We sometimes hear from people that they are "not interested in politics." As renowned twentieth-century journalist Martha Gellhorn once noted, "They might as well say, 'I'm not interested in my standard of living, my health, my job, my rights, my freedoms, my future or any future. If we mean to keep any control over our world and lives, we must be interested in politics."
A government of the people, for the people, and by the people requires responsible participation by all citizens to work as intended. And believe it or not, our elected officials appreciate hearing from their constituents! At least that's what they tell us. And it cannot be overemphasized that they need to hear from us when we agree with their stances as well as when we disagree with them. Here is how to reach them.
All Elected Officials
You can contact your elected officials by telephone, mail, e-mail, or by visiting them in their offices. Here is a link (USA.GOV) to an exceedingly useful tool to find your elected officials and contact information at ALL levels of government, from the President of the United States to legislators at the federal and state levels to county and city officials.
And while it's important to have your voice heard at all levels of government, it's noteworthy that the smaller the constituency, the larger proportion of it one individual voter occupies. Also, much of the foundation and framework for laws and policies under which we live are established at the most local levels. So be sure to include local issues as you consider how you wish to make your voice heard.
It is essential that you choose the legislators to contact who are involved in the legislation you wish to discuss. For example, you want to contact your state legislators (State House/State Senate) about state employee pensions, state sales tax or public school voucher legislation at the state level. Comments about federal legislation should be addressed to your US representatives in Congress (US House/US Senate). Examples of federal issues are the Affordable Care Act, Social Security, and Medicare. Some issues, like Medicaid, may involve either state or federal legislation depending on the specific issue.
Most often, you will want to address those officials who directly represent you. A constituent's opinion holds more sway over a politician than the opinion of a person who is not a voter in their district. On the other hand, we have learned that the decisions and chamber votes of legislators, in particular, affect all of us. So sometimes it makes sense to speak your mind to key decision makers from other districts, the chairs of specific committees, all members of a decision making group, or leadership in the house or senate chambers, in addition to our own elected officials. It just depends on the specific circumstances surrounding the issue at hand.
Your State and Federal Legislators
Kentucky State Representative and Senators (Frankfort KY)
Our area is represented by several members of the Kentucky General Assembly serving in the Kentucky House of Representatives and the Kentucky Senate. Rather than presenting a table with their contact information here, we would like to highlight the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission's (LRC) services that enable constituents to easily reach your state representatives and state senators. The LRC serves as the administration and research arm of the Kentucky General Assembly.
Calling. The LRC hosts the Legislative Message Line at
1-800-372-7181.
This is a super easy and quick way to communicate your thoughts to your state legislators in Frankfort. When you call, you will tell the operator who answers that you wish to leave a message for a legislator, a group of legislators such as a specific committee, or even all legislators... whatever you want. The operator will ask for your name and address and will verify that you're in the system if you have called before. The operator will then tell you who your KY State Representative is and who your KY State Senator is, and ask you what message you want to send to whom. You can send messages for multiple topics or bills per phone call or you can call separately for each topic or bill. You can call as often as you wish during the hours of operation (Usually M- F 8:00 am - 4:30 pm ET; During General Assemblies 7:00 am - 11:00 pm ET M -Th and 7:00 am - 6:00 pm ET on F).
E-mailing. You can find your state representative and your state senator by going to the LRC website's interactive map tool at this link (LRC Map to Find State Legislators) and either entering your home address in the search bar or clicking on the map. Icons with your state representative and your state senator will pop up on your screen. Each will have a link to that legislator's biographical page on the website, which will include their e-mail address. You can send an e-mail message directly to your representative at that email address.
Additional Tools. The LRC also provides a Bill Status Line at 1-866-840-2835 and a Legislative Calendar (Meetings) Line at 1-800-633-9650. Further, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth posts KY General Assembly news including a bill tracker with action recommendations, here (Kentuckians for the Commonwealth). Below are static (non-interactive) maps showing the current Kentucky State General Assembly districts for each chamber.
2022 Kentucky House of Representatives Districts Map (LRC Website)
2022 Kentucky Senate Districts Map (LRC Website)
US Representatives and Senators (Washington DC)
Our region is served by two members of the US House of Representatives, Rep. James Comer (R) in the 1st Congressional District and Rep. Brett Guthrie (R) in the 2nd Congressional District (see map, below), along with our two State Senators, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) and Sen. Rand Paul (R).
Here is a link (Find Your Members of Congress) to find your representatives in the United States Congress and their contact information.
A helpful tip for contacting your senators, in particular, is to call one of their regional offices rather than their office in Washington DC. It's often easier to get through to the staff members at the smaller offices, and the end result (your message is relayed to the senator) is the same.
2022 US House of Representatives Districts Map (LRC Website)
Additional Tips
Regarding any contact you make with an elected official, be respectful, specific, and as concise as possible when you ask your elected officials for support. Include personal information about how the issue about which you are contacting them affects you, your family, and/or your community. Provide your name and address (or at very least your zip code) so that they can easily ascertain if you are a constituent or not. Following is a generic sample script to communicate your opinions to a member of congress. You may use this script as a guide for calling or writing by inserting your personal information and referencing the issue you wish to address. You can also modify it to thank your elected official for actions with which you agree.
Hello, my name is [your name]. I live in [city, state, zip code].
I am [calling/writing] today to urge [you/title & name of elected official] to [support/oppose/act on][issue/bill].
[your credentials or affiliation with group/org if appropriate; short explanation of why you are asking MOC to support/oppose/act]
Thank you for your consideration.
Finally, encourage your friends and family to join you in your efforts. The more voices heard, the more impact the contact will have on your elected official. This seems to be particularly true for calling US senators and representatives. When legislative office staff members are diverted from other tasks to field a flurry of calls on an issue, their bosses take notice. In our representative democracy, it is our right and also our responsibility to be heard. Your voice matters. We hope you will use it.
