Who Do I Email?

[Midnight_toker_1975]

I'm kind of embarrassed to say I know very little about out legislative system and how it works and I'd be willing to bet there are more of me out there:( I would like to start a letter writing/email campaign to express my opposition to the recently proposed changes to our law. So I'm turning to you guys/gals to steer me/us in the right direction and hopefully learn a thing or two. I have a few questions I'm hoping someone can help me out with.

 

1. Who do I email or send a letter to? I've seen the email-omatic (and used it) but I would like to send something more personal to my particular representative and I'm unsure who it is.

2. Who votes on these bills i.e. What's their title senator, congressmen, representative or some other title didn't mention? All of the above?

3. Which of our elected officials have the most power when they vote on an issue or is it divided equally?

 

Like I said earlier I'm already embarrassed so please don't kill me for my lack of knowledge.

I guess I just never felt strong enough about anything....until now!!!! It's our time, not theirs. Thank you to all who choose to enlighten me.

[+washtenaut]

To determine YOUR representatives, go to congress.org

 

and then enter your zip code.

 

It will have links for the President, your Senators, your Representative in the House, and your Governor, State Senator, and Representative.

 

 

The state of Michigan is set up like the federal government. There are two 'bodies' to the legislative branch - the Senate and the House. Laws are introduced in either the House or the Senate and must pass votes in their originating body. If they pass, they move on to the other legislative body for a vote. If they pass votes in both houses they are sent to the governor to either sign or to veto.

 

Since the MMMA was a voter initiative, any changes to it must be approved by a 'super majority' of 75% in both houses.

 

As you can see, power is distributed so it is important to know where a particular bill is in the process in order to know who to contact. For instance if a bill originated in the House but is now up for a vote in the Senate, it would be most beneficial to contact your Senator.