Friday, April 24, 2009

Contacting your State Legislator

Now that over a week has passed since the "Tea Parties", let's turn up the heat on our legislators rather than turn it down. It's not just Congress that needs to hear from you. Your state legislature needs to know where you stand on the issues as well.

There are sites online that you can find with lists of state legislatures and bill information. Some of them are put together by organizations that charge for their services. Some of them are put together by large organizations that report to you on how they feel about particular issues. While the latter is not a bad thing, and while I myself will probably present to you in other blogs how I personally feel about particular issues, I wanted you to have a place that you could go for an easy to follow comprehensive list of all these state legislatures, their districts, and their current bills without a particular viewpoint being presented at that time.

I trust you to find a bill and read the bill for yourself. You are capable of making a decision for yourself, and taking the initiative to write an email to your legislator in your own words. I hope that you will take the time to do that. It is much more meaningful than an email that has been generated by a lobbyist organization! Better yet, phone calls are even more impressive to a legislator! (Please do not email me regarding research or interpretation of your state's constitution or laws.)

This will always be found on a link on the side of my blog. So don't worry, it won't disappear after the typical five posts. Click on the American flag any time you need this information. (For fun, and historical context, the numbers next to the states indicate the order of entry into the Union.)

Alabama (#22)
Alabama State Constitution

Find your Legislator!
Bill Information
(Click on a committee. Choose a bill number. Select the view button from the top and read the bill! This is a beautifully put together site.)

Alaska (#49)
Alaska State Constitution
Districts
Members
Bill Information
(You have to create an account to track the bills. However, it's free!)

Arizona (#48)

Arizona State Constitution
Districts
Arizona District Map
Bill Information


Arkansas (#25)
Arkansas State Constitution
State House Members by Map
State Senate Members by Map
Bill Information

California (#31)
California State Constitution
Find your Legislator!
Bill Information (Find the Bill)
Bill Information (Read the Bill!)

Colorado (#38)
Colorado State Constitution
State House Members
State House District Map
Bills before the State House
State Senate Members
State Senate District Map
Bills before the State Senate

Connecticut (#5)
Connecticut State Constitution
Find your Legislator!
FAQs
Bills before House and Senate
(This website is one of those that expects you to know the name, date, or number of a bill. But you can "fool" it. Just type in one party as the originator, then the other, and then an independent party as the originator. This should give you every bill that they are currently considering.)
Bill tracking

Delaware (#1)
Delaware State Constitution
State Senate Members and District Map
State House Members and District Map

Bill Information - Session Activity Report
(Must be view by session date. Or you can search by bill number if you know it on the bottom left corner.)
Bill Information by Sponsor - check on your legislator

Florida (#27)
Florida State Constitution
Find your Legislator!
Bills before the State House
Bills before the State Senate

Georgia (#4)
Georgia State Constitution
State House Members by District
State Senators by District with Map
Bill Information

Hawaii (#50)
Hawaii State Constitution
State House Members
State Senate Members
Bill information
Bills before the State House
Bills before the State Senate

Idaho (#43)
Idaho State Constitution
Find your Legislator!
Bill Information
(So easy! This is a great site with everything right in front of you!)

Illinois (#21)
Illinois State Constitution
State House Members
State Senate Members
District Map
Bill information

Indiana (#19)

Indiana State Constitution
Find your Legislator!
Bill information

Iowa (#29)
Iowa State Constitution
State House Members
State Senate Members
District Map
Bill information

Kansas (#34)
Kansas State Constitution
Find your Legislator!
Bill information

Kentucky (#15)
Kentucky State Constitution
Find your Legislator!
Bills before the State Senate
Bills before the State House

Louisiana (#18)
Louisiana State Constitution
Find your Legislator!
Bill Information!

Get email notification on the issues!

Maine (#23)

Maine State Constitution
Find your Legislator!
Bill information
(Make appeal to your representatives for more openness! Without already knowing detailed information, it is difficult to find bill information. Other states have information on all bills easy to view! See Idaho for an example!)

Maryland (#7)
Maryland State Constitution
Find your Legislator!
Bill information

Massachusetts (#6)
Massachusetts State Constitution
State House Members
House Districts
State Senate Members
Senate District Map
Bill information
(Another one that you have to know the number or a key word, however they are currently working on a new system.)

Michigan (#26)
Michigan State Constitution
Find your House Representative
Find your State Senator
Bill information
Bill notification service

Minnesota (#32)
Minnesota State Constitution
Districts
State House Members
State Senate Members
Bill Information

Mississippi (#20)
Mississippi State Constitution
State House Members
House Districts Map
State Senate Members Senate Districts Map
Bill information
(Every state should have this ALL measures page!)

Missouri (#24)
Missouri State Constitution
Find your Legislator!
Topical Index of State Senate Bills
Bills before the State Senate
Topical Index of State House Bills

Montana (#41)
Montana State Constitution
Find your Legislator!
Bill information

Nebraska (#37)
Nebraska State Constitution
Find your Legislator!
Bill information

Nevada (#36)
Nevada State Constitution
Find your Legislator!
Bill information

New Hampshire (#9)
New Hampshire State Constitution
Find your Legislator!
Bill information
(includes a House and Senate bill introduction list)
Voting Records

New Jersey (#3)
New Jersey State Constitution
Find your legislator!
(Done by district map)
Information
Voting Records by Name

New Mexico (#47)
New Mexico State Constitution
Find your Legislator!
Subject index for Bills
Bill information
Bill tracking system

New York (#11)
New York State Constitution
General Assembly Homepage
Find your Assemblyman!
Bill information by number or keyword
State Senate Homepage
Find your State Senator!
Bill information
(There is not a topical index or listing for all.)

North Carolina (#12)
North Carolina State Constitution
Find your Legislator!
State House Members
State Senate Members
Bill information includes a section on all bills

North Dakota (#39)
North Dakota State Constitution
Members of State House and State Senate
District Maps
Bill information with index

Ohio (#17)
Ohio State Constitution
Find your Legislator!
Bill information by number or keyword
(There is not a topical index or listing for all.)

Oklahoma (#46)
Oklahoma State Constitution
Find your Legislator!
State House Member Directory
State Senate Member Directory
Bill information including subject index

Oregon (#33)
Oregon State Constitution
Find your legislator!
Write your legislator!
Bill information

Pennsylvania (#2)
Pennsylvania State Constitution
Find your legislator!
(Upper right hand corner of page, you can use the zip code finder below to help.)
Zip Code + 4 look up
Bill information
(includes a subject index about halfway down the page)

Rhode Island (#13)
Rhode Island State Constitution
Find your legislator!
Bill information
(pull down list under Category for subject index, but no "all" listing)

South Carolina (#8)
South Carolina State Constitution
State House Members Listed by District
District Map
State House Members Email links
State Senate Members Listed by District
District Map
State Senate Members Email links
Bill information
Bill information subject index

South Dakota (#40)
South Dakota State Constitution
Find your legislator!
Bill information


Tennessee (#16)
Tennessee State Constitution
Find my legislator!
Bill Tracker using "My Bills"
Bill information - all bills
Bill information - subject index


Texas (#28)
Texas State Constitution
Find your Legislator!
State House Members
State Senate Members
Bills Information
Get the Bill Lists Emailed to you!

Utah (#45)
Utah State Constitution
Find your legislator!
Bill information
(Pull down menus available for sessions, subjects, and bill originators)

Vermont (#14)
Vermont State Constitution
Find my legislator!
Bill information
Roll call Votes by Member

Virginia (#10)
Virginia State Constitution
Find your legislator!
Bill information
Bill information by Subject

Washington (#42)
Washington State Constitution
Find your legislator!
District Map
Member List
Bill Information


West Virginia (#35)
West Virginia State Constitution
Find your legislator!
Bill information - all!
Bill information - subject search

Wisconsin (#30)
Wisconsin State Constitution
Find your legislator!

Bill information
Bill tracking Notification

Wyoming (#44)
Wyoming State Constitution
Find your State House Representative!
Find your State Senator!
Bill information
Roll call votes

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Welcome!

Welcome!

In my effort to compartmentalize, I have created this blog for any political writing that I feel led to do. This leaves my other blogs for their intended purposes. One to discuss my adventures in homeschooling and the other for the tomfoolery involved in raising my children.

Although you may hear a different tone here, I hope that you will visit this blog often.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Let's Party!

It doesn't take much to get me riled up. Everyone already knew that. I only have an "on" and an "off" switch. I am awake or asleep. I am passionate or I shrug and say "Whatever!" My three priorities are simply God, my family, and my country. Pretty much anything that I get wound up about falls into those three categories. (Trust me, even my love of sports came out of my love for my family.) Some people would put their country before their family, but I am not a Marine, and I am a Mom, so there it is.

Lately, I've been pretty riled up about politics. There were many things to be riled up about including bailouts, an outrageous deficit, and universal health care. I am distraught that there are politicians in the government who forgot that we do not work for them but that they work for us. As Ronald Reagan once said, in his Farewell Address, "`We the People' tell the government what to do; it doesn't tell us. `We the People' are the driver; the government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast."

Then, this week it came to light that there was a report published by the Homeland Security Department outlining the threats posed by right wing radicals. Normally, I wouldn't worry about such a thing, until I read their definition of right wing radical. According to the alleged report, a right wing radical could be a person who is a Christian, opposed to illegal immigration, opposed to abortion, and who reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority.

*(The reason I say alleged report is because I don't know for a fact if the report circulating around the internet is the actual report. It was put on the internet by several news organizations from "both sides of the aisle". I did talk to a couple of law enforcement officers yesterday who told me that the report was from the beginning of the year and being circulated now to keep people from going downtown today.)

When I was growing up, I went to classes in school where they taught us the United States Constitution. I was taught that it was the backbone of our country. I was taught that without it, the United States would cease to exist. This would include the First Amendment that says that I have the freedom to choose to be a Christian without threat of harassment by my government. This would include the Second Amendment. This would include the Tenth Amendment, which specifically says that the states created the federal government.

So, if I wasn't riled up before, I am now. Here's my question. Why aren't you?

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it." There is plenty you can do it about it!
Previously published on coachmomsays.blogspot.com.


First, you need to become, as Reagan said, an informed patriot!

Second, spread the word to anyone who lives in a district where a change can be made in Congress next year. I happen to live in a district with an excellent Congressman (John Carter), one excellent Senator (John Cornyn), and a number of wonderful state legislators.

Third, go to a tea party today. I understand. You have to work. After all, how else is the government going to take half of your paycheck and give it whomever they please? That's why they made the parties in the evening. You don't have to go downtown all day! Please, just go for a small part. If the streets are flooded with people today, Congress will have to sit up and take notice!

God Bless America!