How to reach out to senators and why it matters

Elia Holland, Staff

Mar 12, 2026

A view of the dome of the U.S. Capitol building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. U.S., September 19, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura

REUTERS/via SNO Sites/Kent Nishimura

Next year, House Bill (HB) 1009 could ban cell phones and any electronic devices in a school setting. Students have the ability to reach out to the Georgia senators to voice their opinion not only for this bill but any other that they may have thoughts on. The Georgia state senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael G. Warnock, will take part in voting on HB 1009. If a student would like to say something, now is the time to do it.

By contacting your state senators, you can voice your opinions and add collective public influence to their decisions. Senators are supposed to represent each population and they only know what to vote for if the collective tells them. The pressure from students can influence their decisions for bills that students may care about.

Both Ossoff and Warnock have contact forms on their website found in the “Contact Us” section. To fill out the contact forms you input your first and last name, address, city, state, ZIP code, and email address. The legislative issue is the broad topic to contact the senator about and the subject is the specific issue, the comments are where people add what they wish to say.

To reach out through a phone call one must first contact their offices where they will then be transferred to the senator or a staff member. If someone calls after hours they will be directed to an answering machine. Each site has the phone numbers for their offices listed in their contact section. To make an effective call a person must be prepared to state their name and zip code, and expect to not speak directly with a senator but with a staff member who will pass the message. Being clear and concise is the best way to get a point across and sharing a personal anecdote can be helpful with persuasion. The office hours for both senators are 9 a.m.-6 p.m. for both offices. If someone were to call before or after these hours, they would be sent to an answering machine that is checked regularly.

Everyone has the ability to voice their opinion, especially if they feel hopeless. Contacting your senators is a way to feel heard about current issues and be able to voice thoughts in a way that can help make a change.

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About the Contributor

Elia Holland, Staff

Elia is a first year staffer who loves to read and write. This year, she would like to write opinions and work her way up to editing for the McIntosh Trail. Holland would like to try her hand at creating layouts and shooting photos and videos for the Trail. Holland’s writing helped her accomplish the highest ELA state test score on her team. In elementary and middle school Elia was awarded with three reading and/or writing awards. She has a pet chinchilla named Moonpie and likes painting on anything but paper and canvas. She is the second child out of her four siblings and even if Holland won’t admit it, she loves them dearly.