Vermont Rail Action Network

All elected officials are very affected by the letters they receive from constituents.  Since most people never bother to write, when you do, it carries great weight.  We are blessed to have a congressional delegation that has been a great help on rail issues and a Governor that is supportive - they deserve your thanks, which will help them continue to understand that this is a priority issue for Vermont.  Here are links for you to offer your comments (the Governor is further down):

Senator Bernie Sanders: http://sanders.senate.gov/comments/
Senator Pat Leahy: http://leahy.senate.gov/contact.cfm
Congressman Peter Welch: http://www.house.gov/formwelch/issue_subscribe.htm

And here are their Vermont offices:

Bernie Sanders
1 Church Street, 2nd Floor
Burlington, Vermont 05401

Pat Leahy
199 Main Street, 4th Floor
Burlington, Vermont 05401

Peter Welch
30 Main Street, Suite 350
Burlington, Vermont 05401

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Governor Peter Shumlin
109 State Street, Pavilion
Montpelier, VT 05609-0101
http://governor.vermont.gov/contact.html

Brian Searles, Transportation Secretary
One National Life Drive
Montpelier, VT 05633-5001

Joe Flynn, Rail Program Manager
One National Life Drive
Montpelier, VT 05633-5001

Vermont Rail Action Network's 2008 legislative survey reveals a substantial body of support for rail in Vermont.  Follow the the link for the raw data (in an Excel file).  Pleasing to see is that most legislators who responded have personally used Amtrak's service in Vermont.

The following are legislative candidates who have identified themselves as pro-rail.  This is not an endorsement from VRAN - this is a summation of the candidate's own statements.  Please take the time to look at the data for your specific candidate's comments, which add nuance.

FY2008 Expended    FY2009 Budget As Passed
Vtrans Total Budget:        
State Total             $191,827,193    $192,352,508
Federal Total           $173,380,370    $203,753,166
Local/Other               $6,637,766      $6,964,561
Central Garage Fund      $14,013,374     $14,930,774
Vtrans Total            $385,858,703    $418,001,009

Rail Budget:        
Rail State                $8,559,935      $8,538,901
Rail Federal              $4,780,900      $8,256,000
Rail Total               $13,340,835     $16,794,901
Rail % of State Funding         4.5%     4.4%
Rail % of Total                 3.5%     4.0%

However see below - the budget does not necessarily perfectly reflect the actual spending.

The story here is that the Agency of Transportation has consistently been spending less than the legislature has directed, with paving & maintenance consistently getting a larger share than directed.  Why has rail been the place for the agency to make up it's budget shortfall?

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Grassroots Advocacy Lessons

I just participated in GoRail’s grassroots political advocacy training and thought I’d pass along some of the main points. This is good stuff, helpful in making your voice more effective, which will help our cause.

Three main points:

- All Politics is Local (the representative cares about how it will effect their district)

- QUALITY of communication is important (be concise and focused)

- Build a long-term relationship

Additionally, the training touched on the methods of influence: letters, media, letters to the editor, meetings with staffers and representatives . . . all the time focusing on the end-goal, how that goal will help the representatives district, and what to ask specific people for to achieve the goal.

It was Tip O’Neil who said, “All politics is local.” Representatives are voted in by folks from their district and as they are busy, they focus on what is essential, which is listening first to people from their district and working on their concerns. Thus it is important to let your representative know you are from their district and that the issue you are addressing affects their district. Their may be a point of leverage in this regard, as the train might support other local concerns (travel options help economic development, for example or help families stay in touch when children move away). How it affects you personally will personify how it will affect other people too and help the representative to understand the issue. So don’t talk of the virtues of the new equipment – talk about how your own travel to your aunt in New York will be a better experience. Whatever you say will have more power if you can relate it down to how it will impact the representative’s district.

Representatives are deluged, so the more effectively you can communicate, the more impact you will have. There are some principals of effective communication (discovered by direct marketers) that are worth knowing. Most important is to be concise and focused. Say in one sentence why the issue matters (locally, to the district and to you) and what you want. The rest of your communication supports that (or, potentially, adds some gracious personal connection). Don’t ramble on, as your message will get lost. Bringing up more than one issue dilutes your effectiveness. It’s proven that keeping to one issue is more effective (as measured by direct mail sales) and less confusing.

And don’t forget you are talking to a human being, convincing them, and sharing your own human perspective. You want to get to know them over time, to appear credible, to be liked and welcomed and be helpful. Everything that makes a productive working relationship. Be gracious and positive. Not demanding. You are not a customer. They are not “The Government.” Also, they may have staff who are also human and who can be your ally. As much as you know about the person, staff or representative, will help you in communicating in a way that is easiest for them to understand and embrace.

E-mail is the main communication method for representatives, but a nice handwritten letter will stand out (handwritten is better than printed – it shows your humanity and attention) and a phone call will allow an exchange and perhaps create more of a relationship. Timing helps (ie, just before the vote, so they are thinking about what you’ve said when they make up their mind).

Letters to the editor are particularly effective and are read by representatives.

It’s very important to personalize communication and make it original. You have more credibility than the repetition of what some organization said. At the same time, it is very helpful to have a unity of message in regards to what you are asking for. Internal disagreement made public means that representatives don’t know what to do or who to believe. When the message is confused it is far less effective.