One of the most important aspects of our system of government is that it is representative government. Those who make our laws represent us. But how can they represent us unless we let them know what we’re thinking?

This is particularly crucial during the legislative session — which in Virginia runs 60 days in even-numbered years and 45 days in odd years. While campaigning, politicians rely on pollsters and frequent contact with the public to gauge our opinion, but during Virginia’s short, hectic legislative sessions they are virtually prisoners in the capitol.

“You go from having your finger on the pulse of the community, from knowing exactly what’s going on, to be isolated in your office in Richmond,” former Del. A. Donald McEachin told a Virginia Organizing Project leadership gathering last year.

With tax reform at the top of the legislative agenda, with a new effort to require the state to collect data on racially motivated traffic stops in the offing and with the possibility of having to play defense against efforts to reinstate the so-called “family rule” (recently overturned by the Virginia Housing Development Authority board), VOP members need to go into the 2004 session with the means to contact their state legislators at hand.

Getting an early start

You don’t have to wait for your legislator to reach Richmond before you reach out to let her know how you feel. In fact, in many ways it’s better to let him know before he leaves town.

The months of October, November and December are perfect for getting in touch with your local legislators and letting them know how you feel they should vote on issues likely to come up in the legislature, which begins in mid-January. Few local legislators will refuse to make time for a group of their constituents who would like sit down and discuss the issues.

It’s very important to plan ahead, though. First, if you don’t know, find out who your local delegate and state senator are. The General Assembly’s web site, at http://legis.state.va.us/ has a tool that will allow you, by entering your address and zip code, to learn who represents you in the Virginia House of Delegates, Virginia Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. It will also give you their office numbers, both in Richmond and in their districts, and their e-mail addresses. Write these down for future use!

Call your local legislators at their district offices to set up a meeting. It’s best to do this as early as possible. While October, November and December are good times for citizens to get in contact with their legislators, your local board of supervisors or city council, your local school board, your local chamber of commerce and other interest groups will also be seeking meetings with the legislators to let them know their agendas. Ask for an hour or a half-hour meeting with your legislator and be flexible about scheduling.

How to talk to a legislator

Once you’ve secured your meeting with your legislator organize what you want to say.

You should follow some basic principles when dealing with your legislator: be polite, be organized, be brief and target your message.

1. Be polite — When meeting with your legislator, being argumentative will be counterproductive. State your case. If he disagrees, respectfully note that you hope that he’ll change his mind.
2. Be organized — You’ll have a limited time to speak to your legislator. Know what issues you want to address and stick to them. In a group, it’s often best to have a designated spokesperson who carries the discussion, with other members perhaps contributing questions in response to the legislator. If you wish to discuss more than one issue, have different members of the group prepared to present each issue.
3. Be brief — Your delegate or senator gets to hear, and give, a lot of speeches. You’re unlikely to impress her with your oratorical brilliance. State your position as succinctly and simply as you can. If the legislator has questions, you can expand on your remarks. In most cases, legislators have a least a passing familiarity with an issue or issues likely to come before the General Assembly.
4. Target your message — Your goal is to make your legislator see how supporting your position serves his interests and philosophy. For example, an attack on the “family rule” for public lending that relies on the “separation of church and state” is likely lost on a conservative legislator. In this case, an argument stressing that the “family rule” is an example of “poor fiduciary responsibility” might hit closer to the mark.

During the legislative session

Once your legislators are off to Richmond, that doesn’t mean they are off the hook. You can both keep in touch and make sure they doing their best to represent you by following the progress of the legislative session and making your voice heard.

The General Assembly web site has features that allow you to track the progress of bills, including finding out how your legislator voted, both in committee and on the floor.

The web site (http://legis.state.va.us/) also has the ways to contact your legislator.

“I’m going to write my congressperson,” is a frequent thought that citizens have when confronting political issues. It’s not a bad impulse, but you might more productively contact your local delegate or state senator.

Because they represent fewer people, your individual opinion is more important to them and their offices are not as flooded with letters, phone calls and requests.

“We really don’t have all that much contact with the district during session,” former Del. McEachin said. “If I got 10 messages from the district on the same subject, I figured there was a movement going on.”

So write your legislators and let them know there’s a movement going on. Or better yet, e-mail them. Or better yet, phone them.

During the General Assembly session the legislature operates a toll-free Constituent Viewpoint hotline at (800) 889-0229 (statewide) or (804) 698-1990 (Richmond area only). Messages are tabulated at the call center and routed to the appropriate legislators. Since many lawmakers treat these results as a sort of informal public opinion poll, this is a good way to get your opinion across.

It’s your legislature

One of the best ways to get your opinion across at the General Assembly is to go there yourself.

Although the legislators represent us, the average citizen, it’s surprising how few of us ever take the opportunity to find out what’s going on down at the legislature. Instead, the halls of the General Assembly office building and the Capitol are full of legislators, legislative aides, state functionaries and well-paid lobbyists.

Insiders dominate the process to the extent that when real citizens show up it comes as a surprise to the lawmakers.

“What are all these citizens doing here?” one powerful committee chair was heard to remark during a crowded public hearing a few years ago.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Virtually every meeting (aside from the daily political caucus meetings) of the General Assembly is open to the public. Use that access.

Although public hearings are held on only a few issues each year, there is time for the public to speak in favor or in opposition to most bills. Before calling for a vote, most committee chairs ask if there is any member of the public who wishes to speak in favor or in opposition. Use that opportunity. It’s your legislature and your government.

Why it’s called “lobbying”

The original lobbyists literally hung out in the lobby of the capitol or of the legislators’ hotels hoping to buttonhole them and push their arguments as the members were on their way to somewhere else.

Although it’s still possible to lobby the Virginia General Assembly this way, it’s not very effective.

That’s because legislators are pressed for time. In their six or eight-week session, members of the Virginia General Assembly will consider almost three times as many bills and resolutions as the U.S. Congress does in a year-round session. That means they are busy.

Since most of the work of the General Assembly takes place in committee and most of those committees have multiple subcommittees and members serve on up to four committees, it’s not unusual for a member of the General Assembly to have two to three meetings scheduled for the same time. That means they have little time to talk as they dash through the halls and, when they do, it’s usually to well-established lobbyists who they’ve known for years.

The average citizen has a better chance to talk to his or her legislator during the session by participating in one of the numerous “lobbying days” sponsored by groups as diverse as the Chamber of Commerce, the Virginia Education Association, the American Association of Retired Persons, Equality Virginia or the Virginia Conservation Network.

When meeting with a legislator in his office during session, the basic principles noted above for out of session meetings — be polite, be organized, be brief and target your message — are even more important. Your meeting is likely to be short, sandwiched in between committee and subcommittee meetings, floor sessions and meetings with other constituents. Make the most of it.