NEW LAWMAKER TEMPLATE

February xx, 2023

Dear Senator/Representative (Name),

Thank you for your service in Harrisburg representing our district in the Pennsylvania (HOUSE or SENATE). We here at (YOUR MUSEUM) are looking forward to working with you in your new role. Our statewide museum association, PA Museums, encouraged us to reach out to you.

(YOUR MUSEUM’s mission and two or three sentences describing what you do.)

As this new legislative season begins and Pennsylvania’s next budget season approaches, we hope you will support our historical and cultural community of museums, historical societies, and historical sites in Pennsylvania. Over 22,800 Pennsylvanians work full time jobs in museums and cultural nonprofits, and many museums and historical societies are recovering from the impacts of the pandemic. We ask you to support museum legislation that helps our community recover, retain jobs, and grow.

We invite you and your staff to visit us when you are home in our district. We have an event coming up on (DATE), and we would be honored if you would consider joining us. Please let us know if you or one of your staff are able to attend.

Thank you again,

(YOUR NAME)
(YOUR TITLE)
(YOUR INSTITUTION)

ABOUT OUR ADVOCACY WORK

PA Museums is the foremost advocate in Pennsylvania for museums and historical organizations. Our advocacy activities focus on state government policy and issues that directly impact our membership.  PA Museums will advocate on behalf of our members on the local and federal levels from time to time, and a large part of our advocacy work is sharing information about museums with the broader public.

Our advocacy activities are nonpartisan, and our aim is to educate and inform elected officials and their staff so that Pennsylvania’s museums and historical organizations have the support they need. We invite our members to actively engage their legislators and elected officials regularly in a friendly, professional relationship.

PA Museums will never tell anyone how to vote in an election. We will never tell a legislator how to vote on a specific piece of legislation. We will, however, request support for museums and historical organizations and request our members contact their elected officials to ask them to support particular legislation.

Like a good watchdog, we keep an eye on what Pennsylvania’s lawmakers are doing in education, tourism, and economic development that intersect with museums and historical organizations. Every year we report frequently on the state budget process from its beginnings in February with the Executive Budget to the final budget approved at the end of June. When the House or Senate present alternative plans, we report on these. We pay close attention to the budget’s allocations for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the Department of Community and Economic Development.