Developing Community Leaders to Impact Public Policy

Success Story

A key group organized through MSU Extension's project, United Growth for Kent County, is the Legislative Committee. This committee's purpose is to impact public policy - an activity that many Extension staff avoid.

This presentation will explore the concerns associated with Extension doing "lobbying" and "advocacy". An explanation of the Legislative Committee's work will also be presented as well as how leadership skills have been developed through this process.

United Growth for Kent County is a land use project that addresses the issue of urban sprawl from both an urban and a rural perspective. Kent/MSU Extension started this project 7 years ago.

The Legislative Committee consists of both urban and rural citizens. The Committee's task is to identify land use issues that impact both rural and urban areas since the endorsement of the United Growth Coalition is necessary to pursue a change in land use policies.

Much education is done by the Legislative Committee first with United Growth members and then with the general public. Issues that have been undertaken by the Committee include: affordable housing, coordinated planning among local jurisdictions, and purchase of development rights. The Committee has also engaged in its own training: become familiar with state legislative processes, meeting annually with area legislators, and attending an advocacy training session.

At the end of the presentation, time will be spent on discussion of the effectiveness of community leadership on public policy through Extension.