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As printed in Hearing Health, volume 19:4,
Winter 2003
By Jerry Hassell
Jerry Hassell, a Texan with decades of legislative
advocacy under his belt, describes the nuts and bolts
of the process and offers practical advice. His tips
derive from countless hours of encouraging state lawmakers
to address the need for services and protect the rights
of people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing (D/HH). Along
the way, his input and zeal helped ensure passage of
nearly a dozen bills between 1974 and 1995 in the Texas
Legislature.
In 1974, State Representative Ronald Coleman asked
me if I could help him pass legislation that he had
introduced to establish a sign language interpreting
program to allow public access for D/HH people. He did
not believe the legislators would support his bill because
the concept was completely new and thus not a priority.
It was a priority with Coleman, though; he was familiar
with the importance of signing since it was a method
of communication used by his maternal grandparents who
were deaf.
My role was to testify before a legislative committee,
my first time ever to do so or to have any experience
at all as an advocate.
Coleman himself volunteered to interpret for me. As
I signed my testimony, I noticed that the committee
members were motionless and had their eyes unnaturally
glued on me. For many, it was probably the first time
to ever see a deaf person signing and hear the message
with the help of an interpreter. Coleman seemed to know
what he was doing when he suggested our demonstration;
the bill passed with ease.
In later years, I met with more mixed success as I
backed many bills to support D/HH people in general
and more specifically Native Americans. I found out
quickly that my initial experience of direct contact
with a group of legislators was not the norm for an
advocate or lobbyist. The vast majority of my meetings,
perhaps as much as 95 percent, were with their aides
rather than the lawmakers themselves. Even when I was
lucky enough to get on a legislator’s calendar,
the meeting was more often cancelled because “pressing
circumstances” took the elected official elsewhere.
Legislators are, after all, engaged in various duties
dealing with all aspects of the law while trying to
meet the needs of their constituents back home. They
rarely have time to devote to specific special interests
that are not directly related to legislation they themselves
sponsor. Although I am mindful of that, if I could change
one thing about the system to make it work better, it
would be for lawmakers to be more accessible to advocates.
I believe our efforts would be much more fruitful.
Nonetheless, I learned some strategies for interacting
directly with legislators. When trying to make appointments
to discuss an issue, I always let them know it would
take no more than 15 or 30 minutes. Although these time
slots may seem too brief, much more is accomplished
by emphasizing the most important points rather than
attempting to cover too much, overloading what little
time may be available.
I was always pleasant with all legislators –
no matter what. I think that distinguished me in their
eyes. Engaging a legislator in an argument is a losing
battle every time.
The most successful method for educating and persuading
lawmakers to support a bill is to lobby in their home
districts rather than at the capitol complex. In fact,
it is really best to start early, getting to know your
legislators by meeting with them in their hometown offices
before the session begins. Once the legislature convened,
if I sensed that a bill might be difficult to pass,
I urged anyone I knew to enlist the support of their
elected officials by calling, writing and/or visiting
them in their district offices during recesses.
I always got better results with legislators who had
some personal stake in our issue, such as having an
aide or family member who has a hearing loss. For example,
Senator Craig Washington never failed to lend his support
to our causes because he had an aide whose parents were
deaf.
Occasionally a legislator is not only sympathetic
to our cause but actually zealous. Any time I met Senator
Gregory Luna from San Antonio, he would walk briskly
toward me, shake my hand and ask me what the deaf people
needed this time. That really pulled my heartstrings.
When a bill passed, I made it a practice to express
my appreciation to the legislators that supported it.
Lawmakers really like getting positive letters to the
editor in hometown newspapers praising their achievements.
These widely read comments are gems that might help
them in the next elections.
Also, I urged various organizations to send plaques
or certificates of appreciation. I have seen many of
them on walls in the offices of lawmakers and cannot
help wondering how often they reflect upon these symbols
of their accomplishments and our gains.
An advocate does not always work to pass legislation.
Equally important, there are times that bills detrimental
to our cause must be defeated. I believe one of the
best things I have done under the most difficult circumstances
was in 1988 when I helped derail a bill that would have
merged the Texas Commission for the Deaf (TCD) with
another agency without knowledge or support of the deaf
community. When I found out about this proposal, I alerted
various D/HH individuals and groups in Texas. More than
200 people descended on the capitol with large buttons
that read “SAVE TCD.”
The chairman of the committee reviewing the bill was
puzzled. He thought practically everyone was in support
of the transfer. Through the action of 200 ordinary
people, the committee understood that there was almost
no support from people actually served by the commission
and discarded the bill; TCD survived.
Advocacy does work but a good advocate must be a realist,
accepting the fact that success in supporting or defeating
specific bills is far from assured. Every time needed
legislation passed, I felt jubilance in a huge victory
achieved. But defeat of a desired bill had the opposite
impact. There would be no further opportunity for legislative
action for two years because the Texas legislature meets
biannually. And all the grassroots work would need to
be done all over again in the next session.
Far more important than any personal disappointment
or fatigue for an advocate, however, is the loss –
or at least delay – of the intended effects of
the proposed law, including improved services, access
or quality of life for D/HH individuals and their families.
Jerry Hassell, originally from Oklahoma,
received his early education at the Oklahoma and Texas
Schools for the Deaf. After receiving an undergraduate
degree from Gallaudet University in 1951, he earned
a master’s degree from the University of Texas
in Austin and embarked on a 30-year career as a teacher
at the Texas School for the Deaf. Although retired from
that position since 1984, Hassell continues to teach
Sunday school, as he has for the past 50 years, at the
Baptist church that he attends.
In addition to holding numerous leadership positions
in a variety of organizations, this seasoned advocate
founded the Intertribal Deaf Council, a national organization
for Native American Deaf (www.deafnative.com),
in 1994. |
