Legislators are contacted hundreds, if not thousands, of times throughout session so it is very important to make your message as effective as possible. ACOA staff knows many of the Legislators personally and are standing by to help you personalize a letter or email. If you have any questions about the Legislature or an individual Legislator please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

Helpful Tips

 

All Correspondence

  • Begin by stating that you are a constituent if you live in their district.
    • Let them know if you work in an Institution in their district
  • Be brief, 1 to 11/2 pages at the most.
  • Provide personal examples and local context.
  • Persuade a friend, family member, or another Officer to send a message as well. Legislators pay more attention to issues when they believe many of their constituents care about it.
  • Communicate more than once. Stay in touch with their office on the issue, but keep in mind that quality correspondence is better than quantity from any one individual.
  • Be appreciative, supportive, and kind. We need their help, yelling at them will not accomplish this.
  • Send ACOA a copy of your correspondence. Keeping us informed will help us coordinate and plan our messaging as we advocate in Juneau.

Email

  • If you are going to email your Legislator, follow it up with a letter or phone call.
  • In the subject line of the email, state that you are a constituent. (Legislators are obligated to pay attention to their constituents, in fact, they will probably look up your address immediately.)

Letters

  • Make sure that you write your return address on the envelope, so that the Legislator’s office staff knows immediately that you are a constituent.

 

Do what you can, where you can, when you can.

If you have any questions, please contact the office.

 

This is a reminder that if you are going to write an email to your Representative and Senator, you should not send it using the State’s e-mail system either from work or from home. Using the State’s system to communicate with a Legislator on this issue could violate State policies and result in discipline.