Friends in High Places
by Jack Cory and Keyna Cory
Establishing quality relationships with legislators is absolutely
critical to our industry's success (and it's easy!)
1995 was a great year for independent public payphone (IPP)
providers in Florida. The Florida Legislature totally rewrote the
state telecommunications statute, which resulted in major changes
to the way telecommunications services are delivered to consumers
and opened many areas to competition that were previously reserved
for monopoly providers. As a result of this legislation, IPP
providers in Florida enjoy the most favorable payphone line rates
in the nation. 1996 is turning out to be an even better year,
because IPP providers throughout the country will be seeing
numerous benefits as a result of the Telecommunications Act of
196, which Congress passed earlier this year.
With all of this good news, some of you may be thinking you can
take a break from all the political activity, but you can't! While
things may look quiet after the flurry of activity leading up to
the passage of critical legislation, no law is ever "safe" once it
is passed. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the
various state public utility commissions will be interpreting and
implementing the new law over the next year. And legislators will
be watching and listening at both the state and national level
That is why we feel it is important to talk about candidates and
campaigns at this time. 1996 is a big election year for the
Florida Legislature, as it is for many other state legislatures.
In addition, on the federal level, many critical elections are
taking place. Every member of the U.S. House of Representatives
has a two-year term of office, while one-third of the U.S. Senate
also faces reelection every two years.
We cannot overemphasize the importance of every member of the
American Public Communications Council Inc. (APCC) becoming
involve din the election process. There are several ways you can
do this.
First, give money. Every candidate needs money and elections can
cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in heavily-contested races.
Every campaign contribution counts. Give as much as you possibly
can and remember those legislators who were there when you needed
them. The APCC and your state payphone association can provide you
with this type of information.
Another way you can help in the election process is to have the
candidate come to your facility to meet your employees. You can
have the candidate meet your employees and leave his or her
literature for your employees to review. Again, the APCC and your
state payphone association will gladly help you plan for such a
visit.
Next is manpower. Every campaign needs bodies to help put up
signs, distribute literature, stuff envelopes, etc. If you can
volunteer some of your employees to help with any of these
activities, it would really be appreciated by any candidate.
Finally, allt he money in the world will not necessarily win an
election - you must have the votes. Each APCC member needs to
encourage their employees to vote. Give them a few minutes either
before or after work to go tot he polls and cast their vote.
Again, you can get background information on candidates from the
APCC or your state association.
You need to think of members of the legislature and Congress
almost as customers - they can cost oyu money or save you money,
and the choice is yours. If we help elect pro-business people into
office, we will be saving ourselves and our industry a lot of
money over the long run. If we ignore the election process and
candidates are elected who are not pro-business, it will cost your
companies dearly. The choice is yours.
1996 may have been a better year than we have had in the past, but
we can expect 1997 to be a busy one for our industry. Let's make
it a great one!
Bio: Jack and Keyna Cory own Public Affairs Consultants, a
Tallahassee, Fla.-based governmental affairs company that provides
public and governmental relations services. The Corys, who have
more than 30 years of combined experience, have been working with
the Florida Public Telecommunications Association.
November '96 Perspectives: Official Magazine of the APCC®
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