ST. GEORGE — What is the best way to get a hold of your state representatives, and what’s the best way to make sure you get a response?
Thsse were questions asked during a recent luncheon hosted by the Washington County Republican Women. Attending were Reps. Joseph Elison, Colin Jack, Neil Walter, Walt Brooks and Sen. Evan Vickers. While Sen. Don Ipson was absent due to a family obligation, he shared his answers with St. George News over the phone Monday afternoon.
On April 4, the five Southern Utah lawmakers, also known as the Sunshine Caucus, answered questions about the highs and lows of the recent legislative session.
Among the questions were those related to the best ways to get in touch with legislators.
Each legislator said emails and texts worked best and noted their names and emails can be found on the Utah Legislature’s website. They also shared ways to make sure emails and texts from constituents are read.
“Text is the best way for me,” Vickers said and noted he responds to texts personally.
He also has a legislative assistant or intern for when the Legislature is and is not in session who helps go through the emails and messages the state senator receives.
When the Legislature is not in session, Vickers and the assistant go through the emails and messages once a week. When in session, however, they do this each day. Some emails Vickers will reply to directly, while others will be handled by the assistant under his direction, he said.
“For me, email is the best way so I have a record and I can always go back and look,” Brooks said.
Brooks said he keeps a spreadsheet that includes who sent emails, what bills they are related to and whether the constituent was for or against said bill.
“This part is key – you have to identify who you are,” Brooks said. “I get thousands of emails. I get them from people in California, Colorado and New York, and I put them in my representative bucket called a garbage can because I don’t represent them.”
This was a shared opinion among the Southern Utah legislators.
“Please make sure to say you are a resident of Washington County, a resident of your district,” Walter added. “That’ll make it easier for us to say that’s a message we need to return.”
Jack went a step further and asked people to include their addresses.
“I get a lot of emails that say, ‘I’m your constituent, I voted for you, and my address is Salt Lake City,” he said, adding those emails also get deleted. “So the (emails) I try to respond to are ones who say my address is St. George or Washington or Leeds – OK, I’m going to try and get back to them.”
Elison called himself “a text person” yet added email is good as it can give him more information than a text may. Still, he asks that constituents send him a text notifying him that they sent an email. That way there’s less chance of it getting buried and going unread.
He also warned against sending copy-and-paste chain emails.
“I’ll get 200 or 300 and they’re identical emails,” he said. “I’m telling you right now, I throw those all away. I don’t care who they’re from … That’s not going to work for me.”
Ipson also shared his opinion against chain emails as they can bury more important messages and waste a legislator’s time, particularly when that time is limited during a legislative session.
As for emails and texts, Ipson said he prefers texts, but both are fine. He tries to respond to each message he gets, he said.
To get him to pay attention to a message, Ipson said he favors people promptly identifying themselves in emails or texts that are accompanied by short, to-the-point messages.
“Keep it short and sweet,” he said. “Don’t make them long and lengthy.”
People should feel free to contact their representatives at any time, Ipson said. This is particularly true during the legislative session, he said, as they may not be paying attention to what the Legislature is doing the rest of the year during its interim sessions.
“We want to hear the good and the bad,” Ipson said.
Still, Elison said he believes constituents should contact their legislators about important matters before the general session occurs so there’s more time to tackle the issue. Otherwise, there may not be enough time or attention in the Legislature proper to give the matter adequate consideration before the session ends.
“The time to be talking about items you want addressed in the next session is now,” Elison said. “When we’re three weeks into the session, that’s too late.”
Check out all of St. George News’ coverage of the 2024 Utah Legislature by clicking here.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2024, all rights reserved.