Welcome back to Topeka, Legislators

On January 9, members of the Kansas House of Representatives and
the Kansas Senate will return to Topeka for the 2012 Legislative Session. As
required by the Kansas Constitution, the legislators will meet for 90 days,
ending the session sometime in early May. Governor Sam Brownback will present
his second State of the State speech on January 11 outlining his goals for the
state during 2012.

Previous Governors' State of the State addresses and other messages can be found online at:
http://www.kslib.info/messages/index.html

Section of the Kansas Constitution requiring the Governor to deliver a message to the legislature:
http://www.kslib.info/constitution/art1.html

The Governor is also required to present a budget plan for the state:
http://budget.ks.gov/gbr.htm

Find your legislators' contact information at:
http://www.kslegislature.org/

Find out who your state legislators are by entering your address at:
http://www.ipsr.ku.edu/ksdata/vote/

Click on either House or Senate and then on the member's name. This will bring up a picture and the contact information for your legislator- OR you can call the Legislative Hotline, a service of the State Library, to leave a message for your legislator at 1-800-432-3924.

Talk to your legislators about what concerns you:
1. When emailing or writing a letter to your legislator, address him or her as Honorable Representative or Honorable Senator
2. Be sure to include how your concern affects people in your area
3. Offer background information to support your argument
4. Offer to testify to your argument

Find out more about your legislators:
Directories:
http://www.kssos.org/forms/communication/legis.pdf
Histories of elected officials:
http://www.kssos.org/forms/communication/history.pdf
Legislators Past and Present:
http://www.kslib.info/legislators/index.html

Call the Legislative Hotline with any questions regarding Kansas government, the status of bills going through session, bill numbers for certain policy issues, legislative history assistance, or how to contact your legislator: 1-800-432-3924

Article contact: Kim Harp