HOWTOMAKEAPHONECALL TOYOURLEGISLATOR 5STEPS Whenthestafferpicksupthephone,politelysayhelloandintroduce Brieflyexplainthatyouarecallingregardingaspecificissueorbilland askifyoucanspeaktosomeoneabouttheissue.Ifthestaffmember orlegislatorisunavailable,asktoleavethemamessage. Clearlystatewhatpositionyouwouldlikeforthemtotake(support, oppose,etc.)andprovidebackgroundinformationastowhy.The legislatorsmaybeunfamiliarwiththeissueandwillneedto understandwhytheyshouldtakethepositionyouareaskingofthem. Bepreparedwitharticlesandresearchifyouneedtorebuttheir argumentorbackupyourposition.Offertosendthemtheresearch Astheconversationcloses,thankthelegislatororstaffmemberfor theirtimeandconsideration.Ifyouhadtoleaveamessage,besure toincludeagoodcallbacknumberorhowsomeonecanfollowup Tips! •Toavoidconfusion,onlyaddressonebillorissueinthephonecall. •Remaincalmandpoliteonthephone.Youmaybefirmwhendiscussingthebillorissue, butdonotbecomeconfrontational. •Ifthelegislatororstaffmemberasksaquestionthatyoudonotknowtheanswerto,itis oktosay“I’mnotentirelysure,butIwillfindoutmoreinformationandgetbacktoyou.” •Sendafollow-upemailorlettertothankthelegislatorforspeakingwithyouand reiteratethepositionyouhopetheywilltakeonthebillorissueyouspokewiththem about.