2018 Lobby Day

Healthy and Free Tennessee hosts a lobby day or day on the hill each year where we mobilize Tennesseans to action in visiting their legislators, to ensure elected officials hear directly from their constituents. This event is open to anyone who is interested! Each year, we set up appointments with legislators for participants, and provide them with a list of current legislation to discuss, plus talking points to guide their conversations. This year's lobby day on February 13th was our first year at the legislature's new home, the Cordell Hull Building. 

A typical lobby day day includes a morning lobbying training and an afternoon lunch with guest speakers. This year we welcomed a panel of speakers including lobbyists for Healthy and Free Tennessee, Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) and Planned Parenthood, ACLU-TN, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). They discussed insider tools of the trade, and why certain strategies may work better in the streets than at the state house. Larry Frampton from our coalition partner Tennessee AIDS Advocacy Network (TAAN) also joined us to discuss strategy and recent policy successes in HIV/AIDS policy in Tennessee. In the afternoon, encouraged participants to attend committee hearings for a few of our bills that were being heard, and finally, we ended the day with a press conference in support of our coalition partner, Free Hearts.