Patton also anticipated difficulty persuading legislators to invest an estimated $100 million in equipment and processes to realize improved efficiency.

Advocacy groups persuaded legislators to put the question on the ballot.

About half of the states have already passed competition plans, but utility lobbyists focused on persuading legislators to allow utilities to recover their stranded costs.

She also faces difficulty persuading Republican legislators to pour state dollars into the cities.

In 2004, she persuaded legislators to add an amendment that defined marriage as being between a man and a woman.

"It's difficult to persuade inner-city legislators you understand their problems when you're entertaining them at your beautiful country home."

He persuaded legislators to kill the bill.

To some extent, of course, such comments were intended to persuade legislators back home to support big new appropriations for aid to Russia.

Jack points to Europe, where animal-rights groups have persuaded legislators to pass some laws banning caged chickens.

The Bridgeport strike persuaded enough legislators that something had to be done.