A member of Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee (AFP-TN) said this week that his organization assists frustrated right-of-center Tennesseans who want to influence state legislators and how they vote.
AFP-TN spokesman Grant Henry spoke with The Tennessee Star this week.
“At AFP, we are first and foremost a grassroots-driven organization. That is not only our bread and butter, that is our lifeforce. It’s a duty of every American citizen. At AFP, we like to use the grassroots to influence the legislature. And we do mean getting people up to the legislature with us,” Henry said.
“Meet with your congressman. Meet directly with your legislator. Sit in on committee meetings with us. Not just that, we have a multitude of online petitions that people can sign to send letters directly to their legislators. We are constantly holding phone banks to call in and contact your legislators. We are doing as much as we possibly can to provide opportunities for the grassroots and primarily for constituents to touch and hold their legislators and their representatives accountable.”
Henry said he hosts citizen lobbyist trainings. He said 70 people signed up to attend the most recent training.
“What does it look like to go meet with a state legislator? How do you track bills? How do you follow the bills? What do you say when you are in a meeting?” Henry asked.
“How do you remain calm and cordial and bring topics into conversation, while at the same time getting your point across? How do you set meetings? How do you do lobbying? We are always training people to do that thing.”
Henry said Tennessee residents who want to get involved should monitor AFP-TN’s social media pages, particularly its Facebook page, to learn about upcoming events and to see new petitions.
AFP-TN unveiled its 2022 Legislative Agenda on Tuesday. The agenda calls on state legislators to repeal the Professional Privilege Tax, reform the state’s school funding formula to something more student-centered, fund the police through transparent budgets, and end civil asset forfeiture.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Training Event” by Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee.
