|
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
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
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
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. |
URLs: www.TheCapitol.Net/CustomPrograms/alsagenda.html
www.LegislativeTraining.com
Last updated:
September 02, 2010
|
