Government Relations Toolkit

Resources for advocacy at the state and federal levels. 

Finding your Representative and Senators

• Search for your senators by state.
• Search for your representative by zip code.
• Consult a comprehensive listing of official Twitter handles for both chambers, or look at the member’s website for other social media accounts. Often, federal representatives will have an official Twitter and a personal/campaign Twitter—be sure to tag the correct one in advocacy posts!

Committees

Most of the work of Congress is conducted through committees. If your representative or one of your senators is on one of these committees, make a special effort to keep in touch on our issues. You can see committee assignments for your representatives at the House and the Senate. 

The most important committees for our purposes are the so-called “authorizing” committees, which approve new legislation on a set of issues and provide oversight of relevant agencies, and the appropriations committees, which allocate funding in the budget to line items created by the authorizing committees. For most of our core areas of concern, the education committees are the authorizing committees.

• Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee
• House Education and Labor Committee 
• Senate Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
  • Full committee
• House Appropriations
  • Full committee
  • Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies

Furthermore, on issues related to student lending and university finances, other committees may occasionally hold hearings and jointly approve new legislation with the education committees.

• Senate Judiciary Committee 
• House Judiciary Committee
• Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee
• House Financial Services Committee

Advocacy Guides

Tip sheets

• Dos and Don'ts of Lobbying
• Messaging
• How to visit a congressional office

Webinars

• Core Principles of Government Relations (Summer Institute 2021)
• Lobbying Skills: Telling Your Story (Summer Institute 2021)
• Overview on free college legislation (May 2021)
• Federal Advocacy Meeting (October 2021)

Background reading on legislative and administrative processes

• Glossary of Congressional terms
• United States House of Representatives legislative process
• The Federal Budget: A Congressional Performance in Three Acts 
• 9 questions about budget reconciliation you were too afraid to ask (Vox, January 2021)
• Negotiated Rulemaking at the Department of Education (Higher Learning Advocates, January 2019)