Play Ball ...

I love baseball.  It was the first organized sport that I played.  I coached my son's t-ball team.  And really, there is nothing better than leaving work a little early and going to the ball park for a day game in the middle of the week.  So this year, I decided to see how see how interested state legislators are in baseball.  The result was so interesting, I decided to blog about it.

Did you realize there are more than 800 bills in state legislatures that mention the word baseball.  That number astounded me, as did learning the Illinois legislature introduced 95 of them.  But taking a deeper look, I found that these bills touch almost every sector of our lives. Some were obvious, like schools, kids, doctors, insurance, taxes and budgets.  But some I was surprised by, like medical marijuana, criminal law, interstate tax compacts.  You sometimes forget America's Pastime, the game that you played as kid, is really a huge, multi-billion dollar industry.

Throughout the course of the day, I learned things - like Commotio Cordis, which is an arrhythmia caused by a sudden blow to the chest. The average victim is 16, and 90% are younger than 25.  Baseballs are the number one cause.  There are bills in CA Bill ACR47 & IA Bill HF461 to raise awareness of this important issue.

I was reminded how strange the state code can be when bills come up because baseball is in the periphery somewhere, like NJ A3220, which is a bill titled "Concerns the promotion and protection of agriculture."

Some of my favorite bills were:

• Funding to support American Legion Baseball got a line item in the Alaska Budget Bill

• The Georgia Legislature introduced 30 bills introduced, including several recognizing recent Hall of Fame inductees. I tweeted about Tom Glavin because he pitched for the Mets.

• In New York, the legislature might ban the head-first slide and someday you might be able to visit the Baseball Heritage Trail.

• The Missouri, Tax Day is Jackie Robinson Day!

So check out the link - search for your state, or your industry, or your passion.  See if it has a link to baseball somewhere.

If after my exhaustive study on baseball and state legislatures, you still have any questions tweet me at @mob_advocacy, I'll see if I can answer them during the Nat's home opener.

About Michael O'Brien...

Michael O'Brien is the founder and principal of MOB Advocacy. He has more than ten years experience as a state and local lobbyist. Michael has lobbied governors, mayors, legislators, state and local agencies and regulators in more than 40 states.

Before starting MOB Advocacy, Michael was the the national state and local government affairs department for RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment). Prior to RISE, Michael launched Molina Healthcare's political and grassroots advocacy programs, created strong public-private partnerships as director of The Washington Center, and developed a federal, state and grassroots advocacy program for The National Conference for Community and Justice.

About MOB Advocacy...

MOB Advocacy is a full-service, multi-state government relations firm located in Fairfax City, Virginia. Founded in 2012, MOB Advocacy has quickly become a recognized leader in state and local government relations.

MOB Advocacy's clients range from established corporations, tech start-ups, nationally recognized non-profit and advocacy groups. Our clients chose us because MOB Advocacy offers the full range of solutions of a large government relations firm with the personal service of a boutique firm. Mob Advocacy helps its clients to navigate the complex world of state and local legislative and regulatory affairs, procurement bureaucracy and appropriations processes to achieve their organizational goals.