How Can You Effectively Express Your Opinion to the Government?

          The advent of the Internet has made it infinitely easier to express your opinion to government officials. I am not sure how seriously they take the opinion of citizens; but, at least, there is a venue in which we can all tell our representatives just what we think about the work they are doing. Following are some suggestions of how to do it:

          Go the USA.gov. This web site is a central spot from which you can easily contact every government official you have ever heard of. You can contact everyone from the President to the local dog catcher by just choosing the appropriate link.

          Let me give you some useful tips, however, about contacting legislators.

1)   Keep your communication very short; legislators do not have time to read an extensive letter. As a matter of fact, they very probably don’t read anything in your letter; they have staff members who do all the reading. I believe the staffers likely read only the subject line of your e-mails. So…put the essential information in the subject line. For instance a subject line should read something like this—“Vote NO on HR 499, Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibiton Act of 2013.”

2)   Always refer to bills before Congress and Senate by their number. If you cannot find the number of the bill to which you are referring, it is probably best not to write; because the legislator cannot know exactly what you are talking about. Frequently, web sites advocating for or against a certain bill will not give you the number of the bill—if you can’t find it, don’t write.

3)   Of course, sometimes it is prudent to write to a legislator about something other than a bill. In that case, it is perfectly okay to simply state your subject in the subject line and carry on the conversation in the body of your letter.

4)   You can find the number of the bill in question on CONGRESS.gov. You can also read a helpful summary of the bill there, too. Not infrequently, especially in state legislation, you can fine the fiscal impact of the bill. In the fiscal impact you can often find a very useful summary of the bill that is easier to understand than in the formal summary.

5)   Be sure to write to legislators with whom you do not agree—not just the ones who agree with you. After all, it is the opponents of your opinion that you would like to influence.

6)   Mention in your letter how the bill and your suggestion apply to you, personally.

7)   It is often more effective to call a legislator by phone than to write an e-mail. If you do that, call the official’s hometown office rather than the Washington switch board.

8)   If you are writing to a federal official, be sure to write to the President, too. Write to him, even if you are absolutely sure he does not agree with you.

9)   Be sure to remain respectful of your legislator when writing. Don’t make insulting comments.

You can even write to the Supreme Court from USA.gov. Just follow the prompts. To write to the Supreme Court, go to the bottom of their home page and click on Contact. Then, scroll down to Webmaster—a form will appear where you can write your opinion about any matter you wish.