the Appropriations Process: How to Get an Earmark for Your Program
  • Overview of the appropriations process
  • What are earmarks
  • Making your case at every stage of the process
  • Education and advocacy


All custom training is tailored for each organization and audience. Topics from this program can be combined with topics from our other programs and with topics from your existing training programs.

Sample Agendas

Sample agendas of different versions of this program tailored for previous custom clients are available in Adobe PDF.

See our Sample Agendas page for more.

Audience Level Attendees should have a knowledge of, or a minimum of one year's experience working with, the legislative process in the House and the Senate, or completion of our Congressional Dynamics and the Legislative Process course recommended.
Audience Size This program is most effective for between 15 and 30 attendees.

Don't have enough people for a custom, on-site program? You can still train your staff at our public course.

Previous Clients Variations of this program have been presented for federal agencies.

Our selected client list includes clients who have purchased custom training, sent staff to our public programs and who have purchased our publications.

Faculty A team of more than 5 experts, each with at least 10 years' experience in the legislative process, teach this intensive 3-day conference.
Rave Reviews

 

"Indispensable!" Partner, Patton Boggs 

"Will be a more proficient lobbyist." Lobbyist (12 year's experience)

"Quality of presenters is unrivaled.  [Congressional] Deskbook is priceless.  Another outstanding course by TheCapitol.Net." Attorney/Analyst, FAA

"This is an excellent seminar regardless of Hill experience of the student."  Partner, Patton Boggs

Course Materials Materials can include personal copy of the Training Edition of the Congressional Deskbook for each attendee.
Length and Location

Usually requires 3 days.  

This program is usually held in Washington, DC.

Internal Marketing To help you publicize and market a custom program to your organization's audience, we can provide printed materials and language for your own internal promotion and publicity.
Fee The fee for this program depends on the location, number of attendees, length, and training materials.  Call us for details, or complete our custom program information request for more information.  

If you don't have enough people for a custom, on-site program, you can still train your staff at our public course.
 

What is included in the fee?

TheCapitol.Net tailors each program to meet your training and educational objectives. Before we issue a cost proposal, we will work with you to tailor a program to meet your training objectives

The program fee includes pre-program development and design, materials for your internal marketing and promotion, all course materials, and faculty chosen for your topic and your audience at the time and location you choose.

Our custom program clients provide the classroom/meeting space, all audio visual equipment, any food and beverages, all registration functions, and travel arrangements for attendees. When the program is held outside the Washington, DC metro area, travel arrangements for faculty can be made by the client or by us. 

We can also provide meeting space, audio visual equipment, food and beverage, registration, and travel arrangements, though this affects program cost.

FAQs See FAQs About Our Custom On-Site Training.
Payment Payment methods we accept for custom training include checks and EFT/ACH.
About Us TheCapitol.Net, Inc., is a non-partisan small business, and a Virginia corporation.  We are registered with CCR. See our Capability Statement and our About Us page for more details.

FEIN: 54-1917701     DUNS: 04-273-5071      CAGE: 1K5S4

Related Custom Training
Related Resources
Need more information?
Non-Partisan TheCapitol.Net is a non-partisan firm, and the opinions of its faculty, authors, clients and the owners and operators of its vendors are their own and do not represent those of TheCapitol.Net. 
 

Bookmark and Share

 

URLs: www.TheCapitol.Net/CustomPrograms/alsagenda.html    
www.LegislativeTraining.com

Last updated: September 02, 2010

  TheCapitol.Net > Custom, On-Site Training > Advanced Legislative Procedure

  FAQs Client Care Visiting
Washington, DC
General Links  
  Public Courses
Payment, Cancellation, Substitution & Transfer
Custom On-Site Training
Publications
Capitol Learning Audio Courses TM
- Limited License
Congress and Washington, DC

Policies
Pre-filled Form W-9 (1-page PDF)
Registration Information
Payment, Cancellation, Substitution, and Transfer Policy
Capitol Hill Hotels and Restaurants
Maps and Directions
Weather/Snow Policy
What to Wear
Where to Stay
Return Policy
Suggestion Forms
General Information About DC
How to Get Into, Around And Out Of Washington, DC
Maps and Directions
Books and Maps for Visitors
Books for Children
Museums, Memorials & Monuments
Song, Dance & Theater
Sports
Beltway Map

DC Weather
About Us
- News
Legislative Glossary
You Have Two Cows
Privacy Notice
Clients
Faculty and Authors
Links
Research Links
Email Update
Contact Us
Search
 
 


TheCapitol.Net, Inc.

PO Box 25706, Alexandria, VA  22313-5706
Phone: 703-739-3790   Fax: 703-739-1195    Email Us

Copyright © 1999-2010 by TheCapitol.Net, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.