Legislative Advocacy: General How-To

About LAAC Legislative Advocacy
The Legal Aid Association of California is a zealous advocate advancing the needs of legal services on a statewide level regarding funding and access to justice issues. Our advocacy policy details when we act.

To set up an alert on State bills
If you would like to set up an alert on any of these bills, go to http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html, search for the bill, then click subscribe. You will get occasional updates when the bill’s status has changed.

To write a letter of support or opposition to your legislator

If you or your staff would like to write a letter of support or opposition to your legislator, you can search for the legislator contact information here: http://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/.

To get legislative info

LAAC gets a lot of our information from Around the Capitol. We highly recommend you check out the site and their daily newsletter, the Nooner, if you want to follow Sacramento politics.

Another great way to find out about current and relevant California legislation is the California Association of Nonprofits’ legislation tracker, available here: http://www.calnonprofits.org/advocacy/bill-tracker.

For LSC-funded programs: Caveats on communications with legislators
If you work at an LSC-funded program, as a reminder, staff is prohibited from speaking with legislators without a specific invitation to comment from that legislator. Many legislators have requested comments from LSC-funded programs, and LAAC tracks all legislator letters requesting information–to the best of LAAC’s knowledge. If you have any questions, please contact Salena Copeland, at scopeland@laaconline.org.

Other Resources

LAAC recommends resources from the following organizations and agencies.

California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform CANHR has updates in its e-newsletter and on its website.

Center for Elder Abuse and Neglect at the University of California, Irvine published an issue brief on elder abuse and related legislation.

California Partnership to End Domestic Violence CPEDV tracks California legislation on its website and offers fact sheets and its position on bills.

Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law has updates for both California and federal bills.

Disability Rights California has legislative recommendations on issues affecting people with disabilities.

Judicial Branch of California, Office of Governmental Affairs, has updates on court-related legislation.

Western Center on Law and Poverty Western Center’s legislative blog has great resources and updates on both California and federal legislation.