Maximizing the impact of your resolution

You’ve passed a resolution – congratulations! Here are some ideas on how to take advantage of your victory.

Let us know

Send us an email so that we can add your resolution to the map.

If you are able to contact us ahead of the council vote, we can also help to mobilize local calls of support to the council. We can also work with you on a press release and distribute it to local and regional media outlets. Ideally, the press release should be ready on the day of the council meeting.

Here is an example of a press release written by activists in New Haven, CT and a news article that came out of it.

Write an Op-ed

Write an op-ed to your local paper about the resolution and what Medicare for All will mean for your community. Or, work with one of your council champions to write an op-ed (we can help with this). You can look at our op-ed talking points or send us your draft op-ed to review.

Start a new effort in a nearby town or with your county government

You’ve got something great going already and you already know what it takes to pass a resolution. It’s not a problem if you don’t know someone who lives in the municipality of your next city target. Your champion on the council may also have friends in neighboring councils that they can connect you to.

The process for passing a county resolution is very similar to a council resolution. You may want to look at our coalition building guide for ideas on bringing new allies into your campaign. Think about who might be your champion – and don’t worry about whether you live in their district. Again, your champion on your city council may be willing to help out with an introduction or suggestions on who to approach.

If you’re considering a new resolution effort, set up a call with us to brainstorm your next steps. We may have people on our list who live in your new target to reach out to.

Present your resolution to your Representative(s) in Congress.

Your town clerk should send a copy of the resolution to the office of your Member of Congress, since the resolution includes that commitment. However, the impact will be much greater if you organize a meeting to present your resolution, especially if your Representative is a Democrat who has either not signed on to HR1976 or if they are a cosponsor but you feel they could be more enthusiastic about it.

Some groups schedule their meeting right away, while others like to pass a few resolutions before setting this up – the timing is up to you. As always, if your Representative is not a cosponsor, you should avoid mentioning any other resolutions you’re working on.

Here is a guide on planning a meeting with your Representative.

Keeping your momentum

Just having a local group of activists come together to organize a resolution campaign is a major achievement. Here are some ways to figure out your next steps as a group.

• Host a victory party with all the activists who helped along the way. Take time to discuss what worked the most, to complement each other on contributions that made a difference
• Organize a meeting for your activist group to decide on next steps and new ideas for collaboration.
• Consider creating or reviving a Medicare for All activist network in your state as your group’s next project. For example, Medicare for All CT came out of a resolution passed in New London – a town of 29,000!