SHRM Advocacy Team: SHRM Advocacy Team: SHRM Advocacy Team: SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public Policy Shaping HR Public Policy Shaping HR Public Policy Shaping HR Public Policy Kathleen Kathleen Kathleen Kathleen Coulombe Coulombe Coulombe Coulombe, Senior Associate, Government Relations , Senior Associate, Government Relations , Senior Associate, Government Relations , Senior Associate, Government Relations October 10, 2013 October 10, 2013 October 10, 2013 October 10, 2013
Transcript
SHRM Advocacy Team:SHRM Advocacy Team:SHRM Advocacy Team:SHRM Advocacy Team:Shaping HR Public PolicyShaping HR Public PolicyShaping HR Public PolicyShaping HR Public Policy
Kathleen Kathleen Kathleen Kathleen CoulombeCoulombeCoulombeCoulombe, Senior Associate, Government Relations, Senior Associate, Government Relations, Senior Associate, Government Relations, Senior Associate, Government Relations
October 10, 2013October 10, 2013October 10, 2013October 10, 2013
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public Policy
Federal Initiative
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public Policy
Advocacy: A Critical Ingredient
Federal Public Policy
Member Advocacy
Regulatory /Judicial Affairs
State Public Policy
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public PolicyPositive Legislative Environment
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public PolicyAdvocacy: A Critical Ingredient
� Be the voice on key HR issues in the community
� Offer strategic educational programming for HR professionals
� Support SHRM strategic priority while increasing visibility on “hot”
HR issues
� Contribute to SHAPE objectives / CLA areas of Government
Affairs
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public Policy
Advocacy: A Critical Ingredient
� SHRM provides speakers on advocacy and public policy issues for state council and chapter programs
� Monthly HR Advocate conference calls to share successes / challenges and hear from policy insiders
� Advocacy Captain Toolkit to help build HR Advocacy Teams
� Sample press releases, marketing brochures, media strategies to support local A-Team program
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public Policy
Importance and Purpose of the SHRM Advocacy Team (A-Team)
� Intended to build upon successful but ad-hoc country-wide efforts in place (DITB, DITD, conference Hill Advocacy Days)
Two participation levels
� HR Advocate
� Advocacy Captain
� Four “soloist” lobbyists vs. “choir” of 270,000 SHRM activists
� Members represent diverse opinions
� Members comprise entire spectrum of employer settings
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public Policy
�Developed to ensure when policy decision-makers (legislators, regulators, etc.) develop workplace policy, the voice of HR is heard via a “local network”
�Since MoC’s are most responsive to their constituents, informs legislators of policy impacts upon employers in her / his district
�SHRM members best understand / are best suited to communicate how public policy affects employees, employers & the HR profession as a whole
�SHRM’s Regional-Chapter structure & congressional districts do not align
Importance and Purpose of the SHRM Advocacy Team (A-Team)
� A-Team Captains & HR Advocates repeatedly called upon as a resource by legislators
� Working Families Flexibility Act (H.R. 1406) passed House by a 223-204 vote
� SHRM member Juanita Phillips of Huntsville, Ala. testified before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections in support of H.R. 1406
� HR professionals reached 358 U.S. House members by sending 1,021 letters
� During the April 15-19 congressional recess, A-Team members met with 24 House offices
� Notably, one of our Pennsylvania A-Team members called an undecided House Representative the morning of the vote, and hours later, that member of Congress tweeted out his support for the bill!
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public Policy
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public Policy
� Must be a SHRM member in good standing
� Strong preference for prior or current experience as an HR professional (HR certification highly desirable)
� Must live within the congressional district he / she is representing as an Advocacy Captain
� Appointment is made by SHRM with input from state councils and chapter representatives, among others
� Serve a two-year term beginning the first day of January and ending the last day of December. May be reappointed for additional terms. It is advisable that one serves in this position for multiple terms.
Advocacy Captain Requirements
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public PolicyAdvocacy Captain Job Description
� Commit 30 minutes to 1 hour per month most months; up to 2 – 4 hours during months with face-to-face legislator meetings
� Serve as the key advocacy contact in your congressional district
� Develop and maintain (or foster) relationships with Congress & their staff
� Recruit and train colleagues / allies to manage as district assets as well as successor Advocacy Captains
� Understand SHRM’s priority issues and initiatives for sharing with team members
� Learn SHRM’s online advocacy and feedback system
� Inform legislative directors on activities in the district
� Attend the SHRM Employment Law and Legislative Conference, as appropriate
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public PolicyAdvocacy Captain Resources
Resources
• Advocacy Trainings
• Advocacy Toolkit
• Fact Sheets
• One-pagers
• HR Advocates
Online
• http://bit.ly/SHRMA-Team
• http://bit.ly/A-TeamFeedback
• Social Media – Twitter; SHRM Connect, etc.
• Webinars
Communications
• Email Alerts / Activations
• Quarterly / Monthly Conference Calls
• Issue Briefings
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public PolicyJoin the A-Team and Gain Information
http://bit.ly/JoinTheA-Team
http://bit.ly/AboutSHRMA-Team
http://bit.ly/A-TeamResourcePage
http://bit.ly/A-TeamVideo
Follow us on Twitter @SHRMATeam and @SHRMAdvocacy
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public Policy
Communicating and Building Relationships w/ Federal and State
Officials
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public Policy
2014 Employment Law and Legislative Conference
March 16-19
Washington, DC
www.shrm.org/conferences/leg
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public PolicyRules of engagement
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public PolicyRemember
� You are the constituent
� You are the expert – you deal with these issues on a daily basis and realize their real-world implications
� Few Members of Congress and State legislators have an HR background
� Use personal workplace experiences that relate to
issues
� It’s OK to say you don’t know the answer to any questions and that you
will follow up after the meeting
� Follow-up with your meeting host – send a thank you e-mail that
reiterates your position
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public Policy
Citizen advocacy using social media
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public PolicyOnly 3 New Congressional Members Don't Have Twitter Accounts
� Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, might even qualify for elite Twitter status with 72,600 and 39,000 followers respectively.
� So who are the odd legislators out?
– Sen. Angus King (Maine)
– Rep. Scott Perry (Pennsylvania)
– Rep. Doug LaMalfa (California)
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public PolicySocial media – follow your member
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public Policy
Phone Calls
District Meeting
Earned Media
Online Mobilization
Networking /
Ally Development
Town Hall Meetings
Personal Letters
Tactics – It’s how we break through!
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public Policy
Federal Update and Action Alert
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public Policy
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public Policy
Sources: Fawn Johnson, “The Immigration Storm That Never Struck,” National Journal, August 28, 2013; Seung Min Kim, “Immigration bill 2013: Immigration vote may wait until October, Paul Ryan Says,” Politico, June 27, 2013; Reid Wilson, “Why The August Recess Should Scare Immigration Reform Backers,” National Journal, June 24, 2013; National Journal Research, 2013.
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public PolicyImmigration Reform and HR
Immigration and Nationality
Act of 1965
• Abolished national origins system• Established preference system for family and employment-based immigration
from around the globe• Established DOL labor certification
Immigration Reform and
Control Act of 1986 (IRCA)
• Legalized undocumented persons who entered prior U.S. to January 1, 1982• Imposed penalties on employers who hire undocumented workers• Required employers to verify status on Form I-9
Immigration Act of 1990
• Updated preference categories and quotas to reflect changing economy and worldwide demand
• Favored high-skilled employment-based immigration• Imposed annual cap on H-1B and H-2B visas
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public PolicyImmigration Reform
SHRM and it’s affiliate the Council for Global Immigration are focusing our advocacy efforts on three major areas:
� Increase system efficiency through, among other improvements, creating a “Trusted Employer” system;
� Provide access to highly educated and skilled talent by leaving intact green card provisions and further improving H-1B and L-1 visa provisions to ensure the temporary high-skilled visa system works for employers and;
� Give employers certainty in hiring through enabling a single, federal, entirely electronic employment verification system that protects against identity theft through knowledge-based authentication (KBA).
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public PolicyImmigration Reform
Specifically, we are seeking an amendment that would:
� Streamline the employment verification process with a voluntary identity authentication mechanism as a fully available option to employers for employment verification within 18 months of enactment.
� The voluntary identity authentication program will use multi-dimensional technology to verify an individual’s identity through publicly available databases (including Social Security, Homeland Security, U.S.-VISIT and passport and visa).
� This voluntary authentication program replaces a four-stage, document driven process with modern tools to prevent the use of stolen identities to achieve work approval.
� This new approach of identity authentication is needed because the verification system in the bill remains vulnerable to identity theft.
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public PolicyImmigration Reform
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public Policy
Specifically, the amendment would:
� Create a fully electronic verification system that integrates the paper-based Form I-9 into the E-Verify system and moves toward a more secure system that authenticates identity and verifies employment eligibility providing better certainty that the person being hired is authorized to work in the U.S.
� Provide employers with a voluntary option to use a knowledge-based authentication (KBA) system if they used it for 100 percent of their new-hire verifications to assure the highest level of certainty, significantly improving the prevention of identity theft in the employment verification process.
� Strengthen the safe harbor for employers for decisions made based on information provided by the E-Verify system.
Identity Authentication Amendment
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public Policy
� Support the Identity Authentication Amendment to H.R. 1772 and Make E-Verify More Reliable, Secure
� H.R. 1772 mandates E-Verify for all employers, but does not provide for adequate identity authentication – failing to protect against unauthorized workers and leaving employers unfairly open to liability.
� Adopt an identity authentication amendment, which would preserve H.R. 1772’s underlying E-Verify requirements and add a critical but voluntary step for employers to accurately verify identity.
� A coalition of Washington, DC based organizations are meeting with House members to garner support. Representatives of the meat and poultry industry and the human resources professionals – including the Food Manufacturers Immigration Coalition (FMIC), the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) – support the Identity Authentication Amendment to H.R. 1772.
Immigration Reform – The Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 1772)
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public Policy
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public PolicyOutlook for Tax Reform
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public Policy
� With the U.S. national debt at more than $16 trillion, tax reform and efforts to lower the deficit are a priority for Congress and the White House. Because of their tax-deferred status, employee benefits such as retirement plans, educational assistance and health care benefits may come under scrutiny.
� SHRM Position: SHRM believes that a comprehensive and flexible benefits package is an essential tool in recruiting and retaining talented employees. Every American employee should be given the opportunity to save for retirement and protect his or her family’s health. The government should facilitate and encourage voluntary employer-sponsored retirement plans and health care plans and individual savings plans.
Tax Reform and Employee Benefits
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public PolicyTax Reform and Employee Benefits
• House Ways and Means Committee 13 working groups to examine various components of tax reform. SHRM, along with the SHRM-led Coalition to Protect Retirement, submitted comments to the Retirement and Pension Working Group.
• Senators Isakson (R-GA) and Murphy (D-CT) introduced Concurrent Resolution 12, a bipartisan resolution expressing the importance of retirement savings plans.
• Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Sen. Orrin Hatch, (D-UT) released tax reform framework that essentially starts from a clean slate. This approach would eliminate virtually all existing deductions, credits and expenditures to dramatically lower corporate and individual tax rates.
• While action on tax reform has been slow in 2013, sources indicate that leadership in both chambers will peruse reform in 2014.
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public Policy
Sources: Nancy Cook, “Tax Reform Faces Long Odds Even With Dave Camp at the Helm,” National Journal, Aug. 17, 2013; Brian Faler, Kelsey Snell and Rachel Bade, “Tax Reform in New Danger,” Politico, Sept. 19, 2013.
� Successful advocacy initiatives connect with officials on multiple levels
� By communicating with lawmakers via various channels, HR public policy efforts will be enhanced
� Relationships + information = credibility and influence
� SHRM members are constituents with an interest in policy that will sway legislators and develop credible and influential relationships with elected officials
� Consistent communication with lawmakers will help foster a positive legislative environment for HR to continue to flourish.
� Please contact your U.S. House Members in support of an Identity Authentication Amendment to H.R. 1772!
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public PolicyRemember: Everyone's Voice Needs to be Heard
Elmo testified before the House Appropriations
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human
Services in April of 2002.
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SHRM Advocacy Team: Shaping HR Public PolicyA-Team Staff Contact Information
