Contacting Your Legislators

Writing A Letter The simplest way to contact your member of the state legislature is to write a letter. Since legislative offices prioritize the mail they receive, and respond accordingly, some types of communication are more effective. Along with phone calls, personal letters command the greatest amount of attention in congressional offices. Letters should be brief, concise and neat. State your message clearly. Your letter should only start the dialog on the issue you are communicating. Give the details of your personal story. Keep your letter short, and don't forget to provide your return address. The proper way to address your letter is: (To state representatives) The Honorable (their first & last name) Ohio House of Representatives 77 South High Street Columbus OH 43266-0603 or (To state senators) The Honorable (their first & last name) Ohio Senate Senate Office Building Columbus OH 43215-4276 The salutation should read: Dear Representative (their last name), or Dear Senator (their last name), If you do not know who your state representative or senator is, use the Ohio Legislature link found below or contact your local county Board of Elections.   Contacting by E-mail E-mail is another effective way to contact your representative or senator. It is most effective if it is a courteous personalized message. When sending an e-mail, remember to include your name, postal address and phone number.   Contacting your representative in person Make an appointment to visit at the statehouse. Be prepared- go into the meeting with specific information and examples of how travel and tourism funding increases will affect you and the people of the representative's district. (See the enclosed brochure for figures.) Don't feel like you have to have all of the figures with you. If your legislator asks you something you don't know, you can always follow up later with the answer. Take with you a fact sheet that you can leave behind. Remember to be brief. Respect the busy schedules of representatives and their staff. A typical appointment might be about 20 minutes. Do not overstay your allotted time. Don't forget to follow-up. After your meeting, write a note to the representative and the aides with whom you met. Thank them for their time, and reiterate why travel and tourism is so important to you. Helpful hints: Be brief; never write more than one page. Make your letter neat and easy to read. Identify the issue at the top of the letter and cover only one issue per letter. If you know the bill number or committee name and agenda item, include that. Remember: contacting a legislator is just like talking to a friend whom you would like to influence - make your letter informative and to the point. Identify yourself and the reasons you feel your information is important. Get right to the point. Use terms they will understand and avoid using abbreviations. Offer to be of assistance. Ask for a reply if you want one. However, keep in mind how many meetings and hearings your legislator must attend. They will call or write to you as soon as they are able. Be polite and reasonable. Lawmakers can't please everyone. They may disagree with you. Tell your legislator what you think and why, but be polite. And finally, be sure to say "thanks."   Find your Legislator by clicking here. For information on Ohio travel and tourism economic impact statistics, click here.