You do not have to travel to Washington, DC to meet with your local representative or senator; these officials have offices located within their districts so you can almost always schedule a meeting close to your home. Don’t know who your representative or senators are? Find out here.

Below are some tips for preparing, conducting, and following up to these meetings. If you would like clarification on any of these points or would like help with any aspect of your visit, please feel free to contact us.

Goals for the local meetings:

• Secure Congressional support for the Community Regeneration, Sustainability, and Innovation act of 2009 (CRSI), H.R. 932/S 453
• Reinforce the need for an older industrial cities national policy agenda. Regardless of whether or not CRSI passes, it is only a pilot program and iwll need to be followed up with additional legislation and policies.

Before you go:

• Familiarize yourself with the talking points and fact sheet.
• Have specific data about your congressional district, city, or region to provide context:
  • Population loss (1970-2000)
  • Vacancy rate
  • Other information about property values, unemployment and other factors that indicate your city’s economic situation.
  • Newspaper articles about vacant properties in your city.

What to bring to the meeting:

• Fact Sheet
• Copies of the bill
• Local press clips and/or reports that build the case for the need for this funding stream

Other tips:

• Be sure to provide specific examples from your community:
  • Is there a vacant site that is languishing in a “tipping point” community?
  • Have there been setbacks because of a lack of funding for strategic planning?
  • Does your city have model programs whose impact could be expanded with these funds?
• Always send a brief thank you email to the person you met with. Use this letter to reinforce the importance of CRSI, provide any additional information you think could be helpful to persuade them, and/or mention a point that you might have forgotten to talk about at the meeting. Click here to view a sample thank you letter.

Once again, if you would like assistance with any aspect of this process, please contact us.

.