Writing letters still works - Tips when writing your representatives!

Appearing in person is, of course, an incredibly effective way of letting your legislators know where you stand on an issue. However, between disability and distance I know that's not always going to be possible for many of us. We just watched a pretty ugly bill related to service dogs go down in flames in Arizona after huge public outcry against the darn thing. So many citizens expressed discontent that (IIC) the Bill's original sponsor voted no so the Bill wouldn't make it out of Committee! Our voices do count! If you're in Oregon or Maine, it's time to make your voice heard.

Thankfully, well-written letters can be almost as effective as appearing in person. For those who've never written their legislators, here are a couple of links that provide some great tips.  Please note that each of these is a bit focused towards writing your representatives at the federal level, not the state, but the concept is the same.

http://www.nea.org/home/19657.htm

http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/letterscongress.htm 

The people you'll want to write first are the ones whose names appear right in the text of the Bill itself. At the start of the Oregon proposed Bill just a few lines in, for example, there's the following text, "Sponsored by Representatives ESQUIVEL, KRIEGER, WITT..." Those are going to be the first three people you'll want to make sure you write to. After that, you'll want to do a google search to find out who YOUR representatives to the state are and write those people. Keep in mind that you're not searching for your senators and congressional representatives to Washington D.C.! You're searching for the people from your local area who are supposed to be representing your voice at your state capitol.

Happy writing!  

Dailyah Rudek and Riley, Service Dog