DOES CONTACTING YOUR LAWMAKERS REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE, ACCORDING TO BEE NGUYEN

This transcript is from Georgia AFL-CIO Lobby Day, on a panel discussion about the effectiveness of talking to your legislators.  

Bee Nguyen is a former Georgia State Representative, and current State Director for Senator Raphael Warnock.

Hannah Perkins, Political Director for the GA AFL-CIO, is Nguyen’s former campaign manager and staffer.

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Nguyen:

Hannah will tell you, I did read my email. And she did too, all the time.

Here’s the thing about lawmakers:  Lawmakers are human beings, and the majority of the time they run for office because they deeply care, and they want to change the world. However, because of the sheer nature of being a politician, they can be very self-centered. It attracts a certain kind of personality, and they do actually deeply care about criticism, and what people think about them, whether or not they show it.

When you email or call your lawmaker it is very important. They will understand and notice when the people are unhappy.  And whether or not they act on it in a public way, or whether or not they act on it right away they KNOW.

Even as we are watching what is happening today nationally, the fact that people are blowing up the phones of their lawmakers and showing up to protests and making their voices heard, you have seen on both sides of the aisle some changes in behavior.

Sure, it’s not happening fast enough, and may not result in the tangible changes we want to see now, I assure you they understand that people are not happy with what is going on.

So it it’s important to call and email your lawmakers. When you are sending an email, I suggest that you personalize it. Often times there are campaigns that are “Send this email to your lawmaker” and there’s a template and the lawmaker’s inbox gets flooded with the same thing.

What’s probably going to happen is they will make a count, like, “today we got 200 emails on this issue” and that signals to the lawmaker that this is an important issue people are watching. So they say, “Let me take a look at what’s happening.”

But what it DOESN’T do is it doesn’t offer an opportunity for the lawmaker to be personally moved by you.

It needs storytelling.

When you take the time to personalize it—and you can use parts of the same template—but I highly suggest share more of your story.

As we have seen across the country right now there is a general messaging of “these are just federal workers, we need to trim the budget, and we are doing the fiscally responsible thing.”

But then you see these stories of who is being hurt by these decisions and you are humanizing for the public what is happening. Part of this is one, you are trying to move your lawmaker but, two, you have to simultaneously move the public as well.

So try to personalize you email.

When you are calling, call with a specific ask, “I am calling because I would like my representative to to vote against House Bill XYZ, or I would like my representative to vote for House Bill XYZ.”

They will tabulate all of those calls, and all those opinions.

So keep the pressure on your lawmakers, call them everyday if you can, don’t stop using your voice and emailing and calling your lawmakers at every level of government.

Perkins:

Something I remember when we were in that space was when your inbox would kind of EXPLODE, and it wouldn’t be just your inbox but it would be lots of people’s inboxes, and that would kickstart a conversation.

A fun fact I like to share is that the same email that you’re emailing is the same email that their committee notices go to. It’s their government email.  I think when we see lots of emails, especially the ones with those stories of, “this is how this is impacting me. This is how it affects my family, my community”, it really kicks up those conversations.

Last year they introduced 4700 bills, so for a lawmaker lots of bills just fly by. But when they see that huge email influx, and personal stories of “this is why this bill is bad or good”, is how impactful that is when things are moving at such a rapid pace.

Something you touched on was having a specific ask. What was an effective conversation with a constituent? We are about to head to the Capitol to talk to our lawmakers.

Nguyen: It depends on the circumstance. If you are meeting them outside the chamber, it has to be concise, because they are voting.

Tell them who you are, remind them that you are their constituent, and have a very specific ask, “I’m here about his bill, and I would like you to vote this way, and this is how it impacts me and my community.” And ALWAYS at the end (and this was something I learned from Hannah) say, “can I count on you to vote this way on Bill XYZ?”

And the reality is the majority of people will not lie to you, and the majority of people, if they say yes, will keep their word. So you want to be sure that you ask for a commitment.

It’s also important for your whip count. If you are all simultaneously advocating for a bill, don’t make assumptions about who will be for or against it. But if you can get your count of, “we have this many Yes, we have this many No, we have this many Maybe, it will help determine where you focus your efforts in the future because remember, it’s not just a one day thing, its a collective strategy.