During the 2011 Legislative Session, ARRM’s disability advocates were a constant force to be reckoned with at the State Capitol and in legislators’ home districts. You turned up by the hundreds for ARRM’s Day at the Capitol, flooded legislators’ mailboxes with personal letters, attended the MN-CCD’s Tuesday at the Capitol in record numbers, and conducted numerous site visits throughout the state.
Despite this frenetic activity, we experienced some grassroots losses this session. When the dust settled after the special session, disability advocates were hoping to fare better and are rightly disappointed with many of the provisions in the final health and human services bill – whether they are intentional rate cuts or last-minute mistakes. (Rest assured, ARRM is diligently working to undo any provisions related to de-licensing group homes.)
Even so, it’s important to point out that we made tremendous progress toward achieving our grassroots objectives. Increasing our “people power” is ARRM's number one grassroots goal, and your far-reaching advocacy work is a testament to our collective power. We believe that cuts to disability providers would have been much worse had there been no or little grassroots activity, and we're truly proud our grassroots wins this session, which are nothing short of amazing:
- Barb and Sara visited 18 member agencies to provide free grassroots advocacy training, and have more visits planned in the fall.
- In total, ARRM members met with 166 of the 201 state legislators, and 53 of the 61 new freshman legislators. Thanks to your efforts, most state legislators now have a disability contact in their district and a clear picture who their vote affects.
- Over 1,000 people registered for ARRM’s 2011 Day at the Capitol February 8th, making it the biggest turnout in ARRM history! We met with 152 legislators and had a motivating rally featuring the Organic Cowboys, Health and Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson, and House Finance Chair Jim Abeler, to name a few. An image of deeply engaged self-advocates, family members, and staff is forever burned into the memories of the policy-makers who attended our rally.
- Besides filling the halls of the Capitol for ARRM’s Day at the Capitol, members met with legislators nearly 50 other times at the capitol during session. During these meeting, you shared your ideas and stories with legislators in a more personal, intimate setting.
- Members also reached out to legislators via 20 town hall meetings and personal letters. We launched the Pen Your Priorities campaign in March, and self-advocates, staff and family members sent hundreds of letters to lawmakers, illustrating what potential cuts would mean for Minnesota's most vulnerable citizens.
- You used ARRM’s social media tools to stay up-to-date: We have over 600 Facebook fans, over 350 Twitter followers and 400 + blog subscribers.
- And finally, members held over 60 site visits this session. ARRM has long said that site visits are the most effective way to show your legislator the work you do. We heard encouraging stories of legislators scheduled to visit for a half hour, but staying nearly two hours. These visits make the greatest impact, so keep inviting legislators out to your homes!
The grassroots education and engagement phase is happening now, when legislators are in their home districts, so we encourage you to invite all lawmakers to your summer events.
Also, please remember to keep checking ARRM’s grassroots calendar for events that are taking place in your community. And save the date for ARRM’s 2012 Day at the Capitol, which kicks off with a rally in the Capitol Rotunda on March 1st, 2012, from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
--Sara Grafstrom, Field Coordinator, and Barb Brynstad, Communications Director
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