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Contact Your Elected Officials

Are you looking for a way to affect change by sharing your thoughts, concerns and personal stories? Contacting your elected officials and making your voice heard can make a big difference in policies for protecting and expanding HIV prevention as well as funds for services and programs. Your elected officials want to hear from you; your opinions make a real difference.

There are three different methods to choose in contacting your elected officials. When writing, making a call or arranging a meeting, identify yourself as a constituent that they represent and provide them with the topic that you'd like to discuss. Choose a method that you are most comfortable with and make your voice heard.

Write

Your elected officials really do want to hear from you. Depending on the preferences of your elected official, an email from your personal account, handwritten letter or letter typed on personal stationery can be a very powerful communication tool.

View an Outline for Writing Your Letter

1. Date
2. Salutation (Dear Representative, Senator, Governor, etc.)
3. Paragraph 1
   • Include a brief statement about who you are (constituent, person living with HIV, caseworker, etc.)
4. Paragraph 2
   • State the specific issue about which you are writing.
   • Use relevant research, when applicable, to back up your issue.
5. Paragraph 3
   • Tell your personal story in a heartfelt, but brief manner. Why should they care? How does this issue affect you?
6. Closing (Thank you, Sincerely, etc.)
7. Name and home address. Don't forget to sign it if you are typing your letter.

Call

Make your voice heard. Put your opinions and views in your own words and give your elected official a call. Talking directly to an elected official or assistant is a great way to start building a relationship.

To contact your State Representative call: 651–296–2146 or 800–657–3550.

To contact your State Senator call: 651–296–0504 or 888–234–1112

Tips for Calling Your Elected Officials

1. Be prepared. Plan ahead for what you are going to say.
2. Indicate that you are a constituent, and state your name and home address.
3. Keep your conversation short. You will often be speaking to an aide or assistant to the elected official.
4. Specifically state the issue about which you are calling and/or give the House or Senate File number (the bill number) of the legislation.
5. State clearly whether you support or oppose the legislation and how you want the legislator to vote.
6. If you don't know the answer to a question, say that you don't know and get back to the elected official and/or staff with the answer.
7. Take down the name of the aide with whom you spoke so that you will have a contact person.
8. Thank them for their time.

Meet

Meeting with an elected official rarely is forgotten. They are your elected officials and you deserve to meet them. A face–to–face meeting is a very effective tool in influencing HIV policy in Washington and Saint Paul.

Tips for Meeting Your Elected Officials

Before the meeting

1. Identify your legislators.
2. Get the legislator's aides' names and contact information.
3. Call for an appointment. Do this from your home district for your local delegation even if you will be meeting at the Capitol. Let the legislator know you will be in the Capitol even if you are not sure when you can meet with him/her. Ask when might be a good time to stop by.
4. Have a fact sheet(s) for each topic(s) you need to discuss. Contact the public policy department to obtain the appropriate HIV fact sheets.
5. If you are to discuss a bill, know the names of all sponsors and cosponsors. Contact the public policy department for assistance.
6. Before the meeting, custom highlight your fact sheet and staple a note with your name and home address to the corner of the sheet. Leave this with your legislator.
7. Rehearse a brief one or two sentence description of why you are there as a way to begin the meeting.
8. Obtain relevant background on your state legislator(s). Contact the public policy department for assistance.

During the meeting

1. Keep in mind that you are their constituents and they are there to serve you. Try not to be intimidated.
2. Start the meeting with the one or two sentence description you rehearsed of why you meeting.
3. Try to relate at least one quick real life example of the need for the action you are advocating.
4. Have your notebook or calendar handy in case the legislator asks for a follow–up meeting or for additional information.
5. Be aware of the legislator's busy schedule and do not stay longer than 10 minute unless she/he asks you to stay.
6. If the legislator cannot meet with your for some reason, meet with staff and leave a personal note summarizing your mission.

After the meeting

1. Write a follow–up letter thanking the legislator and/or staff for time spent on your issue and include a brief summary of action to be taken.
2. Keep the legislator informed of the progress or problems concerning the issue discussed.

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