Legislative Specialist
The Heartland Institute | Posted on March 20, 2008
The PositionThe Legislative Specialist plays an integral role in accomplishing the goals and objectives of The Heartland Institute's Government Relations Department, a team of ten staff members devoted to government relations:
- Vice President - Government Affairs, and State Legislation Manager Trevor Martin
- Assistant Director of Government Relations Brian Costin
- National Legislation Manager Sandy Liddy Bourne
- Local Legislation Manager Ralph Conner
- Manager - Events and Exhibiting Nikki Comerford
- Legislative Specialist - Budget, Tax & Tobacco Nick Baker
- Legislative Specialist - Education <vacant>
- Legislative Specialist - Energy & Environment <vacant>
- Legislative Specialist - Health & Human Services <vacant>
- Legislative Specialist - Insurance & Finance Matthew Glans
Legislative specialists report to the Assistant Director of Government Relations, interact as peers with other legislative specialists, and respond to requests for research and writing from the national, state, and local legislation managers and Public Relations Department staff.
In general, the legislative specialist is expected to:
- Interact with elected officials, legislative staff, and reporters via phone, email, letters, or face-to-face meetings on a daily basis, and keep track of such contacts for reporting purposes.
- Develop expertise on a specific topic area by studying available research, corresponding with Heartland's network of policy experts, and editing and writing talking points, research & commentaries, news releases, op-eds, and letters to the editor.
- Assist other legislative specialists and legislation managers perform their duties by helping with editing, copying, and mailings as needed.
Background
Thanks to its five monthly publications, aggressive exhibiting, and senior fellows programs, The Heartland Institute is extremely well-known among state elected officials and increasingly among national and local officials. These past efforts have opened the doors of state legislatures: 84% of state elected officials say they read at least one Heartland publication “sometimes” or “always.”
The next logical step for Heartland is to walk through the door by increasing the number of face-to-face contacts we have with national, state, and local officials and their staff, soliciting and fulfilling their needs for information, and encouraging them to adopt as part of their legislative agenda some of our free-market ideas.
Goal of the Government Relations Department
- The goal of the Government Relations Department is to encourage more elected officials to embrace the following seven free-market ideas:
- Tax and expenditure limitation, either by constitutional or statutory law, including welfare reform at the state level and Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare reforms at the national level;
- Expansion of school choice programs, in particular school vouchers, so that every child can attend a high-quality school regardless of his or her parents' wealth, race, or creed;
- Expansion of consumer-directed health care reforms, such as Health Savings Accounts, and opposition to heavy-handed state regulation and single-payer proposals;
- Reform of environmental regulations based on sound economics and science;
- Reform within the property and casualty insurance market, including ending burdensome and anti-consumer regulation;
- Deregulation of telecommunications, including ending price controls and local video franchising; and
- Legal reform, to reduce the cost and injustice imposed by lawsuit abuse.
Activities
In general terms, Legislation Managers concentrate on direct personal contacts with elected officials and their staffs, offering to send them talking points or background research on key issues, to put them in touch with experts or corporate allies, to help organize meetings or hearings, or to direct them to model legislation or people who can write legislation for them.
Legislative Specialists support the work of the legislation managers by producing the research products promised by the managers, maintaining up-to-date directories of experts and allies, following up on offers to provide testimony or organize meetings, and maintaining archives of research and commentary so that the information elected officials ask for can be put into their hands, either by email or mail, within 24 hours of a request being received. The legislative specialist also acts as the staff expert on a particular topic area, able to answer questions; solicit, edit, and write research and commentary; and conduct original research into the topic. More specifically, legislative specialists are expected to:
- Contact elected officials throughout each week, by email, phone, letters, or face-to-face meetings, asking if they received recent mailings, need additional information, or in some other way can be given assistance. Accurately report these contacts using Heartland's online government relations reporting system;
- Develop competency in a particular topic area and act as a resource for elected officials, journalists, allies, and Heartland staff on that topic;
- Maintain a database of elected officials and contacts with the same so we know our potential allies, their special interests, how to contact them, and the results of past contacts with them;
- Help write, edit, assemble, and mail research and commentary in response to direction from legislation managers, the Director and Assistant Director of Government Relations;
- Work with Public Relations staff to write or solicit op-eds, letters to the editor, statements, and other writing for distribution to media outlets;
- Add new research to PolicyBot, a clearinghouse for Heartland's work and the work of other free-market think tanks, and maintain and improve the indexing of said research;
- Track legislation at all levels of government and provide intelligent commentary and analysis as it moves through the legislative process, in a format established for internal communication;
- Work with the Vice President and/or Assistant Director of Government Relations to plan, promote, and implement conferences, seminars, and receptions for legislative advisors in conjunction with meetings of national membership organizations for local and state officials, other think tanks and advocacy groups, or on a stand-alone basis;
- Help other legislative specialists achieve their goals by helping with editing, copying, and mailing research and commentary on other topics, and perform other tasks as required by the Vice President and/or Assistant Director of Government Relations.
Required Skills
- Strong familiarity with a wide range of public policy issues and the ability to articulate free market positions on those issues
- Strong research skills and exemplary writing skills, as demonstrated by extensive writing samples on a variety of issues or topics
- Ability to master State Net or similar legislative tracking systems, and familiarity with legislative tracking reports
- Ability to master word processing software, spreadsheet software, and broadcast email programs
- Experience working with elected officials is strongly preferred
Other Workplace Matters
Salary. Starting salary negotiable and commensurate with skills and experience. Performance reviews are conducted semi-annually; salary reviews are conducted annually.
Hours and Location of Work
The Legislative Specialist position is a salaried full-time position requiring 40+ hours per week. Office hours are 8:30 am to 5:30 pm with occasional overtime if a given project demands it. Office is in the heart of downtown Chicago.
Benefits
Health Insurance available through Humana Insurance. Employer contributes to your choice of a High Deductible Health Plan with a health savings account, or a PPO plan. 401(k) plan available for employee contributions (employer does not contribute at this time).
10 days paid time off during first year of employment, with paid time off allowance increasing yearly. Paid time off cannot be used during the first 90 days of employment.
Applicants please sent resume, cover letter, three writing samples to lvankinscott@heartland.org.
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