GRCA Commerce Quarterly Fall 2020 - 6

a message from GRCA CEO & President

A Q&A with Jim Gerlach,
President & CEO, GRCA
Q: As a former legislator,
what did you find was the
most effective advocacy
tactic?

of legislation to a vote. This does not mean that every time you vote
that everyone in your district likes it, and they will let you know
when they do not like it. You must balance from a commonsense
standpoint the specific policy language that is in the bill as well as
your knowledge of your communities, companies and constituents.
Also, understand how that legislative policy if enacted would affect
them and then make a commonsense decision based on what is best
for your constituents.

A: The most effective advocacy tactic
is one-on-one personal conversations
between employers and employees
with their legislators. That gives the
legislator an opportunity to hear
directly from people that are affected Q: Why is it important for businesses to engage
by the policies that he or she is voting with elected officials?
on, and also to learn specifically why
A: There are thousands of issues to come before elected officials
an article or bill may help or may hurt
generally and legislators more particularly every two years in every
that company, or that industry, or even
legislative session. The elected official cannot possibly be masters
the people that are employed at those
or experts in all those policy issues. So, it is very important for
companies. So, the most effective
people in the business community, both employers and employees,
advocacy tactic is inviting either the
to educate those legislators so they have a better understanding
legislator to the place of business so the
of what the real world impact is going to be on that business or
company's employees can talk to that legislator directly, or to at least
that individual employee if that policy is enacted into law. So, that
visit the legislators office in the district, Harrisburg or Washington,
is why it is important for businesses to engage because there are
D.C. to provide personal input to the legislator.
interest groups and people on all sides of that issue that are trying
to get the attention of the legislator or the elected official at any
Q: How did you balance diverse positions to
given time. If businesses do not speak up in this process, there are
vote on behalf of your constituents?
many others that are speaking up about their point of view. If the
A: Most districts are diverse in terms of the communities, industries business community is not speaking up to educate the legislator,
and issues that legislators work on. You must know constituents the legislator won't know what the business community feels and
very well. You must know the communities very well, and you therefore is going to make a decision based on the input of people
must understand what issues are going to help communities that are not necessarily going to have the right policy positions for
move forward from an economic standpoint or a quality-of-life the business community.
standpoint. Then try to work the legislative process to get that kind
Continued on page 9

6 COMMERCE QUARTERLY FALL 2020

GRCA Commerce Quarterly Fall 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRCA Commerce Quarterly Fall 2020