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![How to Kill a Bill [6 Steps to Oppose Legislation]](https://www.quorum.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/How-to-Oppose-Legislation.jpg)
It happens to every public affairs team sooner or later. Rather than enacting your legislative agenda, you find yourself working to stop someone else’s. Sometimes, you need to kill a bill.
As veteran public affairs professionals know, playing defense is a big part of the job. And, as the old saying goes, the best defense is often a good offense. Whether in state legislatures or Congress, there is much that can be done proactively to stop a bill from coming to the floor.
Remember that thousands of bills are introduced at all levels of government every year, but only a small percentage of them are signed into law. From January through July of 2023, for example, 156,000 state bills were introduced, according to Quorum data. But only 3,168 passed both chambers. While every issue and every legislative body is different, the odds are generally in your favor when you stand in opposition.
“The truth is that it is a whole lot easier to kill a bill than it is to get one passed,” Kevin Wilson, a former Republican lawmaker in Missouri, wrote in an incredibly candid column more than a decade ago. “And that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If it were real easy to get legislation passed, then we would have a whole bunch more laws on the books—we already have enough.”
Launch a Campaign to Stall Momentum
Obviously, the easiest bill to oppose is the one that never gets introduced in the first place. If your team is gearing up to oppose legislation, we assume that conversations to mitigate the policies you oppose did not work or that they were never a viable option in the first place. Furthermore, we assume that a bill has been introduced and that it has at least some chance of passage. A bill that is going nowhere may not warrant full-scale, active opposition.
But if your legislative tracking software shows that a bill was introduced, that it has indicators of support (for example, a large number of cosponsors) and that it may be moving, then the clock is ticking on your efforts to intervene.
When it comes to stopping legislation, the mission is often to stall the bill’s momentum. This is done by raising questions, gathering opposition, and making the case that provisions in the bill are premature, underdeveloped, overly broad, or otherwise ill-advised.
Making that case requires steps that are similar to any legislative campaign: you have to develop your best argument, gather as much support as you can, and then carry the message with force. Here are some steps you can take to create an opposition plan:
- Build Your Argument. Your case against the bill should be clear and powerful. That often means raising questions designed to provoke doubt among lawmakers, if not outright opposition. Perhaps the bill will have unintended consequences, is extremely costly, or will have an unfair impact on a certain industry. All are good arguments for a cautious approach. Use research, data, and testimonials to show lawmakers the consequences of this bill, and that constituents in their district are concerned.
- Find Champions in Leadership. Nothing can stop a bill quicker than a speaker, majority leader, or committee chair who stands in opposition. As you create your battle plan, target lawmakers who can by themselves shut the legislation down. That may come in the form of a call for further study or a set of hearings down the road. Often, the objective is simply inaction. If a committee chair says the bill is not a legislative priority this year, your work may be done.
- Maintain an Accurate Nose Count. If you are considering a campaign, it is likely that the bill you oppose has at least some chance of passage. As soon as you launch your campaign, your lobbyists will need to have a solid sense of the vote count and how it changes at all times. This is the most important metric to track progress. It can also function as an early warning system if you start to lose ground. Quorum can also help, allowing you to monitor comments on social media and co-sponsors that sign onto the bill.
- Gauge Public Sentiment. While some issues are too obscure to register with voters, many others do. If your issue generates strong public sentiment, this is worth monitoring. If this sentiment cuts in your favor, any chance to demonstrate that to lawmakers is worthwhile. For example, you could commission a poll and share results with persuadable legislators, then use it to generate earned media.
- Gather an Opposition Coalition. Opposing a bill is easier when you stand with others. A coalition of associations, companies, and nonprofits that share your viewpoint represents a larger and more formidable force. Together, you can extend your reach farther. Every member of the coalition also has relationships with different lawmakers, allowing you to optimize outreach.
- Use Your Voice. Using grassroots action to have constituents contact lawmakers can be extremely effective. This allows them to hear real stories directly from the people they represent, arming them with anecdotes to explain their position. Just make sure that the outreach they receive contains personal stories. Filling inboxes is effective, but not with form letters.
Sometimes, it is necessary to get very public with your opposition to a bill, running ads in lawmaker districts or writing an op-ed in the hometown paper. Just be very careful before taking this type of action. Often, lawmakers resent pressure like this and you don’t want to alienate someone you are trying to persuade. While there is a time to advocate without hesitation, a private conversation can often get more done, especially in early days.
Take Advantage of Parliamentary Procedure
When bills start to move through the system, there are myriad ways to prevent them from coming to a vote for those who understand parliamentary procedure and how to use it. In any legislature, rules matter. And those who know how to use them have an advantage.
These rules vary widely across upper and lower chambers in Congress and all 50 state legislatures, but they often contain effective tools to stop legislation. For example, in the U.S. Senate, an age-old informal practice allows any senator to place a hold on a bill by simply asking the majority leader to do so, traditionally in the form of a letter. While Senators are careful not to overuse the privilege, and the majority leader has the ultimate decision, this means that one adamant opponent can stop legislative action in the Senate, at least for a time.
Other tools in various chambers include asking for a point of order, which halts the action while rules are clarified; a filibuster, in which opponents eat up floor time to delay debate on a bill; and amendments, which can be used to alter a bill and foster compromise or to poison its chances of passage. In state legislatures, where legislative sessions are often short, a common strategy is to simply stall a bill and run out the clock, so the legislature does not have time to consider it during the session.
Even if a bill that you oppose does pass, there’s always one final chance to stop it before the executive branch. The U.S. president and all 50 state governors have veto powers, though the precise rules determining what they can do varies by state. Sometimes, even the threat of a veto can change the political chemistry that surrounds a bill.
Organizations that understand legislative procedures stand a better chance of killing a bill they oppose. This is also one area where your legislative champions may be of great help, suggesting strategies and then helping to carry them out. Many lawmakers are experts in parliamentary procedure or have staff with similar skills. Listening to them will reveal that there are indeed many ways to kill a bill—and it may well be easier than getting one passed.
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