Advocacy Resources

Advocacy

• Freedom of Information Act (FOIA):

  •  https://www.foia.gov/
  • http://foia.ilattorneygeneral.net/
  • Illinois Attorney General Public FOIA Training: http://foia.ilattorneygeneral.net/training.aspx

• Open Meetings Act (OMA):

  • https://www.bettergov.org/open-meetings-act
  • Illinois Attorney General Open Meetings Act Info: http://foia.ilattorneygeneral.net/pdf/faq_oma_government.pdf
  • Citizen Advocacy Center’s Journalist’s Guide to the Illinois Open Meetings Act and Free Speech: http://www.citizenadvocacycenter.org/uploads/8/8/4/0/8840743/journalist_guide_to_the_open_meetings_act_and_first_amendment.pdf
  • Illinois Attorney General Public Open Meetings Act Training: http://foia.ilattorneygeneral.net/training.aspx

• How to find your elected representative and their contact information

• • Find my Elected Officials:
    • https://ballotpedia.org/Elected_Officials_Lookup
    • Find My Elected Officials in Lake County, IL (Including County Board Representatives: http://maps.lakecountyil.gov/MyGovernmentServices/

• • Contact the President of the United States: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/write-or-call

• • Find and contact your US Senator: https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?State=IL

• • Find and contact your US House of Rep: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

• • Contact the Illinois Governor: https://www.illinois.gov/gov/contactus/Pages/default.aspx

• • Find and Contact Your llinois General Assembly Member or Chicago Alderman: https://www.illinoispolicy.org/maps/https://www.illinoispolicy.org/maps/

• • Contact you Lake County Board Member (Find who your member is above): https://www.lakecountyil.gov/2336/County-Board-Members

• League of Conservation Voters US Senate and House Environmental Voting Scorecard: http://scorecard.lcv.org/

• Illinois Environmental Council Illinois General Assembly Legislative Voting Scorecard: http://ilenviro.org/scorecard/

• Better Government Association (BGA): https://www.bettergov.org/
  • https://www.facebook.com/bettergov/

• Citizen Advocacy Center (CAC): http://www.citizenadvocacycenter.org/advisory-council.html
  • https://www.facebook.com/CitizenAdvocacyCenter/

• Illinois Sunshine: https://www.illinoissunshine.org/

• Sunlight Foundation: https://sunlightfoundation.com/
• Illinois Campaign for Political Reform: http://www.ilcampaign.org/
  • https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoICPR/

• Tracking your Federal Representatives voting records (MegaVote): http://congress.org/congressorg/megavote/

• Filing witness slip for the Illinois General Assembly:
  • http://my.ilga.gov/Home/FAQ
  • http://www.ihscdea.org/documents/electronic_witness_slip_instructions.pdf
  • http://www.senategop.state.il.us/Portals/0/Government/file_witness_slip.pdf

• Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/Main_Page
• Open States: https://openstates.org/
• Gov Track (for Federal Legislation and tracking US Congress): https://www.govtrack.us/

Articles/Studies/Publications/References:

• “Indivisible Guide”: https://www.indivisibleguide.com/
• “Call the Halls” by Emily Ellsworth: https://gumroad.com/l/callthehallsguide

Books:

Organizing for Social Change by Bobo, Kendall and Max

Lobbying Illinois; How You Can Make a Difference in Public Policy by Christopher Z:

Films & Video:

• Interest Groups: Crash Course Government and Politics #42: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOvBA7oIIgc

Administration

• US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): https://www.epa.gov/

• • Region 5 US EPA (IL, WI, MN, MI, IN and OH): https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-region-5

• Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (ILEPA): http://www.epa.illinois.gov/

Green Events

• Libertyville Green Drinks: https://www.facebook.com/greendrinkslibertyville/?ref=br_rs