While vocabulary may differ slightly between different state legislatures, we’ve put together a brief glossary of frequently-used terms in public affairs:
Legislative lingo is as familiar as a native language to government relations professionals. For those newly involved in the association advocacy arena, reviewing a comprehensive glossary of legislative terms may be helpful. While vocabulary may differ slightly between different state legislatures, we’ve put together a brief glossary of frequently-used terms in public affairs:
501(h) Election: The result of the process in which a 501(c)3 organization elects to lobby by submitting IRS Form 5768. You can learn more about this strategic lobbying decision by reading this blog post.
Adopt: To approve and accept an amendment or resolution
Advocacy: Attempting to influence public policy, public opinion, legislation, or a cause.
Amend: To make a change in a bill or a law, i.e., altering the bill’s language, adding a proposal, etc.
Appropriation: Amount of money designated for use in a specific project of government-identified purpose
Bill: A proposed law being considered by a legislative body
Bill Number: Each bill is assigned a number for identification prior to being presented in front of the legislative body
Bill Status: The status describes where (i.e., in which legislative body) the bill is currently being considered, or it has not been approved
Caucus: An informal gathering of legislators, typically of the same party, to discuss a legislative issue
Committee: A body within the legislative body composed of legislators, charged with reviewing items pertaining to a specific issue
Convene: To assemble and meet, i.e., when legislative bodies convene during the day
District: The identified geopolitical area that an elected official represents
Draft: Write a bill
Join Committee: A committee composed of members from both houses
Grassroots lobbying: Urging the public to communicate with their representatives on a defined issue or piece of legislation
Lobbyist: A government relations professional, or individual who is registered to represent an organization or cause by seeking to influence legislation. Also known as “Legislative Advocates”
Passed: When a bill has been approved and voted on by the necessary elected officials
Subcommittee: A subsection of legislative committees that examines a certain topic from the overarching committee’s issue
Veto: At the state level, a veto is the overriding act of a Governor disapproving an item
How much does advocacy software cost? We’ve put together a blog post to explain the logic behind pricing for different advocacy software platforms.
Through our work with trade associations and nonprofit organizations, Muster has learned much about different association management software (AMS)
Subject lines are extremely easy to change and make a huge difference in increasing advocacy open-rates.