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he AMM board developed the legislative contact system for two primary reasons: (1) to keep AMM members involved in the legislative process and (2) to improve the overall AMM lobbying effort. A city elected official or staff member is chosen by each municipality to serve as a legislative contact between the AMM, the municipality and its local legislators. The legislative contacts help make legislators aware of the strong metropolitan interest regarding certain issues. The contacts primarily interact with the AMM and the municipality's senators and representatives during the early stages of the legislative session to promote AMI(policy priorities, and during the later stages when bills and legislation are finalized. The AMM will ask the contacts to discuss specific issues with legislators. The contacts will receive a broadcast fax from the AMM contact coordinator, Cheryl Budewitz. The contacts then call or meet with the municipality's senators and representatives to express the AMM's concerns. Contact with the legislators usually occurs over the telephone, but the AMM encourages one-to-one contact. O In addition to talking with legislators, the contacts brief their respective city councils on AMMpriority policies and solicit official endorsements. The contacts should update the AMM on the positions of the cities and legislators. Contacts may wish to develop a sub-contact system by teaming with council or staff members who have expertise in a particular area or have a special relation- ship with a legislator. This could be developed on an issue-by-issue basis. Building a rapport with legislators is essential to the AMM lobbying efforts. Direct participation magnifies interest and gets results. The responsibilities of the contacts are not time-consuming. However, their work is invaluable—the contacts are essential to an effective AMM lobbying effort. O