Florida voters remain the most important voices legislators hear, a survey of legislative aides from Kevin Cate Communications (CateComm) reveals.
CateComm released its annual Florida Legislative Aide Study on Wednesday morning and it shows legislators are more apt to listen to citizens than they are lobbyists or the governor and his staff.
"Most of the advice from legislative aides to the public is strikingly simple," said Kevin Cate, the founder of CateComm. "If you want to make or change a law, get off the couch, bring solutions, and don't be a jerk."
An overwhelming number -- 86 percent -- of the legislative aides surveyed say citizens are very important in helping legislators in the lawmaking process while 73 percent say that of legislative staff, and 52 percent point to business groups as very important in the process. State economists are seen as very important by 44 percent while 39 percent say lobbyists and the governor and his staff are very important in the process. Around a quarter of legislative staff -- 27 percent -- think reporters are very important in the process while 25 percent say lawmakers’ families are and 23 percent say political groups ranging from the tea party movement and Americans for Prosperity on the right and Dream Defenders on the left are very important.
More than two-thirds of aides -- 68 percent -- say constituent visits are very likely to influence legislators as they form opinions and a majority of aides -- 55 percent -- say that about personal phone calls. Email from constituents is seen as very likely to influence legislators by 47 percent while 34 percent of aides say that about individual letters. Lobbyist visits are seen as very likely to influence legislators by 16 percent of aides and the same percentage of aides say the same of newspaper editorials and endorsements from coalitions and associations.
Most legislative aides -- 87 percent -- say it’s very important for legislators to attend events in their districts to communicate with constituents while 75 percent say that about replies to constituents. Two thirds -- 67 percent -- say office hours are very important for legislators to stay in touch with constituents while 64 percent say that about town halls and events hosted by the legislators. More than half of legislative aides say local news media, email news media and social media are very important ways for legislators to stay in touch with constituents.
Asked what kind of information is very important to influencing legislators, 85 percent of aides say fiscal impact, 84 percent apiece think local district impact and economic benefits while 71 percent point to legislative staff analysis. A majority of legislative aides -- 60 percent -- say personal stories are very important to influencing legislators and just under half -- 49 percent -- say academic reports are very important. Barely a quarter of legislative aides -- 26 percent -- say political parties’ positions are very important to influencing legislators.
Asked what paid methods are very likely to influence legislators, 44 percent of aides say public polls and 40 percent say private polls. Direct mail is seen as very likely to influence legislators by 31 percent of aides while 23 percent think radio ads are. Local newspaper ads are seen as very likely to influence legislators by 20 percent of the aides while 18 percent say that about TV ads and 12 percent say that about robocalls.
A solid majority -- 70 percent -- of legislative aides say the legislators operate their social media accounts all or some of the time. Only 14 percent of legislative aides say the legislators never use their social media accounts while 16 percent say the legislators rarely operate them. Facebook is seen as the most social media tool by 74 percent of aides while 24 percent think it’s Twitter.
Asked what media sources the legislators use, 66 percent of legislative aides point to the Sayfie Review while 65 percent say local print newspapers and 59 percent say the News Service of Florida. A majority of legislative aides -- 58 percent -- say the legislators watch local TV news and 53 percent of the aides say the legislators read local print newspapers online.
A majority of the legislative aides -- 51 percent -- say the legislators read Sunshine State News. Almost half -- 48 percent -- of the aides say the legislators watch Fox News while 46 percent say the legislators read Politico, 45 percent say they read the Tampa Bay Times Buzz Blog, 43 percent say the legislators read FloridaPolitics.com and 41 percent think the legislators read Saint Petersblog. Around a third -- 30 percent -- of legislative aides say the legislators read Sunburn from Saint Petersblog.
Tweets from reporters are said by 37 percent of legislative aides to be read by legislators but only 22 percent of aides say the legislators read reporters’ Facebook pages. Another 37 percent of aides say the legislators follow the national TV networks while 34 percent say the same of both national print and online newspapers and CNN. Around a third of legislative aides -- 30 percent -- say the legislators listen to local talk radio
Smaller percentages of legislative aides say the legislators get their news from the Florida Five from the Daily Times Buzz Blog, national talk radio, Politico’s Florida Playbook, MSNBC, Context Florida and Above the Fold Florida.
CateComm surveyed 86 legislative aides with 67 percent of them being Republicans -- the party that controls both chambers -- and 29 percent from Democrats.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
