Do's & Don'ts When Dealing with Legislators

DO

• Visit your elected legislator’s office and bring a constituent(s) who is represented by the specific legislator.
  
• Know your legislative issue or prospective legislation.
• Be polite and respectful to everyone in the office, including both staff and legislators.
• Be flexible with the meeting location. Sometimes legislators or staff only have a moment to meet in a hallway rather than an office. This is common, and the best recommendation is to adapt.
• Be brief and provide your strongest points or arguments at the beginning of the meeting. Be clear, concise, and honest.
• Assume your listener knows nothing about court reporting, captioning, or legal videography and simplify complex issues.
• Describe the impact the legislation will have on you personally if enacted.
• Describe the benefit of supporting or opposing the proposed legislation.
• Anticipate questions and the opposing side’s argument.
• Leave or send written material.
• Dress appropriately, usually in business attire.
• Leave your business card.
• Always request support or opposition from the legislator or staff person at the end of your meeting.
• Follow up with a thank-you email or letter. 

DON'T

• Be rude or disrespectful to any staff person.
• Talk loudly or unprofessionally in the legislator’s office lobby. Remember, there is always someone listening.
• Dress unprofessionally.
• Confuse the legislative issue by discussing multiple issues. You should focus solely on one legislative issue during your meeting as meetings usually run short (about ten or fifteen minutes).
• Lack brevity. The goal is to keep the meeting concise and convey your strongest points or arguments.
• Be afraid to say "I don't know. I'll get back to you." It’s better to not know an answer and follow up later after conducting research than to provide false information.
• Use words that are terms of art, cliches, or acronyms. Remember, assume that your audience knows nothing about the subject.
• Become confrontational or argumentative.
• Threaten.
• Use inappropriate language.
• Provide false information.
• Fail to follow up with the staff person or legislator and thank them for their time.