Reconciliation 2021 – Letter to the Editor Guide
Step 1 – Find the Letters to the Editor address
Find the email address where you can submit a Letter to the Editor on your local newspaper’s website. Usually, this information can be found on the “Opinion” section of their website, or on the page in your newspaper where they publish Letters to the Editor.
Step 2 – Follow the guidelines
Be sure to pay attention to the guidelines usually set by news organizations including word limits, which are sometimes as low as 150-200 words.
Step 3 – Write the letter
Write your letter! Scroll down for some of our ideas and tips about how to write a good letter that has a better chance of being published.
Step 4 – Email your letter
Paste your letter into the body of your email, and hit send!
Step 5 – Share your contact information
Be sure to include your contact information (including phone number) in case the news organization wants to follow up or verify details. Sometimes this information is required, but news organizations won’t publish this information.
Step 6 – Submit your letter locally
Submit your letter to local news organizations in the community where you live or work. Sometimes that might be a small, local newspaper, not just the biggest or most well-known paper in your area. This will give you a better chance of having your letter published.
Step 7 – Send us a copy!
Did your letter get published? Congrats! Email us a link to amplify on social media and highlight with your member of Congress. Be sure to share it on social media yourself and use [insert #].
TIPS ON HOW TO WRITE A LETTER
- Focus on a single issue (in this case, protecting tax reform). Make sure you’re driving home the importance of this issue.
- Be clear and concise. You usually have roughly 200 words or less to make your point, so heed the word count limits and get your point across crisply.
- Use your own words. You don’t need to write like a policy expert—in fact, that’s better. Talk about why this issue is important to you.
- Connect the issue to manufacturing. Talk about why the 2017 tax reform is good for manufacturers in your community. Check out our talking points for some facts you can use.
- Connect your personal experience. Do you work in manufacturing? Talk about why protecting tax reform is important to you. Connect your story to the issue—why do YOU support protecting current tax policy!
SAMPLE LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor –
I am writing to express my concern about the negative impacts of the potential reconciliation legislation currently before Congress. The historic reforms to our tax code in 2017 were rocket fuel for manufacturers in this community and raising taxes now will harm businesses here and put manufacturing jobs at risk.
The policies in this budget legislation will weaken manufacturers’ competitiveness and restrict opportunities for innovation. That’s why I am calling on [YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS AND/OR SENATORS] to oppose tax increase on U.S. manufacturers.
According to the National Association of Manufacturers, raising taxes on businesses including manufacturers in our community will cost the United States 1 million jobs in just the next two years. The NAM also found that over 90% of manufacturers said it would be more difficult to grow their workforce, invest in new equipment, and expand facilities if this legislation is enacted.
For those reasons, I urge [YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS AND/OR SENATORS] to stop the harmful legislation within the reconciliation package in its tracks.
Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR CITY and STATE]
[YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS]
[YOUR PHONE NUMBER]
Additional Resources for Manufacturers