Speaking to your legislator is one of the best ways to get involved with issues you care about and show your support for social change.
You can leave a voicemail or write. But having a conversation is a great way to directly talk to people in power and make sure that you are heard. Here’s how to get started:
Who represents you?
Legislators care about the opinions of their constituents because that is who they have been elected to serve. To find out who your Minnesota state legislators are, type in your address on this website. This will tell you who your state senators and state representatives are: both are important. From here, you can find their contact information and email them to set up a meeting. It’s useful to send an email to their assistant too.
- Senator/representative emails can be found on their contact page and their email address is typically sen.firstname.lastname@senate.mn (or rep.firstname.lastname@house.mn).
- Legislative assistants’ names can be found on a legislator’s contact page. Their email address is typically firstname.lastname@house.mn (or senate.mn).
In your emails, ask when they are available to talk for 15-30 minutes. Give your name and a medium you’re comfortable with, like Zoom or a phone call. A remote meeting is the only real option right now, but there are some benefits to that. You can make your voice heard from the comfort of your own home, and you can have a script or notes on hand.
What do I say?
- Introductions: Introduce yourself and the topic you want to discuss. Feel free to ask how the other person is doing and make conversation: building relationships is important! Legislators often have a lot on their plate and receive a lot of complaints, so friendliness is appreciated.
- Tell a story: Stories are memorable and show the impact of an issue on people’s everyday lives. Your story can be anything as long as it’s honest: a personal experience, a news story you’ve read, or something you’ve seen in your daily life. How did it make you feel? How does it show the need for solutions?
- Be the expert: Bring some facts to demonstrate the importance of what you’re asking and details about solutions you’re asking for. You can prepare by learning about HOME Line’s policies here.
- Follow Up: After you’ve made your statements, give them a chance to respond and ask questions if they have any. If they want further information, feel free to name-drop and tell them to contact Michael Dahl at HOME Line. Once they respond, ask if you can count on their support (ex. “Will you support the HOME Line’s legislative agenda and spread the word about it?”) and thank them for their time. A couple of weeks later, send a follow-up email to get an update.
Although it can feel daunting or confusing at first, talking to legislators is pretty easy and so important to making your voice heard, And it isn’t just your voice being heard; it’s many voices together advocating for change. That gets pretty loud. If everyone reading this post contacted their legislators in support of HOME Line’s legislative agenda, it would make a huge impact.
So what are you waiting for? Email your legislators! You’ve got this.
Emily Sailors is a third-year International Studies student at St. Catherine University. She is interning at HOME Line through her university’s Community Leaders program.
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