Meeting Your Legislator in Their District Office
Published On: Jul 08, 2016 Like community tours, face-to-face meetings with legislators add value to the advocacy process. Your legislators want to hear from you, their constituent, about the important issues facing the district, the state, and the country. Following is information you can use to organize an in-district meeting with your lawmakers.
Before the Meeting: Things to Consider
- What is the purpose and what issues are you presenting?
- Are other local organizations working on this issue, and, if so, should you include them in the meeting to increase your collective voice?
- How many people do you want to include in the meeting? How will you identify these individuals?
Find out When Your Lawmakers will be In Their Local Offices. Each year, Congress takes several work-day breaks during which they work out of their local offices rather than on Capitol Hill. Members are also frequently at home in August, around holidays, and at the beginning and/or end of each week. Unfortunately, the House and Senate do not necessarily follow the same calendar. You can visit the House and Senate websites to access the 2016 schedules or you can use the joint chamber 2016 congressional schedule we’ve provided.
Request a Meeting
Use the sample meeting request letter as a guide.
Contact the legislator's office and ask for the contact information of the person who schedules in-district meetings for the member of Congress. You will need to submit your meeting request in writing, even if you speak to someone in the legislator's office.
Email the meeting request letter to the scheduler. In the letter, explain the purpose of your visit, identify participants in the meeting, and suggest possible meeting dates. Be flexible! The more flexible you are about the date, the more likely it is that your meeting can be included on the legislator's schedule. If you don't hear back from a member of your legislator's staff, be persistent as well as polite. Sometimes requests get lost, so don't be afraid to follow-up by sending an e-mail or calling the office.
Let LeadingAge know when you have appointments scheduled by e-mailing us directly. Our staff can provide updates on current legislative issues or answer any questions.
Confirm your appointment with the legislator's office one to two weeks prior to the meeting. Legislators' schedules change quickly, so confirming the details of the meeting is always a good idea.
Be Prepared for Your Visit
- Learn as much as you can about your legislator's background. For example, determine his or her political party, the Congressional committees on which he or she serves, and personal facts such as hometown, education, and profession. Such information can provide insights into the legislator's view of the world. Most of this information can be found through our Take Action site or on the individual's congressional website (at United States House of Representatives or United States Senate).
- Request materials that you can share with your legislators by contacting LeadingAge’s federal advocacy team. These materials include an overview of LeadingAge’s policy priorities.
- Know your issue well and be familiar with how it affects your residents/patients and the professions. Know all sides of the argument. Have the materials for your lawmakers in hand as you depart for your visits.
- If your colleagues are joining you at the meeting, be sure to:
- Let them know all of the details of the day, time, and location.
- Discuss the issue(s) to be presented at the meeting ahead of time and decide who will take the lead in presenting the issue(s). This is particularly important if there are a lot of first-time advocacy participants attending the meeting. LeadingAge’s federal advocacy team is available to participate in a pre-meeting conference call to discuss tips for the meeting or to go over the issue(s).
- Determine who will compile, print, and carry the materials to be given to the legislator. If possible, bring a copy for the legislator and a copy for his or her aide.