You Can Influence Public Policy

Communicate with Your Elected Officials

It is important for each of us to let our representatives know where we stand on issues related to mental health (and all issues for that matter). We can take a lesson from those who came before us at NAMI NH - so much was accomplished by our founders creating personal contact with elected officials. Our legislators are committed to their public service positions and are interested in hearing from the people they represent.

The NH General Court is made up of two houses - the NH House of Representatives (400 members) and the NH Senate (24 members). NH's Congressional Delegation is made up of two members in the House of Representatives and two Senators in the Senate. Our legislators are committed to their public service positions and are interested in hearing from the people they represent.

Locate Your NH Legislators

NH State Legislative Bills

Contact NH's Congressional Delegation

Know The Facts

Effective methods of lobbying include:

1. Letter writing. Address your letter properly, be brief, specific, reasonable and courteous.
2. Telephone. Rules for letter writing apply alto to telephone contact. You may leave a message with a legislator's staff member.
3. Personal meetings. Be prepared, polite, prompt, truthful and responsive.
4. Committee hearings. Here you will have an opportunity to be present testimony to a committee. The same rules apply as above - be prepared, make your statement concerning the proposed bill - talk about how this will affect YOU and YOUR FAMILY, make it personal, keep it brief.

Message Content

The crafting of your message content is essential if you want to be heard. Here are some tips from congressional staff regarding what is most likely to get attention and move your message along in the congressional office.

1. State in the first sentence your position on the issue in question.
2. State what action you would like the legislator to take and tell how the enactment of the legislation will affect you or your organization.
3. Demonstrate that you know the issue and feel strongly about it.
4. Tell a personal story that relates to the legislation.
5. Make sure that all of your information is accurate.
6. Use terminology that ALL people will be able to understand. Avoid abbreviations that you may use within your organization.
7. Always provide a return address on both the communication and the envelope. Envelopes often become detached from the correspondence. Also, include the date.

Public Policy Platform ~ inform yourself about NAMI NH's public policy platform

Public Policy Training ~ for individuals interested in becoming public policy advocates

Take Action ~ find out how to contact your NH Legislators and Congressional Delegation

Vote Mental Health ~ learn why it's important to know where your candidates stand on the issues