[CSPS] Legis Tools Workshop Jan. 8

[Cecelia Hawkins]

NOTE:  This workshop should be of special interest to CSPS folks!

Getting Ready for the Session:
How to Make a Difference on your Issue during the 79th Texas Legislature:
A Workshop Sponsored by the GrassRoots Education and Action Team (GREAT) of 
Brazos Progressives

(Registration and payment available on - line at 
http://www.brazosprogressives.org)

Saturday, January 8, 2005
10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Friends Congregational Church, 2200 Southwood Drive, College Station, TX

Can a non-profit organization lobby?  (yes!)
Who should I get to know on the staff of Rep. Brown and Sen. Ogden...and 
why?
Can someone from my organization testify at a legislative hearing in Austin?
What's the best way to rally public support for my issue...and will it help?

GREAT of Brazos Progressives proudly presents "Getting Ready for the 
Session: How to Make a Difference on your Issue during the 79th Texas 
Legislature," a workshop designed to answer these questions and more. This 
workshop will equip community organizations and individuals with the tools 
they need to affect the making of public policy during the 79th Session of 
the Texas Legislature.

Please join us on Saturday, January 8, 2005, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m., at 
Friends Congregational Church for this exciting program that will provide 
you with tools for influencing legislation and legislators. Two lobbying 
experts working with non-profits in Austin will be sharing ideas and 
insights based on their experiences. Workshop registration includes lunch.

Workshop Leader Profiles

Steve Hall: Director, StandDown Texas Project

Steve Hall is the director of the StandDown Texas Project, working for a 
moratorium on the death penalty in Texas, a state-sponsored review of our 
application of capital punishment and needed reforms. The project began in 
August 2000, and is based in Austin. He was the Chief of Staff to the 
Attorney General of Texas from 1983 to 1991, and Administrator of the Texas 
Resource Center, a non-profit legal services program, from 1993-1995. Hall 
has worked for state representatives, the U.S. Congress, and served as 
director of communication for two statewide political campaigns in Texas. 
Prior to his work in public affairs and media relations, Hall was a 
journalist and recipient of an Associated Press Broadcasters award for 
investigative journalism.

Bee Moorhead: Executive Director of Texas Impact

Bee Moorhead is Executive Director of Texas Impact whose mission is to 
provide a presence of religious social concern to the Texas Legislature, 
designed to influence public policy on behalf of the poor, the 
disadvantaged, and victims of discrimination. Bee spent seven years as a 
senior state fiscal policy analyst for the Texas Comptroller of Public 
Accounts. In that position, Bee was responsible for the Comptroller's 
attention to public policy issues related to health and human services. Bee 
earned a Master's Degree from the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public 
Affairs at the University of Texas. She is an ordained elder in the 
Presbyterian Church (USA).

Registration

Registering for the workshop is easy! If you are in a group that is a 
dues-paying organizational member of the Brazos Progressives, if you are a 
student, or if you are a dues-paying individual member of the Brazos 
Progressives, the cost is $5. If you aren't affiliated (either 
organizationally or individually) with the Brazos Progressives and aren't a 
student, then the cost is $10. Registration includes lunch.

Please fill out the online registration form at 
http://www.brazosprogressives.org and submit by Wednesday, January 5, so 
that we will know that you are coming. Payment can be made at the door on 
the day of the workshop or using Pay Pal on-line through our BP "store."

Questions?

If you have any questions, please e-mail Cecelia Hawkins, at 
cecelia_hawkins at hotmail.com.