Your goal in a state legislative committee hearing should not be to convince legislators to support your bill. Most of them won't even listen to your testimony. But they don't need to. You should have spoken with each one of them individually, prior to the hearing.

You should know the outcome of the committee vote before it has even been taken.

Your testimony puts your group's position on public record, provides a public relations opportunity for the organization and its cause, and creates a venue for members and supporters to promote their views and observe the association in action (and, hopefully, experience a victory).

But the real work of winning support happens "behind the curtain."

Your personal lobbying, not speeches by legislators or association leaders, is what secures votes.

Grassroots organizing and member mobilization simply create an environment meant to facilitate your lobbying efforts.

So, don't be surprised when legislators chat with each other, whip out their Blackberries to check e-mail, or grab a quick nap while you testify. If you did your job correctly, it won't matter.

The City of Elmhurst IL (a Chicago suburb) has directed its legal counsel to draft an ordinance prohibiting the use of facial expressions to display opinions at municipal meetings.

A woman who rolled her eyes and sighed in response to an official's statement was recently ejected from a public meeting. The official chairing the session felt she was being disrespectful (his colleagues, though, disagreed and overruled him) and sought a method to prevent future occurrences of this type.

The Chicago Tribune editorialized against the proposed ordinance.

So, what's next? Will frowning and head-shaking be outlawed, too?

Here's a description of how lobbyists successfully manipulate the legislative process in California. This influence exists, in various forms, in most other states, too.

Unfortunately, association lobbyists are often the culprits.

Associations may be concerned about the financial impact of health care reform on their groups. Many association members and employees, though, may view the issue from a totally different perspective.

Association members and employees who lost their health insurance when they lost their jobs or got sick, those who can't obtain affordable health insurance, people with chronic illnesses, and insureds who are approaching their lifetime caps are grateful to be able to obtain coverage under the new legislation.

They don't care if insurance is mandated by government, provided by the private sector, or just sails down to them in pretty little parachutes.

They need health insurance and they are happy to get it.

It's too easy to forget people. Here's someone we should remember.

John Graham, CAE, President and CEO of ASAE, warned of impending congressional efforts to make up for lost tax revenue by taxing additional association income.

Speaking last night at an APAC reception at Association Forum of Chicagoland, he reminded attendees that associations comprise a trillion-dollar industry, making it a tempting target for legislators trying to plug holes in the national budget.

Associations already pay a lot of taxes, including payroll, unemployment, and UBIT. Taxes on trade show income and other association revenue may not be far off.

Graham called upon associations to support APAC's public policy agenda and help it protect not-for-profit income from increased taxation.

"I don't think candidates get the scale and scope of what governing is," says former U.S. Senator, Governor, and corporate CEO Jon Corzine. "You don't have the flexibility you imagined. There's no exact translation."

Corporate CEOs don't always realize how different government is from the private sector. They report to a huge electorate, not to a small, easily dominated, Board of Directors. They usually cannot make unilateral decisions - they need the approval of a state legislature or city council for most important matters. Winning that support requires negotiation and deal-making.

Even the workforce doesn't always have to listen to them. Some employees are protected by civil service, others are patronage employees whose tenure depends upon their vote-producing abilities. If political opponents hold sway over those jobs, the executive's influence can be curbed.

Corporate CEOs also tend to start at the top - President, Governor, Senator (which has no managerial duties), or Mayor. They generally have little or no experience dealing with voters, who care more about customer service than executive prowess. Starting as an alderman or county commissioner would give these CEOs a public perspective they often lack.

One thing CEOs do have is a lot of money. Corzine spent a record $60 million on his New Jersey Senate election and still only won by a small margin. He was defeated for Governor despite his vast financial resources.

Maybe CEOs just ought to stay behind the scenes and bankroll better qualified candidates.

ASAE's John H. Graham IV expects tax reform and deficit reduction to be headline issues in the 2010 Congress.

In that vein, if associations are looking for more ways to trim the federal budget and preserve expenditures for things people (and members) need, why not look at the Selective Service System?

This program can be totally eliminated. There is no military draft, there has not been one for 36 years, and there isn't likely to be one anytime soon (if ever).

It is a waste of money to have men (what about women?) register for something that does not exist.

Can't these funds be put to better use?

"The average Capitol Hill staffer is about 25 years old," noted Jim Clarke, ASAE Senior Vice-President for Public Policy, while speaking this morning to small association CEOs of Association Forum of Chicagoland.

"They (staffers) have little experience with meetings and don't always realize the value of the meetings industry," he added.

Initial legislation, spawned by the bailout, was intended to penalize corporations and associations for holding meetings in places like Las Vegas and Orlando - locations that appeared to be more recreational than professional.

He reported that limitations were dropped once the Obama Administration understood the economic value of meetings and the availability of meeting facilities in these cities.

Clarke also discussed the impact of health care legislation, IRS interests in not-for-profit governance, and other legislative issues affecting associations.

I just returned from a public hearing held by the Chicago Transit Authority to solicit input for the environmental impact statement of an ill-conceived (my opinion) mass transit extension that had already been approved (with minimal public input).

At legislative committee hearings, people testifying generally sit at a table or stand at a podium. In most cases, they have an unlimited amount of time to speak (although they are expected to use only a reasonable amount of time) and are usually treated with some degree of respect.

Not at public hearings.

A lone microphone stands in the middle of the floor with no place for testifiers to place papers or lean on for support. A time limit is strictly enforced and people are gently rushed through their comments. These hearings are often held to comply with legal requirements, not because the governments or agencies really want input.

Here are some tips for effectively presenting testimony at public hearings:

1. Arrive early and immediately complete the form stating your desire to testify. That will increase the likelikhood that you'll speak early in the session, enabling you to make all of your points and not merely repeat what others had already said.

2. Prepare a written presentation ahead of time and speak from it. Yes, speaking without a script may appear more genuine, but you will not have sufficient time to recover from a gaffe or return to something you forgot. Besides, if you speak well, you won't sound like you are reading.

3. Adhere to the subject parameters set by the agency conducting the hearing, even if you think those parameters are unnecessarily narrow.

4. Complete your statement within the time limit and before you are told your time is up.

5. Stick to factual statements. Don't make claims or assertions that can't be supported. For example, instead of saying, "this deal was cooked up in a backroom," say, "there was insufficient public participation in the process."

6. Don't leave once you've finished speaking. Provide other speakers with the courtesy of an audience just as they did for you.