Calling your State Representative and State Senator

It's more painless than you think, so don't be intimidated! Legislative offices love hearing from constituents, and its their job to work for you.

TO DO BEFORE YOU CALL

• To get the phone numbers of your State Representative and State Senator:
  1. enter your ZIP code below
  2. click on "GO"
  3. click on the name of your State Representative and State Senator on the Congress.org page that comes up
   

  5 digit zip code:

• Before you call, practice the script once or until you are comfortable with it.

THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE YOU CALL

•   When you call the number for your Representative/Senator, you will be contacted to a receptionist. In the case of your Representative, it will probably be the receptionist for a committee, so they might answer the phone "Elder Affairs," or "Children and Families."
•   You will most likely be talking to your Representative/Senator's legislative aide. That's OK. This person will communicate the information to the Representative/Senator and will be the one to get back to you.
•   You should call both your Representative AND Senator. We need both of their votes.

SCRIPT FOR CALLING YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE/ SENATOR

  Receptionist: Hello, (name of committee OR name of Senator's office).

You: Hello, can I please speak to someone in Representative/Senator     ______'s office?

Receptionist: One moment please. (they transfer your call to a legislative aide).

Legislative aide: Hello, Representative/Senator _____'s office.

  You: Hello, my name is______, and I am a constituent of Representative/Senator______. I am calling because I would like him/her to support House Bill #1722, An Act Relative to Gender-Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes. This bill simply expands the existing non-discrimination statutes to include protection from discrimination based on gender identity and expression. Will Representative/Senator ______ support this bill?

  IF THE AIDE SAYS THAT THEY NEED TO CHECK WITH THEIR BOSS:

  You: Would it be helpful for you to have more information? I have a fact sheet that I can email to you.

  Legislative aide: Thanks, that would be great.

  You: What is your email address? Ok, I'll send you that email today. Would you please give me a call back once you talk to the Representative/Senator and let me know what they decide?  

Legislative aide: Sure.  

You: When should I expect to hear back from you?  

Legislative aide: (gives time frame).  

You: Great! I'll look forward to hearing back from you by (reiterative time frame). Thanks for your time.  

IF THE AIDE SAYS YES:  

You: That's great! I really appreciate Representative/Senator_____'s support for this bill. (let MTPC know about your successful call so we can keep track of who our allies are).  

IF THE AIDE SAYS NO:  

You: Thank you for your time. Can I send you some more information about this bill for the Representative/Senator? (Always be polite! This is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes time to cultivate allies.)