GET INVOLVED

NKBA’s members are passionate advocates for their profession, business, and the overall industry. Some members want to express their point of view to their elected officials, so we are providing you tools to assist in this important process.

Guide to Contacting Your Elected Officials

Depending on the piece of legislation, you may want to contact several different individuals. This chart can serve as a guide.

Who is the right contact?	Federal Issue	State Issue
Is the legislation federal or state in scope?	U.S. Congress Bills introduced in Washington, DC with a federal (national) impact	State Legislature or General Assembly Bill only impacts your state and is introduced at the state legislative level
Lower Legislative Chamber	U.S. House of Representatives Referred to as Representative or Congressperson Contact this person if the bill was introduced in the U.S. House	State House Referred to as a State Representative or State Assemblyperson, depending on the state Contact this person if the bill was introduced in the lower chamber of your state legislature
Upper Legislative Chamber	U.S. Senate Contact your two federal senators if the bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate	State Senate Contact your State Senator if the bill was introduced in the upper chamber of your state legislature
Chief Executive	President Contact if the bill has passed both chambers of the U.S. Congress and is awaiting the President’s action (signature or veto)	Governor Contact if the bill has passed both chambers of your state legislature and is awaiting the Governor’s action (signature, veto, or become law without signature)

Who is the right contact?

Federal Issue

State Issue

Is the legislation federal or state in scope?

U.S. Congress

Bills introduced in Washington, DC with a federal (national) impact

State Legislature or General Assembly

Bill only impacts your state and is introduced at the state legislative level

Lower Legislative Chamber

U.S. House of Representatives

Referred to as Representative or Congressperson

Contact this person if the bill was introduced in the U.S. House

State House

Referred to as a State Representative or State Assemblyperson, depending on the state

Contact this person if the bill was introduced in the lower chamber of your state legislature

Upper Legislative Chamber

U.S. Senate

Contact your two federal senators if the bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate

State Senate

Contact your State Senator if the bill was introduced in the upper chamber of your state legislature

Chief Executive

President

Contact if the bill has passed both chambers of the U.S. Congress and is awaiting the President’s action (signature or veto)

Governor

Contact if the bill has passed both chambers of your state legislature and is awaiting the Governor’s action (signature, veto, or become law without signature)

Find your elected officials and their contact information

How-To’s

How a Federal Bill Becomes a Law

How to Communicate with your Public Officials

How to Contact your Elected Representatives

Sample Correspondence

Click here to view a sample Letter of Support

Click here to view a sample Letter of Opposition

Please Note: NKBA is providing all government relations material for educational purposes only. While we encourage NKBA members to be actively engaged on issues that are important to them, please remember that all views expressed by NKBA members in any outreach to public officials are solely their own views. Unless specifically authorized by NKBA, members shall not represent the views of NKBA.

Questions?

For more information on NKBA’s government relations resources, including questions on our monthly newsletter, please reach out to NKBA’s Senior Manager, Global & Government Relations, Steven Campeau at scampeau@nkba.org.