How to make your voice heard by our government

Contacting legislators works and is important because your legislators are elected to represent you!

Legislators' staff members are required to keep tally of the opinions they get from constituents. And legislators are inclined to listen to what their constituents want because their jobs depend on getting re-elected. Even if a legislator is already planning to vote the way you want, contacting them can provide useful data and stories to make their point

Quick refresher: The legislative branch of government makes laws. It exists at federal, state, and local levels as US Congress, state legislatures, and city councils.
‍

Step 1: Identify what you care about

Identify an issue you are passionate about, review upcoming legislation at congress.gov, or find legislative issues at the bottom of this page that Tandem thinks are important and impactful

Step 2: Determine the right legislator(s) to contact

If you are advocating about legislation being actively considered: check the legislature's website to see if it has already passed through one chamber

If it has, focus on advocating to the other chamber

If you are advocating on a topic or issue: determine if you want to advocate at the federal, state, and/or local level

Most topics can be impacted at every level, but it is sometimes useful to address the issue on a state/local level because state or local governments are often faster to innovate and experiment with new policies and programs or .if you want to see a specific change in your community

Step 3: Find the legislator's contact information

You can contact your legislator by phone or email/form

To find contact info:

‍For US Congress, go to congress.gov/members or call (202) 224-3121‍
For state and local legislatures, check their specific websites such as legislature.ca.gov for California's state legislature

Step 4: Prepare & share your message

Prepare a short message with the following:

Name, location, & that you are their constituent
Stance on the issue or legislation
(Optional) Personal reason for your stance
Thank you

If you are calling, state your message clearly to the legislator's staff member who answers; If you are emailing or submitting a form, paste your message

Step 5: Amplify your voice

Contact your second senator, contact your legislator in the second chamber, contact your legislators at other government levels, and/or tell your friends to contact their legislators