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Sample Letter to Send to Legislators

A few tips to start:

It is best to write or call State Senators or Representatives about your support of the state hospital cemetery restoration bill. You can type up your letter or it is perfectly acceptable to handwrite your letter. Emails are not as effective as letters or phone calls!

If you don't know the name, address or phone numbers of the Senator or Representative for your town click here and then click on the name of your town to find out.

It's okay to both write and to call

It is not necessary to write to all of the Senators and Representatives in Massachusetts. It is usually most effective to call your local Senator and Representative as well as the Chairpeople of the Senate Ways and Means Committee

If you call, do not expect to get your Senator or Representative directly. You will probably speak to an aide who will convey your message. Don't feel offended by this. Your call is important because YOU ARE A VOTER!!

Keep your letter concise and to the point. At the beginning of your letter say what bill you are writing about. Then say why the bill is important to you. Close your letter with the message that you want your Senator or Representative to support this bill.

If you have access to a fax machine, it is okay to use it to fax your letter.

Sample letter to the Chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee

October 29, 2001

Chairman
Senate Ways and Means Committee
Room 212
State House
Boston, MA 02133

Dear Senator Montigny,

I am writing to you about my support of Senate Bill 1530. This is a bill that calls for the restoration and proper memorialization of state hospital cemeteries around Massachusetts. I am a registered voter in Massachusetts and I feel very strongly that it is a disgrace to have tens of thousands of former patients buried in forgotten cemeteries with only a number. There are people buried in these cemeteries! I know of pet cemeteries where animals are buried with more dignity than people from the Commonwealth's institutions.

Senate Bill 1530 does not call for an increase in taxes. It simply proposes that .5% of funds from the sale of state properties - such as state hospitals - go for the proper memorialization and upkeep of these cemeteries. It's time to do the right thing and give these people dignity in death. Please use all of your influence to pass Senate Bill 1530 through the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Thank you,

Your Name
Your Address

Sample letter to your local State Senator or Representative

October 30, 2001

Senator X
Room 221
State House
Boston, MA 02133

Dear Senator X,

I am writing to you in support of Senate Bill 1530. This is a bill that calls for the restoration and proper memorialization of state hospital cemeteries around Massachusetts. I am a voting member of your district and feel this is a very important issue. It is a disgrace that former patients are buried in forgotten cemeteries with no names, only numbers. It's a very bad reflection on the Commonwealth and it perpetuates the stigma of mental illness and other disabilities.

Right here in your district there are two run-down cemeteries at Medfield State Hospital. Shamefully, over a1,000 people are buried with only numbers, no names. I repeat, these are people who were former patients at Medfield State Hospital. They deserve a dignified place of rest.

We will not have to raise taxes to restore the cemeteries at current and former institutions. The bill calls for .5% of the sale of state hospitals to go toward fixing up these cemeteries. I don't think that is too much to ask. Do the right thing! Use all of your influence to support Senate Bill 1530.

Thank You!

Your name
Your address