How to Contact Your Reps

Democracy doesn’t only happen on election day. All Illinoisans can effectively influence their government through key formats. When done correctly — and frequently — one single citizen’s voice can change the course of a vote, a policy, or a law. Read State Matter’s quick guide for the many ways you can and should be exercising your democratic rights:

Know Your Rep:

Your voice is most powerful when speaking directly with your elected officials. Don’t waste your time with politicians outside your district. As a voting constituent, your voice will matter. We listed ways to figure out who all your various reps are at the bottom of this articles!

Know The Issues:

When possible, speak in specifics, reference individual bills, and respectfully tell your story. Remember, your goal is to persuade — not to berate. It’s also best to not use form letters or stock scripts. Be yourself! Use your own words. And remember, they work for you.

We’ve listed the following actions in order from most to least effective. However, each one is an important facet to any overall strategy.

1. Meet with Your Representatives Every 6 Months

How to Do It

Visit the Illinois General Assembly’s ILGA page to find contact information for your state official. Call their district office to schedule an appointment in your area, or call their Springfield office if you’d like to meet them in the capitol.

Representatives are usually more available at home in their district. BUT traveling to Springfield shows major dedication!

You Should Know…

Politicians are often thrilled to meet their local constituents. You’d be surprised just how easy it is to get an appointment. A 20 minute one-on-one meeting twice a year will more persuasively influence your state representative than any other means. Many current and former legislators have said that in-person meetings matter most. Often politicians change their positions on policies based a single constituent’s memorable personal story. Be prepared with specific legislation and bullet-pointed issues you’d like to discuss. Be polite and respectful. Most importantly, be yourself. Remember, politics is the relationship business.

2. For the Very Brave/Very Passionate: Deliver Testimony to a Committee

How to Do It

In Illinois, legislators rely on witness slips to measure support or opposition for specific legislation. See our video to learn how to fill out a witness slip! If you have a personal stake in legislation passing or not passing, you can share your story with the legislators making that decision! Register at my.ilga.gov and select “committee hearings” on the left tab. Select a scheduled committee and click on the paper slip icon to the right. Select “create a witness slip.” At the bottom of the form, make sure to check “oral testimony.” Note the scheduled building, room number, and date for your committee hearing. And take friends for moral support!

You Should Know…

Committee hearings are often rescheduled. When they are, your witness testimony will be cancelled. Keep your eye on your scheduled committee as the date approaches and make sure to re-submit a form for the correct date if the hearing changes.

3. Attend a Town Hall

How to Do It

Legislators hold public town hall meetings to gauge public support on current issues. Audience members are usually encouraged to stand and pose questions to their representative. Use this resource to find scheduled events, or visit the individual websites or Facebook pages of your representative for more.

You Should Know…

Not all representatives hold town hall meetings and some more so than others. Highly attended Town Halls might mean long wait times to ask questions or a lottery system to determine admission. Keep questions short, specific, and in your own voice. If your representative isn’t holding regular town halls — you can ask them to!

4. Attend a Local Meeting or Hearing

How to Do It

Along with Town Halls, your local, county, and state representatives all hold public meetings and committee hearings throughout the year where they talk about current legislation or policy issues. Let’s start with local. At the county level, visit your county board’s official webpage to find a scheduled calendar of board committee hearings (here are Cook, DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane, McHenry, Winnebago, and St. Clair). At the municipal or township level, visit your local municipality or township’s webpage for scheduled meetings. If you live in Chicago, go here to find a listing of city hearings. At the state level, committees meet separately in Springfield for the Illinois House and Senate.

You Should Know…

As before, it might be more effective to pick a particular governing body or one issue and stick with it. The more frequently you can attend a meeting of your city council, school board, county board, or a legislative committee, the more your representatives will come to recognize you and your concerns.

5. Write

How to Do It

All state, county, and local representatives list a public address for their district and for the state officials you can find their Springfield office address on their ILGA profile page. During legislative session, consider writing to your state representatives’ Springfield office. For all other times, reach them at their district office. Make sure that you write clearly (and accurately) their name and the title of the legislation in question. Remember to be concise, specific, and speak in your own voice. NO FORM LETTERS!

You Should Know…

Your letter will likely be read and recorded by a staffer. Don’t expect a fast response if one comes at all. You may also fax your letter to your representative’s office instead of using the post. Find fax numbers on your officials’ ILGA profile page. Don’t live in the year 1991? You can fax via the internet with these handy free sites.

6. Call

How to Do it

Like for writing to them, your representative’s ILGA profile also lists phone numbers for their district and Springfield offices. Pay attention to the schedule for legislative session to know which office to call them at. Or call both! (you can call the switchboard at 217–782–2000 if you can’t find their number).

You Should Know..

Like a written letter, your call will likely be received by an office staffer and recorded in a spreadsheet. Keep your call short, start by saying you’re a constituent (you can give your zip code/cross streets), identify the bill or policy you’re passionate about and state your opinion, be nice, and be prepared to leave your contact information. You can also ask if your representative has a position on the bill or policy, if they do and it’s the same as yours you can thank the staffer and ask them to pass along a message of thanks! If they have not come out with an official stance, you can ask that they do so.

7. Email

How to Do It

Your state Representatives and Senators generally list their email on their ILGA profile page. If you don’t see one listed there, you can call their office or do a google search to find their website and email.

For Cook County residents, click here to find all your county officials’ contact info, including email.

Other county officials and local officials’ emails are generally listed on your county’s website, your municipal government’s website, and your local government boards’ websites. If possible, avoid using the “contact us” form on officials’ webpages.

You Should Know…

Your email will likely be read by a staffer. Expect a form email if you receive anything at all. As before, be short (under 300 words), leave contact information, be specific, and be nice.

8. Submit a Witness Slip

How to Do It

The Illinois General Assembly relies on these position statements when they are considering bills during committee hearings where your position is registered as testimony. See our snappy video to learn all about it.

You Should Know…

While these are an integral facet to Illinois’s democratic process, they are the least influential way to change any politician’s mind. Legislators often rely on witness slips for insight into the opinions of business interests and outside lobbying groups. Individual opinions may carry the least weight with individual legislators because your legislator won’t know you are in their district from your witness slip.

And finally… FIND THOSE REPS!

On the state level, you elect a State Senator and a State Representative to write laws as members of the Illinois General Assembly. You also elect a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller, and Treasurer. At the federal level, you elect the President, along with one Representative, and two Senators to the U.S. Congress.

To find your state and federal officials visit the Illinois State Board of Elections website.

County officials collect property taxes, administer local courts and jails, fund local social services programs, and maintain local infrastructure.

To find your county officials, visit the Naco county explorer.

At the more local level is your city, town, or village. This is your municipal government.

To find your municipality or township officials, visit the comptroller’s office or the secretary of state’s site. If you live in Chicago, you can find your alderman here, and your mayor here. If you live outside of Chicago, you can find your mayor and aldermen on your city or town’s website.