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Oregon is a citizen legislature. Legislators frequently have day jobs or are retired
from the work world. They uniformly want to make Oregon a better place. Communication
from citizens, business, students, and the public help them make informed decisions.
Remember that the legislators are just people that have to make decisions, and to
do that, they need information, examples, suggestions all within a limited amount
of time.
The following suggestions will make communicating with a senator or representative
more impactful and helpful in the decision making process.
In person meeting-either at the capitol or a meeting in district.
- Call for an appointment in advance, and be on time.
- Plan for a maximum of 15 minutes and be prepared for less than 10. Be concise.
- Do your homework. Know what you’re asking for: support or oppose a bill.
- Stay focused on your message. What do you want out of the meeting.
- Provide input/information/your opinion and why. Stories that demonstrate your point
are helpful.
- Ask for their support/opposition. Do they need additional information.
- Always tell the truth. If you don’t know, say so and get back to them with the information.
- Be polite. Don’t threaten and be respectful.
- Remember the Golden Rule: treat others as you would like to be treated.
- Allow time for questions/discussion.
- Thank them for the visit.
- Follow up with a personal mailed note.
Letters are an important tool to communicate with legislators. Legislators keep correspondence
that is directed in the file with the bill the letter is addressing.
- Be clear at the top of the letter what the bill number is or the concept that is being
address.
- One topic per letter.
- Be clear, concise, and provide examples.
- Include your contact information: phone, email, etc.
- Form letters carry little weight
Emails need to be clear, brief, focused with the topic in the subject line (e.g. support
Senate Bill XXXX).
- Many of the same rules for letters also apply with emails.
- Make your communication personal. Provide facts or specific information.
- When sending an email, do not include multiple legislators on the sent line. Spam
filters will frequently flag those emails. One email per legislator.
- Form emails carry little weight
- Always include your contact information in your email.
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Contact your legislator today. Our legislators can't do good work for the community
if we don't tell them what we want.
- Make a phone call; leave a message if after hours
- Send an email
- Attend a local town hall
- Stop by the Capitol in Salem
Let your senator and representative know how important investing in LBCC and Oregon's
community colleges is.
Find Your Legislators
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