How to be heard

Think there oughta be a law? Want state money for a public project? Tired of a stupid law?

The people who write the laws – state legislators – work for you. You pay their salaries ($34,227), pay for their phone lines, their staff, their health insurance and their pensions.

So if you want them to change a law, you just call them up, right?

Well, not quite. Sure, they work for you, but they also work for the other 120,287 or so people in their legislative district. And they have a lot of conflicting demands.

So getting things done in Olympia is a bit of a sales job. You need to find the right lawmakers, make your pitch, answer their questions, and try to rally as much support as possible from other citizens or groups. People who do this for a living, and there are hundreds of them, are called lobbyists.

Here are some tips:

•Become an expert: Know what you want to do, why and what it will cost, and be ready to counter arguments against it. Find people who would be affected by your proposal, and get them to help. More is better.

•Find out who your local lawmakers are: Everyone has three – two representatives and one senator. Who they are depends on which legislative district you live in. To find out, go to www.leg.wa.gov and click on “find your legislator.” Your local lawmakers are a lot more likely to listen to you, since most want to get re-elected. But also get the names of key leaders: committee chairs, the House speaker and Senate majority leader.

•Make contact: Write letters, send e-mails or leave messages on (800) 562-6000, the state’s toll-free legislative hotline. (Addresses and e-mails can be found at the Web site above, or on our legislative page, which runs weekly in the Region section.) Briefly sketch out your proposal, be specific and make your pitch.

•If you’re really serious, or if your proposal gets far enough to earn a legislative hearing, consider a trip to Olympia to meet key lawmakers or testify. Call first to get an appointment, be polite and try not to get flustered by challenging questions.

Other tips:

• If you don’t have an idea of your own but might want to weigh in on what lawmakers are considering – and you should – regularly check the legislative Web site: www.leg.wa.gov. Click on “Agendas, Schedules and Calendars.” To put your two cents in, call the free hotline above and ask that your message be delivered to your local lawmakers and to every member of the committee considering the issue you care about.

• Want to know how your lawmaker is voting on key issues, or what bills he or she is proposing? Want to know how many bills came up last year that would affect dogs (10), cigarettes (15), or seat belts (1)? See www.washingtonvotes.org, which is better than the state Web site at explaining legislation in plain language.

Richard Roesler, staff writer