Patch-Through Calls
At the core of the Stones’ Phones philosophy is a desire to connect voters with their elected officials and community leaders. While cynics complain about the growing disconnect between public officials and the communities they represent, Stones’ Phones knows how to turn everyday citizens into political activists. We strive to bridge the gap between the halls of Congress or the Statehouse and the halls in your own home. It all begins with a simple phone call.
Stones’ Phones has years of experience running patch-through campaigns and has perfected the art of connecting ordinary citizens with lawmakers.
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Patch-Through Case Studies

National Harbor casino and table games
Live Patch Through for Public Advocacy
National Harbor casino and table games
Live Patch Through for Public Advocacy
In 2008, voters in Maryland approved five casinos with only slot machines. In 2012, Prince George’s County and National Harbor wanted to build a casino with table games (such as poker and blackjack) at National Harbor to capitalize on its location next to Washington, D.C., and Virginia as a tourist destination. The bill had to be passed through the Maryland General Assembly to put it on the ballot for voters to decide.
The goal of the Stones’ Phones patch through program was twofold. First, was to put enough pressure on the Governor and the Speaker to schedule a special session, and second to secure enough votes in the House to pass the measure so that the voters had the final say on whether or not to build a casino with table games at the National Harbor.
As a result of our patch through calls, the Governor took the extraordinary step of calling a special session. Though the bill was considered dead, within four months, Stones’ Phones was able to bring the bill back to life with its patches to the Governor’s office.
On August 14th, the measure cleared the House 71 to 58 — the bare minimum required for passage.
In November, the voters of Maryland approved the National Harbor casino and table games with 51.9% of the vote.

National Public Pension Coalition
stop any lame duck legislation
National Public Pension Coalition
stop any lame duck legislation
Following the lead of other states, the Michigan Legislature spent much of 2012 fighting over how to “reform” public employee pensions. By the end of the year the Legislature had already passed one reform bill for Michigan teachers, and there was growing fear that they would use the lame duck session to change pension benefits for even more public employees. As the election approached and it became clear that many Republican legislators were about to lose their seats, there was even more urgency to stop any lame duck legislation.
Stones’ Phones implemented a program targeted at union members throughout Michigan to patch through to Republican leadership and remind them that the lame duck session was not the time to work on pension reform. We ran this program the week before the Election as a way to preempt any plans that might begin to form on Election night.
Over the course of several days we were able to get over 250 union households to patch to each of the 9 legislators, an incredible number considering how heavily Michigan was being bombarded with campaign messaging at the end of the campaign season. The Michigan legislature ended up taking on right-to-work legislation, but they left pensions alone for the lame duck session.

We Are Ohio 2011
deploying an unique, automated patch through campaign
We Are Ohio 2011
deploying an unique, automated patch through campaign
In 2011, We Are Ohio, like many organizations found itself fighting the same issues year after year. In particular, We Are Ohio found was fighting anti-collective bargaining bills every session, and they wanted that to stop.
To combat this perennial issue, Stones’ Phones deployed a unique, automated patch through campaign. This program targeted the sponsors of Senate Bill 5, an anti-collective bargaining bill that had been rejected by Ohioans by an overwhelming margin of 62-38 percent. These automated patch-through calls flooded the offices of legislators with messages from impassioned We Are Ohio members declaring they would not support any attempts to limit collective bargaining rights and the legislators should stop trying to pass such bills.
The legislators listened, and activist in Ohio have enjoyed a break from the constant collective bargaining fights.