Fact Sheet 7 Letter Writing as Environmental Action The average citizen, as a voter, has tremendous power over elected officials. Citizens elect officials with their vote and can just as easily remove them from office by not re-electing them. The power of the people is in the vote, and all elected officials, whether federal, state or local, understand this. Letters to elected officials, corporations, and local businesses are an effective form of participation in government systems. Such letters can and do have a positive effect on policy decisions. The average citizen is just as important and is not more important than a lobbyist or interest group. Elected officials pay much attention to their mail because they want a favorable opinion from the people that put them in office in the first place. WHAT A LETTER CAN DO Writing letters to legislators can have a strong influence on their ultimate decisions. Letters can lead elected officials to take a position on a new issue, compel them to reverse a position that they may have already taken, or encourage them to renew their efforts in an existing position. A single letter may persuade an elected official to take a particular stand. In short, an elected official's constituents are his or her lifeblood, and reading and replying to mail from back home is vital to their survival. FORMAT OF LETTER Letters should be legible, brief, knowledgeable, and to the point. * Keep letters short and treat only one subject in each letter. * Show your knowledge of the issue or bill, this will indicate to the official that you are politically aware. * Ask the official to do something specific: vote for or against proposal; sponsor or cosponsor a bill; request a hearing on the bill; get a committee report on the bill; speak to other officials encouraging support for the bill; etc. * Ask for the official's own position on the issue or bill. State the facts as you know them; present your viewpoint; tell the legislator why they should take it and how, and thank them for their consideration. WHERE TO SEND YOUR LETTER FEDERAL Congress Members Senators The Honorable __________ Senator___________ U.S. House of Representatives Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20510 STATE Assembly Member_______ Senator_______ Legislative Office Building Legislative Office Building Albany, NY 12248 Albany, NY 12247 For more information on where to send letters and how to contact your representatives see: Fact Sheet 1 - Enviroaction: Key Phone Numbers And Addresses Information about any bill before the New York State Legislature can be obtained from the Bill Status Line: (800) 342-9860.

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Updated 4/3/97