The National Recreation and Park Association Board of Trustees Adopts Legislative Advocacy Task Force Recommendations by Ted Flickinger, Ph.D. IAPD Executive Director and Managing Editor

Editor's Note: Dr. Flickinger served as Chairman of the NRPA Board of Trustees Legislative Advocacy Task Force.

The NRPA Legislative Advocacy Task Force was charged with reviewing the Association's role as a national advocate for parks and recreation with a specific/ecus on influencing federal legislation. The task force first met at the 1992 NRPA Congress in Cincinnati and again at the 1993 Mid-Year Meeting in Arlington, Virginia. Final recommendations were submitted to the Board of Trustees on October 24, 1993.

In general, the task force believes that the value of a national organization such as ours is largely defined by its causes and the investments it is willing to make to affect change. Beyond our present advocacy focus, other functions are critical, including issue-oriented research and analysis, communications and media relations. Outreach to state and local agencies, individual members and a larger network of potential national allies must also be a high priority. Thus, in our judgment, the issue of effective advocacy must be aggressively embraced by the NRPA's leadership and membership.

CURRENT ASSESSMENT
The current and future need for effective legislative advocacy at all levels is imperative. In some communities, park and recreation agencies have been eliminated or arbitrarily restructured. In other communities, park and recreation budgets have been drastically cut. Federal funds for local park and recreation grants and technical assistance have been substantially reduced. To some people, the catch words "reinventing government" have come to mean the dissolution of public park and recreation systems in favor of commercial organizations. In addition, the educational curriculum of parks and recreation is under assault at various universities nationwide.

Effective public park and recreation policymakers and executives have always sought partnerships, fostered "ownership" by citizens, and responded to current needs and future trends. The social and environmental conditions that originally gave rise to public park and recreation agencies are still apparent in different context and dimensions. We believe the needs, demands and opportunities for public parks and recreation today, and in the foreseeable future, are as great as at any other time in our nation's history. These circumstances demand that our Association's public legislative advocacy functions be broadly defined and strengthened accordingly.

Legislative advocacy is the motivating force of democracy, and we will achieve our collective goals not by avoiding it, but by embracing its many aspects. Unfortunately, many of us remain indifferent to the politics of parks and recreation and the influences of elected representatives. In a sense, we create our own future. Therefore, the task force believes that new and aggressive strategies to influence public decision makers at all levels must be developed.

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We must enlist and nurture the involvement of citizens who share our belief in the value of parks and recreation for all people. If we choose not to exercise that right, then we must accept the decisions that others make on our behalf. The decision-making process affecting park and recreation issues is far too important to be left solely to politicians.

The task force proposes a number of specific actions which, in its judgment, could ultimately lead to greater involvement by our members in NRPA legislative advocacy functions, improved coverage of issues and more effective investment of national public resources.

I. The task force has agreed that the results of the Needs Assessment Study of the NRPA membership should be reflected in the priorities of the Association — our mission, our goals and our objectives. We recommend that NRPA investigate allocating a greater proportion of its budget and staff to legislative advocacy since this was one of the highest priorities of the NRPA membership. This assessment should be reflected in the fiscal year 1994-1995 budget.

II. The NRPA staff must direct its efforts toward building a national/state legislative network by providing field training to ensure a solid foundation for its grassroots legislative advocacy program. The NRPA's National Issues Action Committee "alert" procedures are based on effective responses by the states. The task force surveyed state associations regarding their current legislative alert systems and methods they use to communicate with their members. Thirty-two states responded to the survey. Only sixteen of these states have an ongoing legislative alert system to notify their members of state and federal legislation. A mere six states rated their legislative advocacy program as "good" or "excellent." There is no question that we need more NRPA members and state associations involved in legislative advocacy.

The Association should develop a model advocacy program for consideration by the states. The program should include monitoring, networking and communications functions, and focus on states that presently lack an effective program. We also recommend that the roles, responsibilities and effectiveness of NRPA's National Issues Action Committee be assessed in detail, with specific attention to regional/state relationships and the involvement of regional staff. We suggest that NRPA periodically publish a handbook that clearly outlines the promotion of legislative issues and the significance of membership involvement. This handbook would be distributed to the state associations, branches and regional offices. A video tape could also be developed to promote legislative advocacy. We especially urge the states to retain, for multiple years, those legislative chairpersons who perform effectively.

III. The NRPA should assist its regional offices and state associations in the formulation of ongoing seminars and workshops to sharpen the skills of persons involved in public advocacy. A team of experts could rotate to regional and state meetings to assist with advocacy workshops and issue briefings. We estimate that less than 7 percent of the NRPA membership is involved in advocacy. Knowing this, we need to educate our membership on the significance of continued personal involvement.

IV. NRPA should establish more media relations workshops with a focus on issues and advocacy. In our judgment, NRPA is not effectively "making our case" with the media on a sustained basis. Legislators and other public decision makers are extremely sensitive to the media, and many believe, rightly or wrongly, that the media reflects the majority of public opinion. On occasion, legislation has passed or failed on the basis of media coverage. We believe legislative advocacy embraces an array of communication functions. We further recommend sessions at the Congress for Recreation and Parks, regional meetings and state conferences on how we can impact policy and legislation through media coverage.

V. The NRPA Citizen/Board Member (CBM) Branch should develop a program to aggressively recruit citizens for involvement in state and national advocacy. We also encourage the development of a legislative advocacy plan for individuals who subscribe to the publicationFriends of Parks & Recreation. Vendors and those individuals

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who do business with park and recreation agencies nationwide, must also be encouraged to become involved in the grassroots legislative advocacy program.

VI. NRPA should take the lead to create and foster the continuation of a core of public purpose organizations representative of counties, cities and states focused principally on recreation and parks. This coalition would organize events to foster the broad sharing of views, develop a consensus on issues and create a national profile reflecting the political interest in parks and recreation. We further recommend that this public coalition investigate offering a first-ever national futures conference named "New Horizons for Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources." The NRPA should be the leading organization in this coalition and should seek the support of the Department of Interior, the White House, and congressional leaders in planning, organizing and implementing this futures conference. The conference should be designed to identify issues and trends for the next 10 years and to develop a coalition-based, pro-active legislative program.

VII. The NRPA should develop a state and national "Who Knows Who" database. This database should be continuously updated, especially after state and congressional elections. State and national memberships would be surveyed through various means, including newsletters, Parks & Recreation magazine, regional councils and others, to learn which members have personal contacts with legislators and legislative staff. The database would be put into notebook form to be used by state legislative committees and the NRPA staff when specific legislators or legislative staff need to be contacted on issues affecting parks, recreation and conservation.

VIII. The NRPA should consider a "Citizens for Parks and Recreation Committee" to be financially supported by a voluntary "check-off" option on national (and potentially state) dues statements. The Committee would conduct a national special event held annually to serve as a fund-raiser with proceeds earmarked for the legislative advocacy program. These dedicated funds would be used to support direct lobbying efforts, separate from NRPA's 501 (C) 3 status and budget. The Committee could also consider a special legislative club comprised of individuals who contribute $100 or more per year to the legislative advocacy program. These suggestions could be augmented with many other brainstorming ideas generated by the Committee.

Concluding oral statement made by Dr. Flickinger:
"For the last 12 months, I have visited (along with other members of the Legislative Advocacy Task Force) with various organizations such as the NRPA Branches, Regional Councils, Council of Association Presidents, Council of Executive Directors, National Issues Action Committee, the Public Policy Committee and many other NRPA members about the recommendations I just presented. The message we received was crystal clear—legislative advocacy should be one of the highest priorities of the NRPA. In voicing their opinions, these individuals and groups emphasized over and over again that it's time to implement an ongoing legislative advocacy program.

"With this message in mind, I want to make the motion that:

"The National Recreation and Park Association Board of Trustees adopt the Legislative Advocacy Task Force Recommendations as presented and the NRPA staff develop apian of action, by the 1994 midyear meeting in Washington, D.C., to implement these recommendations. And, that the financial resources be made available in the 1994-95 NRPA Operating Budget to support the action plan and recommendations."

Respectfully submitted,
Ted Flickinger, Chairman
NRPA Legislative Advocacy Task Force

Vote: 66 Yeas, 0 Nays.

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