Building Effective Legislation in the Commonwealth
On Friday, March 27, 2026, the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) co-hosted a seminar along with the Virginia chapter of the Scholars Strategy Network (SSN) titled “Building Effective Legislation in the Commonwealth.” Scholars from the University of Virginia (UVA) and across the state enjoyed a day of discussion and skill-building, focused on how to strengthen their policy engagement and impact. The event was held at Garrett Hall, which houses the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at UVA.
The seminar opened with an introduction by Lizzy Ghedi-Ehrlich, Managing Director of SSN (see photo above). She spoke about how the mission of the organization was to be a federated network used to connect groups and resources to build durable relationships on the state level between scholars and legislators, and to enable them to share critical information with each other. She provided examples of the type of resources SSN membership provided, the tools needed to create relationships with lawmakers and establish trust with them, and the different ways to collaborate and contribute to the policymaking process. Questions for her included whether meeting with lawmakers in person or virtually was better, and how to overcome the liberal reputation of academia.
The audience then broke up into small groups to talk about where they want to take their research and how to make their engagement work more impactful.
Batten Professor Andrew Pennock.
The next presenter was Andrew Pennock, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Politics at Batten. He gave an overview that looked specifically at the legislative process in Virginia and how scholars could take part in it. He did this by examining the legislative calendar in the state, the inner workings and players of the legislature, and various tools and institutions in Richmond that could be utilized by scholars. Questions for him included how important it is for scholars to talk with their own representatives and how to strike a balance between lobbying and research outreach.
CEL Co-Director Craig Volden.
The final presenter was Craig Volden, Professor of Public Policy and Politics at Batten and CEL Co-Director. In addition to providing an overview of the CEL, he explained how joint programs with the group and SSN chapters can be fruitful for engaging and informing scholars and lawmakers. He also delved into specific research on the state level, such as how minority parties can have a bigger impact in some states than others (Virginia being one of them) and how collaboration is affected by both partisanship and the issues involved.
The event ended with concluding remarks by Ben Blankenship, Associate Professor at James Madison University and Virginia SSN chapter co-leader, who mentioned other ways to connect with and through SSN and invited the audience to their “Moving Beyond Implications” event in Hartford, CT taking place later this year.
The CEL is incredibly thankful to have been able to partner in this insightful event and appreciative of all those who made it possible.
