How can I participate in policy?
Step 1: Who are my representatives?
Visit the My Reps website. Type in your address and it will tell you info on all of your representatives – from local to federal!
Step 2: How do I find their contact information?
On the same website, click the CONTACT button on the right of an official’s name. This will give you their email. Additionally, their office address is listed beside their name.
Step 3: How should I reach them?
Email is always the easiest way to contact an official, but it is also the easiest for an official to ignore!
The best way to contact them is with a handwritten letter! This will be more personal to the official, as well as it is harder to ignore a stack of letters than it is 20 unread emails!
You can also call, but be aware that you may not get a chance to actually speak to your representative or a staffer working on the issue you're interested in. You might be offered the opportunity to leave a message or follow up via email - both are great!
What should I say?
Take time to collect your thoughts. We've provided a phone call script that may be helpful, but make it personal! Drawing on your experience or personal concerns is more likely to resonate with your representative. Draw on facts and thoughts on how the issue affects your life to clearly articulate why the representative should support or oppose the legislation. We've provided a list of current bills in the Indiana legislature and some notes about how that could affect our local sustainability efforts.
General tip
Remember to be polite and try to be short & concise. Try sticking to one issue per call/email.
In an email, start off a little personal and introduce yourself! What is your job? Do you have children? Etc. Praise your official a little or give them kudos for something they did recently. Tell them what you want from them: more support against climate change, more actions on carbon fees, vote against a certain bill, etc. Tie it into your story if you can and say why it is important to you. Ask them to write you back! More officials will, if asked, and that opens up further communication with them!
General tip
Try to get a letter length of around 1 page. Longer than that and they might miss important points. Keep it to the point, but still personal and informative!
Sample phone script
You: Hi, this is [your name], and I
live in [your city]. I am a
constituent of [the representative’s name], and I’d like to speak to the staffer who works on [issue or bill information].
Staffer: Hold on, please, while I check if that person is available. (pause) I’m sorry, they are not available right now. Can I take a message?
You: Yes, I’m calling about [issue or bill information]. [Draw on facts and information about how the issue/bill affects your life to clearly articulate why the representative should support or oppose this issue/bill.] Staffer: Thanks for your message. Can I get your full name, address, and telephone number or email to follow up on the issue?
Sample email
Email subject: [Support/
oppose issue/bill name]
Dear [representative’s name],
I am writing to urge you to [support or oppose] [issue or bill information]. As your constituent, [draw on facts and information about how the issue/bill affects your life to clearly articulate why the representative should support or oppose this issue/bill.]
Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely, [your name and address]
