Lobby Day Advocates

1. Groups: You will be assigned a group of about five people. Each group has a captain who has participated previously. Be sure to exchange phone numbers with everyone in your group in case you need to contact each other.
2. Appointments: Each group will have a list of appointments with times, building & office numbers, & contacts for each office (in case your appointment gets canceled, changed or you are running late)

Offices are located:

• Capitol Building 2nd and 3rd Floors
• 1525 Sherman Street - North of Colfax across from the Capitol 
• Legislative Services Building - 200 E. 14 Ave. Top floor for Joint Budget Committee offices

1. Non-Appointment Meetings: In addition to scheduled appointments, you will have a list of legislators you will have to find and talk to (legislators we couldn't schedule a meeting with). The two best times to try to find legislators are when they are on the floor in either the Senate or the House Chamber in the morning or when they are in committees in the afternoon.

• Morning Instructions: You may want to split in half, some go to the Senate lobby and the other half go to the House lobby on the second floor of the Capitol. IF the Senate or House is not doing Third Readings, they will accept business cards to call legislators out into the lobby. You will know if there is a sign posted on the chamber doors that says NO CARDS that they are doing Third Readings.
  • If there isn't a sign saying NO CARDS, you can write on the back of your business card the name of the legislator you want to speak with and a short note like "I would like to speak to you about our  battery bill.”
  • Hand your card to one of the Sergeant at Arms standing at the chamber doors (they either have green or red jackets). The Sergeant at Arms will take the card into the chamber and deliver it to the legislator.
  • You will have to wait in the lobby for the legislator. You will have a very short time to speak to them, so be quick! Make sure you get to your ask and give them the packet of information.
• Afternoon Instructions: Similarly, in the afternoon, if you are looking for a legislator who is in a committee meeting, you will find the Sergeant at Arms and hand your card to them and wait outside of the committee room for the legislator to come out.

Captains: Be sure to fill out the lobby reports HERE for each meeting (https://forms.gle/b46i3xN6f648MSmi9).

1. LEADER - Welcome
   • Thank Legislator/Staff Person for the meeting and anything else the legislator has done/supported (ADD EXAMPLE). Congratulate new legislators on being elected.
   • Introduce Recycle Colorado - establish your credentials: Recycle Colorado is a statewide nonprofit organization working to advance infrastructure, end markets, and state and local policies in waste reduction, recovery and diversion. We have more than 300 members from across the state, from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.
2. EVERYONE - Introductions
   • Introduce yourselves - where you live/where you work/what you do and if you are a constituent
3. LEADER - State the topic of the meeting
   • We are here today to talk to legislators like yourself about how important recycling, composting, reuse, and remanufacturing is to our state and the need for us to do more to build our recycling economy. 
   • Last year we had some great wins with the passage…
4. VOLUNTEER 1 - Tell the legislator WHY they should care - HEART
   • Appeal to their heart - briefly share your personal emotions, experiences with them about why battery stewardship is important to you. Try to make a personal connection with the legislator. 
5. VOLUNTEER 2- Tell the legislator WHY they should care - HEAD
   • Appeal to their head--briefly share facts, data. Overall, Colorado is currently recycling and composting only 15.5% of its waste, half the national average. 
6. VOLUNTEER 3 (or can be shared between two/three volunteers)- Ask for their support on bills we are running or supporting
   • Add info for 2026
7. VOLUNTEER 5 or LEADER - Ask if the legislator has questions or if we can follow up with any additional information.
8. LEADER - Closing
   • Tell the legislator/staffer our factsheets and materials are available through the QR Code. 
   • We will also follow up with answers to the questions he or she asked.
   • Thank the legislator again.

TIPS

• Be sure to make the conversation 50/50. Let the legislator respond and ask questions.
• Don't make anything up. It is WAY better to say, "I don't know. That is a great question. We will get back to you with an answer or have someone contact you who knows the answer."
• Don’t forget to fill out the report form!