IEA Lobby Day - April 30, 2008
On April 30, 2008 we will be holding our Lobby Day at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. This is our opportunity to display our collective strength and to voice our concerns about the issues we care about directly to our legislators.
To generate member participation in the Lobby Day in Springfield, the
Invest in Excellence campaign is providing funding and logistical assistance to locals and regions that desire to travel via bus.
Each regional office will have an office contact by March 12th who will help locals and regions secure transportation to and from Springfield.
Requests for buses must be funneled through these individuals by calling the appropriate IEA Regional office and asking for the Lobby Day contact, or by directly contacting the IIE campaign office at 1-800-252-9264.
To ensure the best possible coordination and efficiency, please reach out to the office contact or IIE Campaign.
Lobby Day Goal:
We hope each region can bring a minimum of 20 members. A region or local wishing to bring more will be accommodated. The goal is to have 1,200 - 1,500 IEA members attend.
Bus information can be found here. We hope that locals and regions will consolidate to fill buses. Coordination through IIE or the office coordinator will assist with this.
Logistics:
Lunch will be provided for everyone at the
IEA Headquarters. The Lobby Day program will begin at 11:00 AM and we hope to have everyone head to the Capitol by 11:30 to lobby their legislators. Lunch will begin to be served around 12:30 PM.
Bus drop-off and pick-up point
- In front of IEA HQ, 100 E. Edwards St. using bus routes provided by the City of Spfld. (at least 3 buses should be able to pull up at one time). IEA has arranged for the city to bag all the parking meters in front of our building and east parking lot.
Bus maps provided by the City of
Spfld
- Indicate the best routes to use from the interstate to IEA HQ as well as to the bus parking lot location at 2115 MacArthur Blvd. (the old Kmart Plaza), and back to IEA HQ for pick up. Download bus routes from this link.
Staff/member parking lot/area map for those driving to Spfld. (provide this info. to office contacts)
-
Located at
W. Lawrence & Spring Streets. Parking will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. We will have the lot identified with a sign: “IEA Lobby Day Parking.”
Download a map of the area from this link.
Issue information:
This will be disseminated closer to the actual Lobby Day, as legislative issues continue to change during the legislative process. Bill information will be provided soon. Currently, issues like
school funding, pension funding,
teacher tenure,
ESP sick days, the
Constitutional Convention, and many others are proceeding through the legislature. For legislative updates, sign up for the Capitol Report here.
Build Local Relationships:
Building the local relationship with your legislator is a key to success on Lobby Day.
Make contact with your legislator here.
To be connected to your legislators's Springfield Office, please call 217/782-2000 (Legislative Switchboard) and ask to be connected to your legislator's office.
- Members should to try to
meet with their legislators in their regional areas before coming to Springfield.
-
Members need to set up their Lobby Day meetings with their legislators at that
initial regional meeting and before they leave to come to Springfield. This will aid in their effectiveness with their elected officials as they start to develop a relationship with their Senator or Representative.
We need IEA members to stress to these decision makers that their votes in Springfield impact just about every aspect of our career.
Substitutes:
For further information please call the IIE Campaign at 1-800-252-9264.