Yes, Legislators Want to Hear from You
March 25, 2014
Tim Evans, who is president of Evans Title Agency in Ohio and past chair of the Title Action Network, believes that stories from constituents definitely impact legislators’ decisions.
“It matters more than people realize,” he said. “Stories from constituents are consistently spread from member to member in the halls of Congress and shared during town hall meetings and floor speeches."
If you ever watch C-SPAN, you will hear members of Congress or regulators say something like “Just last week I met with so and so in their field and they told me X, Y and Z and that’s why I’m working on this issue.”
“This is what the Title Action Network is all about in terms of connecting the title industry with legislators and regulators,” Evans said. “We want to be part of their story. The more we can participate, the better they can tell our story as well on Capitol Hill and in statehouses.”
Many ALTA members live in small communities where their member of Congress is more visible compared to someone living in a large metropolitan city. Evans lives in western Ohio and House Speaker John Boehner is his representative. The district is outside a major metropolitan area.
“Every year in the past, he would take the time and speak in our area about events going on in Washington and what he was doing on our behalf,” Evans said. “It gave me an opportunity to develop a relationship with him and members of his staff. Others can cultivate similar relationships because many of us have legislators who hold meetings in our city halls.”
Many elected representatives in Congress today started as city council members, worked their way through the state legislature or state offices and ultimately decided to run for U.S. Congress. While members of Congress have aides responsible for various issues, it can be difficult to stay abreast of everything impacting their constituents. This provides the industry an ideal opportunity to become a key contact, giving us an opportunity to influence the direction legislators take on issues.
“Advocacy isn’t something we do one day out of the year. It has to be a year-round effort because what we do today lays the groundwork for generations to come,” Evans said. “We can’t always foretell what will come up in Congress or at the state level. But developing relationships gives us more leverage communicating how individual actions will impact our industry.”
Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or [email protected].