Courtesy of your MML Advocacy & Public Affairs team, here are five tips to build a solid foundation with your representatives in the Maryland General Assembly:

1. Talk to your state legislators regularly. Relationships are built in the moments between asks. Easy opportunities include making time to learn about their priorities and inviting them the community events and functions.
2. Include your legislators on municipal mailing lists so they receive regular city/town updates. This fills the gaps between your interactions, keeping you in their mind.
3. Offer them the opportunity to see firsthand achievements and challenges in your city or town. With achievements, this creates positive associations and allows them to brag about you. When challenges arise, they’ll be more ready to tell your story having seen the problem themselves.
4. Learn the cycle of their legislative schedule. Legislative Bond Initiatives can be a lifeline for your city/town. Work on your legislator’s timeline to ensure projects are ready and well supported before the General Assembly begins. The same goes for other legislative requests.
5. Publicly thank them for their support. Find ways to acknowledge their efforts both in person and in writing – including in items such as an annual report, newsletter, and other publications that go out to citizens and civic leaders.

Bonus tip: If they didn’t support your position, still thank them for consideration of your position. Your legislator may disagree with you on one issue but be a staunch supporter on another. Don’t burn the bridge you invested so much goodwill on.

Our Engagement and Outreach volunteer readers were not daunted by the packets and packets of essays. Among them were 11 bright spots who had dared to tackle the topic of Preserving the Past to Power the Future - specifically, what events, beliefs or traditions they believed made their community/city/town what it is today. Which would they keep and which would they change?