SAMPLES
of things you can do and say
Latest page update: September 10, 2018
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Part 1: ILLINOIS LEGISLATION (IN SPRINGFIELD) and CPS/CTU/CTPF AGREEMENTS

 (Material on this page IS NOT COPYRIGHTED; plagiarize to your heart’s content.)
Click here for a PRE-WRITTEN LETTER to your legislators
(note: this document will load directly into your word processor ready for your information, just replace the italicized and underlined sections.)
or
Click here for a SUGGESTED LETTER TEMPLATE .

Who to send a letter to:

 Note: Several legislative aids have told us that a single visit or personalized letter, either by e-mail or USPS carries as much weight as 50-100 'robo-letters'.

Other media outlets to contact:

ON WRITING LETTERS:

We mustn't neglect the newspapers.  Lots of folks read those letters to the editors; that's a forum we can use. 

There is no set form for these.  Just (A) be sure to address your Senator or Representative as “The Honorable...”, (B) give the number of the bill you are supporting and what it’s about (e. g., “HB 797, which would restore some of the purchasing power lost by long-time retired Chicago Public School teachers”), (C) ask that the legislator support the bill, and (D) give your name and your address in your letter (so they know you’re in their district). 

USING THE INTERNET:  Technology simplifies things a lot.  If you want to send your U. S. Representative or Senator an email, start by clicking on Write My Rep.  This address is good from any state in the U. S.  You may find it useful to write out your message, using any word processor you’re comfy with.  Make all the corrections and adjustments you like.  When you’re through, then copy the completed message to your clipboard (with MS Windows:  Highlight the whole message and then press control-C.)  Then click on the link above, and when you finally get to the box for the message, just click inside that box and then press shift-insert.  The nice part about this method is that after you write one Senator, your message is still on your clipboard, ready to send to your other Senator and then to your Representative.

 
TO COPY STUFF FROM THIS WEB PAGE:

IF YOU ARE USING WINDOWS:  To copy from this page, HOLD DOWN THE SHIFT KEY and click at the very beginning of what you want to copy.  Still holding the shift key down, scroll down or use the down-arrow to go to the end of what you want to copy, and click again at that point.  (Everything you want will now be highlighted in reverse video.)  Press the control and letter “c” keys simultaneously.  This puts the highlighted stuff on your “clipboard.”

Now open a new document in your word processor (MS Word^©, Word Perfect^© or whatever).  Click on that new document page and then press the Shift and Insert keys simultaneously.  (It may take a few seconds, but you should get a complete copy of all the stuff you highlighted in your new document.)

Part 2: FEDERAL LEGISLATION (IN WASHINGTON):

IF YOUR CONGRESSMAN HAS SIGNED ON

AS A CO-SPONSOR OF HR 147

(calling for repeal of the GPO-WEP penalties on public servants)

Name of Media Outlet or Publication
Attention:
Address 1
Address 2
City, State Zip or Postal Code

Dear Editor (or President Lewis or, for a legislator, Honorable name of legislator):

    State your reason for writing here. If you are responding to articles or editorials by the media outlet, use the first sentence to reference the title of the article, name of the publication, and date it appeared.

    State your case here. Include facts, references, or research here to establish credibility. [Keep length in mind. Acceptable letter length will vary from newspaper to newspaper. Look at their letters section to get a feel for an appropriate length.]

    Include a call to action, asking readers to follow up with some activity, such as joining in calling on policymakers to address the issue.

    End with a strong, positive statement in support of your case.

Sincerely,
Name of Writer
Writer’s Title
Writer’s Organization or Affiliation
Writer's address (required for some correspondence)