Everything you need to meet your legislator.

Become a volunteer lobbyist!

We need you to meet with your legislator. Yes, you! Why? Because this is the most effective way of influencing their vote! Legislators are elected public officials who work in the Illinois or U.S. House of Representatives or Senate. Their job is to represent you—but the only way they know what you care about is if you tell them.

Meeting with your legislators might feel intimidating, but it can be really fun. Read on, bring a friend, and help make this bill become the law.

Step 1: Contact your legislators.

You can find your State Representatives and Senators by address here (scroll down past the governor to get to state level representatives). Peruse your Rep or Senator’s website to find out what bills they have been working on, what committees they serve on, and what endorsements they have.

You can schedule a meeting by calling their office or filling out a contact form at their website.

Here’s a sample email:

I am a constituent and belong to a group called Forest Schools for Illinois. We're working to pass a bill to develop licensing standards for outdoor preschools in our state. Senator Ram Villivalam and State Representative Will Guzzardi have agreed to sponsor our bill. We're looking for additional sponsors. I'd like to schedule a meeting to talk with [Senator / Representative] [NAME] about the benefits of outdoor preschools and the content of our bill.