Resources and tools for legislative success

By AWC staff

Effective advocacy begins at home. As city leaders, you serve as the vital link between your legislators and your community. Engaging with state legislators can seem daunting, but with resources and tools from AWC, you have everything you need to succeed.

Strong cities advocacy pocket guide: Need a crash course in effective advocacy? AWC’s pocket guide gives you essential information to understand the legislative process, build successful partnerships with legislators, develop your city’s legislative agenda, and communicate effectively with legislators, residents, and the media.

AWC Legislative Bulletin & advocacy news: Keeping up with all the bills, rules, and regulations coming out of Olympia is a herculean task. Thankfully, AWC’s legislative team tracks the issues most important to cities and publishes a regular email newsletter with all the information you need. Reading the Legislative Bulletin and keeping up on our advocacy news will help you understand what is going on in the capital and what actions you can take as a city leader.

AWC bill tracker: Each legislative session, the legislative team at AWC tracks hundreds of bills that impact cities. Our bill tracker provides you with a one-stop shop to stay current on city-related bills, their current status, and links to AWC’s coverage of the issues.

AWC reports: Having a sense of other city perspectives on an issue, as well as specific, relevant data ready to share can be crucial when talking with legislators. AWC regularly publishes reports on critical issues cities are facing including infrastructure, municipal workforce, public safety, housing, and more. These reports include statistics, city case studies, and talking points to help you be more effective in working with state officials.

AWC legislative priorities: Each year, the AWC Board of Directors reviews issues identified by our Legislative Priorities Committee and adopts legislative priorities for AWC staff to pursue during the legislative session. AWC encourages municipal leaders to review these priorities and incorporate them into city legislative agendas. AWC’s 2025 priorities include fiscal sustainability, behavioral health, housing supply, public safety, and infrastructure.

In addition to providing city leaders and staff with many important tools, AWC also recommends these additional steps and strategies cities and towns can take to prepare for engaging with state leaders:

Adopt a legislative agenda: The end of the calendar year is traditionally budget time for cities. While working on your budget, also take time to discuss, develop, and adopt legislative priorities. Once adopted, share your priorities with your state legislators and ask for their help in achieving your goals. Need more info? Check out our pocket advocacy guide or have a look at these city examples.

Build relationships with your state delegation: January is not the best time to start reaching out to state elected officials. Take the time during the rest of the year—the legislative interim—to meet with your representatives, invite them to tour your community, and discuss the challenges and opportunities your city and town may be facing.

Engage during the legislative session: Making your voice heard during the legislative session is becoming easier and easier. Bill hearings and floor proceedings can be viewed online, testimony can be given via Zoom, and comments on bills can be submitted via email. Even if you can’t physically make it to Olympia, you can still engage and make your voice heard. Check out this video on how to sign in and testify.

There are a million things to keep track of as a city official, but with a little forethought, legislative session doesn’t have to be a big stressor. Consider your city’s priorities and plan your engagement now.

AWC is here to help. Our City Action Days—held on February 19–20, 2025 in Lacey—is geared toward city councilmembers and mayors, as well as managers, administrators, intergovernmental relations staff, and department heads. There’s no better way to engage in the legislative process than attending this popular event, which provides valuable advocacy education along with the opportunity to interact with colleagues as you work together to educate statewide decision-makers about city legislative priorities.

As always, we encourage you to reach out to the government relations team if you have questions.