Lessons Learned from Testifying Before the U.S Senate on Behalf of the State of California

One of the ways our Fellows lead is by providing expert testimony before state and national legislative bodies.  In March, Mike Wilson and Evan Hansen were called to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works in a hearing entitled, "Preventing Potential Chemical Threats and Improving Safety: Oversight of the President's Executive Order on Improving Chemical Facility Safety and Security." Below are Mike's reflections on the experience.

It can be tricky to write testimony for a large government entity like the State of California. It needs to accurately reflect what the leadership of the state believes is important, while also meeting the needs of the hearing itself, and it needs to be consistent with the speaker’s values and expertise. In this case, the process was straightforward because we had a document, the final report of the Governor’s Interagency Working Group on Refinery Safety, which reflects the findings of 13 agencies and departments and the Governor’s Office. The report describes changes that are needed in California to improve refinery safety; those changes turn out to be ground-breaking and—if implemented-- represent a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make some serious improvements for workers and communities in California. Those changes could have national implications. But that’s the easy part: the hard part is preparing for the potential questions that could come up, which requires you to develop responses that (as closely as possible) you believe reflect the views of your colleagues in the state’s leadership. The other hard part for me in this case was having to read a statement, which as the Switzer training has taught us many times, is not the best way to deliver a memorable message. If this opportunity comes up again, I’ll try to focus the oral comments on a theme that reflects more of a storyline, rather than a technical point of view. Stories are the way we grasp ideas orally; the trick is to tell a compelling story that communicates a technically correct message, with one to three key points that the listener will hang onto. Thanks to the last west coast Switzer retreat, I had these ideas in mind as I crafted the oral testimony!