 Communication Tips
Calling Your State Legislator
Using First Advocate, you will be given the phone number of federal and state legislators.
Staff members usually handle calls to the legislator's office. Therefore it is important to ask to speak with the staff member who handles your issue of interest. Be sure to identify yourself and request to leave a brief message with the legislator that states the purpose of your call, e.g. "Please tell Senator/Representative (Name) that I support/oppose (S.F.___/H.F.___)."
Also, it is important to state the reasons why you support or oppose the bill. You may ask for your legislator's position on the bill if it is not known and you may also request a written response to your telephone call/message.
Tips On Writing Your State Legislator
The letter is still one of the more widely used methods of communicating with a legislator's office. Writing a
letter gives you, as a constituent, the opportunity to express and defend your position on an issue. Your letter
will be most effective if you follow a few simple guidelines:
1.) Your purpose for writing should be stated in the first paragraph of the letter. If your letter pertains to
a specific piece of legislation, identify it accordingly, e.g., House bill: H. R. ____, Senate bill: S.____.
2.) Be courteous. Even if the legislator has taken positions you disagree with, be respectful.
3.) Get to the point quickly, and address only one issue in each letter. As a rule of thumb, it is best to limit
your letter to one page.
4.) Be sure to include information and your own personal reasons for supporting or opposing a piece of
legislation. Legislators are not only influenced by who supports legislation, but also why.
Addressing Correspondence:
To a State Senator:
The Honorable (full name)
State Capitol
Salem, OR 97301
Dear Senator:
To a State Representative:
The Honorable (full name)
State Capitol
Salem, OR 97301
Dear Representative:
*NOTE: When writing to the Chair of a Committee or the Speaker of the House, it is proper
to address them as:
Dear Mr. Chairman or Madam Chairwoman:
or Dear Mr. Speaker:
Tips On Emailing An Elected Official
In general, the same guidelines for writing a letter apply to email messages.
Recent world events have made regular mail problematic for state and federal
legislators. Regular mail may take weeks of screening and processing before it
is finally delivered, so email is becoming an important and perhaps the only
means of quick communication between constituents and their elected officials.
With an email message to a legislator, however, it is very important to include
information about yourself in the email, preferably in the opening paragraph.
Since automated systems such as First Advocate are widely used, including a
short paragraph about yourself sets your email apart from the others and gives
it a better chance of being read and responded to instead of simply counted.
Also, always add your street address at the end of the email. Often, the
street address is the only way a legislator has of
knowing that you are a constituent. In some instances, emails without street
addresses may not receive a response.
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