Win Tough Fights

The Pennsylvania Newspaper Association (PNA) had tried for years to change the decades-old public records laws in the Commonwealth, which were ranked among the worst in the country. When a reform movement gained a foothold in Harrisburg, and a wave of new legislators took the helm of state government, PNA decided it was the perfect time to engage Bravo Group to help.

Bravo Group launched a full-scale, year-long communications campaign that went beyond traditional lobbying to educate lawmakers and citizens alike on the shortfalls of Pennsylvania’s current open records laws, and creating urgency for the law’s reform.

Bravo Group established a blog that became the hub for open records activism; the “go-to” site for all Pennsylvanians interested in open records reform. The innovative web presence become a resource for policymakers, citizens and journalists, logged over 18,000 visits -- and most importantly, was cited as a national leader in open records reform.

And, it worked—advocates , brought together by Bravo’s efforts, made sure the legislation passed and was signed into law by the governor in February 2008.

To the ASPCA and the Humane Society, it was a no-brainer: Pennsylvania, known as the Puppy Mill State, needed a better law regulating breeders' treatment of their dogs.

But kennel owners were a powerful group, and passing new legislation would be no piece of cake. Few people thought a law affecting dogs could pass during an election year when there were lots of hot-button issues lying about - and they realized they needed an edge, not only with government relations, but in mobilizing public opinion.

Bravo Group began by making people pay attention. With our help, the Governor's office held a press conference on enacting a new dog law. The next day, dogs were on the covers of newspapers across the state – and we were on our way.

Then came a strong inside game. We the made sure the measure passed the committee vote by helping advocates participate in hearings. And while the Legislature was off during the summer, Bravo continued the communications campaign. We created a website, posted videos online, distributed posters to legislator's offices and sent advocacy materials to supporters. We joined community events (Were you at Woof Stock, man?), encouraging public support for the Dog Law. We organized a rally at the Capitol, drawing 300 attendees (human, that is...add the dogs and you're looking at a lot more).

The public -- and the Legislature -- got the message. House Bill 2525 became law in October of 2008. Two paws up for that!

In 2006, the American Cancer Society approached Bravo Group with a lofty goal: to enact a Clean Indoor Air Act in the City of Philadelphia, and ultimately, for the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

We took a deep breath… and dove right in.

First, we helped to facilitate and coordinate a public education/advocacy campaign through the ACS and its coalition members. We called it the Breathe Free Coalition, and its goal was to assist the government relations effort in obtaining comprehensive clean indoor air laws in Philadelphia, and place additional pressure on the state legislature to follow suit.

With Bravo’s guidance, the coalition engaged in every tactic it could muster: Breathe Free held special events, press conferences, rallies and lobby days. It also worked with the media, targeting newspapers statewide and garnering articles, letters to the editor and opinion editorials. To support the public relations campaign, full-page ads were placed in various newspapers elevating the issue and thanking legislators for their support of the legislation.

Due to an aggressive strategy and a well-executed campaign, lawmakers in Philadelphia passed a Clean Indoor Air Ordinance in 2006. With that win under our belt, we leveraged the victory to take the campaign to the next level -- a full-scale, tactical campaign that targeted every newspaper, legislator and household in the state. And with that, Governor Rendell signed the statewide law on June 13, 2008 – making Pennsylvania the 34th state to go smoke-free.

REACH is Pennsylvania’s grassroots coalition for school choice, a hard-fought educational reform issue that was a priority of former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge.

Since its birth in 1999, Bravo Group has assisted REACH in every aspect of the school choice movement - from the drafting, passage, and recent expansions of Pennsylvania’s landmark Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program - to integrated communications campaigns.

Over the years, Bravo Group has:

• Developed a strategy to marshal support for school choice and counter the powerful opposition aligned against it.
• Built a modern, effective organization with the influence to promote school choice as an increasingly viable alternative to troubled public schools.
• Facilitated the legislative enactment of the Educational Improvement Tax Credit program, giving school choice advocates a $40 million program that allows parents to choose the appropriate school for their child, and helps communities better their public schools.
• Worked with families and the legislature to expand the program funding.

One of our most recent challenges came in 2010. In 2009, during the depths of the recession, the EITC program took an unavoidable hit of $15 million, reducing its funding to $60 million. In 2010, the program was again set to be cut by an additional $10 million.

But armed with thousands of success stories and supporters, Bravo and the REACH Foundation thwarted the attempt. Due to an aggressive strategy and a well-executed campaign, Pennsylvania lawmakers held the line for Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program at $60 million. This success then carried over into 2011, when the EITC finding was again restored to $75 million.