Welcome to the new GRA Resource Center!  This page is dedicated to the many links, websites and resources that the government relations professional will need access to in order to be compliant and successful.  Whether you are a lobbyist, fundraiser, grassroots professional, public policy advocate or a member of academia, this page is dedicated to you. 

As you might imagine, this is intended to be a work in perpetual progress, with new links and resources added as you -- our colleagues in the profession -- inform us of new, overlooked or better resources and links that you've used.  So, feel free to link to this page 24/7 and, please, let us know of any sites you have found especially helpful in your career.  Each week we will update and revise the page to ensure it is up-to-date and continues to be a helpful resource to the GR professional.  Enjoy!

Stand Up
(Adobe PDF File)
COVID-19 Relief Legislation
CARES Act Final Language
(Adobe PDF File)
Stand Up_1
(Adobe PDF File)

Lobbying Reports -- House and Senate:

Lobbying Disclosure Home Page:

https://lda.congress.gov/LD/default.aspx

Lobbying Disclosure Log-In Page:

https://lda.congress.gov/LD/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fLD%2fforms%2fClients.aspx

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/lobbyingdisc.htm#lobbyingdisc=lda

 

Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports:

https://crsreports.congress.gov/

https://www.everycrsreport.com

 

Historical & Educational:

Lobbying Industry -- Written by Sen. Robert Byrd (A Must Read):

Sen. Robert Byrd on Lobbyists

CARES Act Small Business Provisions

CARES Act Final Language

CARES Unemployment Insurance and Tax Provisions

CARES Act Supplemental Appropriations

 

8 Productive Things You Can Do In Quarantine

Quarantine is challenging.  Our days can be full of concern and frustration.  But it doesn’t need to dominate your waking hours, nor should it.  Only you can control its effect on you.  And what you do during quarantine can make the difference between a miserable experience or a period in which you took control and tried to make it as productive as possible.  There are things you can do now to take control of quarantine and not allow it to control you.  For 8 ideas of what you can do, please read on. 

Make Masks -- In this new age of social distancing, hand washing, and rocking the face mask, you don’t have to be a small medical supply business to provide what is needed – more masks.  With basic sewing skills – and bonus points if you own a sewing machine – you can quickly and easily manufacture face masks that you can share with family and friends who may not yet have them.  Templates exist on-line, and one of the better ones can be found here. 

Take Up a New or Renewed Hobby – Face it, for years you’ve complained “if I only had more time away from my vocation I’d get back to my avocation of…” and fill in the blank.  Whether it is dusting off the violin in the closet upstairs, or getting out the diary, or writing that next great American novel, you do now have some extra time each day since the commute is gone, and your schedule is a little more flexible.  Why wait?  Dive in and renew a past cherished hobby or identify one you’ve always been wanted to pursue.  It’s time to learn and grow as you find time for yourself.

Conduct a Wellness Check – We all know someone in need, whether that need is a friendly voice, a reassuring reminder that you empathize and are here for them, or who may be displaying concerning thoughts.  Conduct what is known as the wellness check – a simple way to let another person know you are thinking about them and are here for them.  Pick up the phone and call someone.  The effort will do you both good, and you’ll finally have the chance for that catch-up call you never seemed to have time for before.

Exercise – For the busy person there never seems to be enough time to adequately exercise.  Even for the avid athlete, the day’s work schedule can often impede on our desire to get outside, exert ourselves fully, and burn the calories from that midday burrito and chips.  And if you admit it, the belt hole you used in college just seems a little tight and distant to you now.  So, why not incorporate a workout into your new schedule?  By adopting it now you will become healthier, less stressful, and may even emerge from quarantine with a new beneficial routine to lead a healthier life.  For a good “stay at home” 20-minute workout video, click here. 

Food For First Responders or the Neighbor in Need – While we are stuck at home there are countless first responders in our community who work tirelessly to keep us safe and answer the call – often at great risk to themselves and their families.  We also know of families in need right now whose paychecks may have stopped, while the incoming bills did not, and they may not know where tomorrow’s meal is coming from.  Help them out.  Call the fire station and ask if you can send food as a way of letting them know you recognize their role and to say thanks.  Call that neighbor or friend who may be suffering and say “while I can’t grab a bite with you as I’d like, I still want to send over a pizza or other takeout and maybe we can have a virtual meal together.  They will appreciate it, and you will have earned what Buddhists refer to as “merit.”  Feel good by doing good.

Host a Happy Hour – While you can’t sit with your friends, you don’t have to be without them.  Host a happy hour and bring the old gang back together to enjoy time, snacks, libations and camaraderie.  You can connect with them – just pick a venue like Zoom, GoToMeeting, FaceTime or one of the many platforms that seem to be proliferating these days.  Make the best use of your evening time to stay connected and close to your friends and colleagues.  For advice on how to host a virtual happy hour, click here. 

Read a Great Book – Back “when we had time” you used to read.  Not just school texts, but literature, either classic, highbrow, light or trash novels.  It doesn’t matter the quality.  It only matters that you have time to read a new book or pull off the shelf an old favorite.  Lose yourself in the creative world the author crafted for your entertainment and enlightenment.  For books you may not have read but have always wanted to, Amazon and a number of other booksellers can have them at your doorstep in a couple of days.  Read on, enjoy and disappear into fantasy for a few hours.  You’ll be glad you did.  For options, Penguin Books put together a list of the top 100 books of all time as recommended by its readers. You can find that list here.    

Try a New Recipe – Some of the greatest chefs in the world started with a few key ingredients – desire for a tasty meal, willingness to learn, and the commitment to try one new recipe each week.  They, like you, may not get it right the first time, but it’s that first attempt that will teach you great cooking skills that you’ll refine each subsequent occasion. And when you get it just right, and the quarantine is far behind us, just think of the impressions you can make on friends invited over to break the long fast.  You know you want to hear someone say, “I didn’t know you knew how to cook!”  Start now and learn one new dish per week.  In our busy age, cooking is a lost art but an appreciated talent that you can master.  A great place to start is with the Bon Appetit “Recipes Everyone Should Learn” link which you can find here. 

Quarantine is tough, no doubt about it.  But you are tougher.  And this will pass – perhaps not as soon as we’d like, but the time will come when it is over.  When that time comes how will you recall what you did with it?  Will you remember staring out the window, or refreshing your iPhone hundreds of times a day? Or will you say, “I did my best to spend my time wisely and continue to grow?  My bet is you’d prefer the latter.  All it takes is a decision by you to explore what matters most and a commitment to action.  Stay strong, stay safe, stay indoors and decide who you want to be when the “all clear” is sounded.  When that happens I hope we can all look back and say not only that we survived, but we thrived

Federal Election Commission (FEC): 

http://www.FEC.gov

FEC Filing & Reports Links:

https://www.fec.gov/data/browse-data/?tab=filings 

FEC Legal & Legislative Resources:

https://www.fec.gov/legal-resources/legislation/

FEC Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYIS_oOZNUI

 

Video Tutorials:

FEC Video on History & Mission:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYIS_oOZNUI

9 Videos on Legislative Process:Library of Congress:

https://www.congress.gov/legislative-process

CQ/Roll Call: What Is A Continuing Resolution?:

What Is A CR?

Federal Register

https://www.federalregister.gov/

A daily publication of the US federal government that issues proposed and final administrative regulations of federal agencies.

Federal Register Inspections Desk 

https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/current

A preview of documents scheduled to be published in the daily Federal Register. Agency regulations are not official until they are published in the Federal Register

 Federal Docket System

https://www.regulations.gov/

Proposed rules, final rules, and notices published in the Federal Register and soliciting comment from members of the public can be searched and found on this site. Comments on federal proposed rules and requests for information are submitted to federal agencies using this site.

 OMB Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

https://www.reginfo.gov/public/jsp/Utilities/index.myjsp

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) of the White House Office of Management and Budget is the U.S. Government’s central authority for the review of Executive Branch regulations, approval of government information collections, establishment of government statistical practices, and coordination of federal privacy policy. 

 Regulations and the Rulemaking Process

https://www.reginfo.gov/public/jsp/Utilities/faq.myjsp#reg_rule

OIRA's summary of the federal rulemaking process.

 Administrative Procedures Act

https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/laws/administrative-procedure

Statutory language of the federal Administrative Procedures Act (APA), the law which governs the process for federal administrative agencies to establish regulations and other agency actions.

 Code of Federal Regulations

https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/cfr 

An electronic index of all codified general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the departments and agencies of the federal government. 

 GAO Reports and Comptroller General Decisions

https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/gaoreports

An electronic index of reports, audits, surveys, investigations, and evaluations published by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

 Tutorial: Federal Register Workshop

https://youtu.be/VNREdaLVEz0

A recorded workshop conducted by the Office of the Federal Register, what it is and how to use it.

 Tutorial: Master the CFR: Researching the Code of Federal Regulations

https://youtu.be/AYIEYSyMWtU

A tutorial produced by the Office of the Federal Register on how to use the Code of Federal Regulations to research the history or determine the accuracy of federal regulations.