The Capitol complex includes the Capitol itself and the Legislative Office Building (LOB), which are connected underground at the Concourse level within a security perimeter. Maps of the complex, both underground and ground-level, are available from the state HERE.

The most common meeting place for our gatherings is in the LOB on the first floor, at the end nearest the Concourse. There is a vending machine area with seating, and that is where we meet. (Near the vending machine area is “The Well Wall”, where various groups have displays.)

If you park in the Vistors lot under the Plaza, you can enter the Capitol complex through a security check at the north end of Concourse. This can be quite busy, especially on Tuesdays. Come early, or try to enter through the Capitol or the State-Street entrance to the LOB — these are good entrances for people parking elsewhere or coming by bus.

The distinctive Capitol building is a National Historic Landmark. Free guided tours are available Monday–Friday at 10 a.m., noon, and 2 p.m. Tours begin at the information desk in the lobby at the State Street entrance; no reservations are required for individuals or groups smaller than 10.

Legislators and the Governor use their incoming mail and telephone calls to get a sense of what is important to their constituents. Personal, handwritten messages have the most impact, but email is also helpful. You can make these contacts more than once — every month, or when a special moment occurs in the campaign.

Your Senator can be identified and found HERE, and your Assemblymember can be identified and found HERE — based your home address.

Compassion & Choices has developed an easy way for you to send emails to your Assembly member and Senator based on your address, and also to the Governor and legislative leaders. There is some stock verbiage supporting medical aid in dying, and you get to add your personal statement. To do this, click HERE.

Many New Yorkers have expressed support for the Medical Aid in Dying Act but are not very active. When the campaign wants to target a specific lawmaker, we seek to harness the efforts of these supporters in key districts to contact their legislators directly.

To do this, a phonebanking system has been developed through which you can contact some of these supporters and urge them to call or write to their legislators. To get involved, contact Corinne Carey, the campaign director, at ccarey@compassionandchoices.org

Work at Home

Work at Home

1. Write to key legislators.  Legislators say that hand-written, personalized notes are the most impactful communications we can make. So, get out your pen and write! If you have a personal experience to talk about, that is great. A related idea is to host a letter-writing party with friends or colleagues.

Here are the top legislators to write to now:

• Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins / LOB, Room 907 / Albany, NY 12247
• Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie / LOB, Room 932 / Albany, NY 12248
• Your Senator, who can be identified and found HERE — be sure to give your home address
• Your Assemblymember, who can be identified and found HERE — be sure to give your home address

And, since the passed bill will need the Governor’s approval:

• The Honorable Kathy Hochul / Governor of New York State / NYS State Capitol Building /Albany, NY 12224

2. Write a Letter to the Editor.  These are widely read and have real impact. The Albany Times Union  has not editorialized in favor of the bill in quite some time. They need to see that this is a priority for their readers. Please consider writing a letter to the editor. Click HERE  to read the guidelines from the TU  about how to submit a letter to the editor. Follow the directions!

Write about how getting the bill passed is important to you and to other people you know. More extensive suggestions for writing letters can be found HERE  from the Compassion & Choices Volunteer Action Network.

3. Help grow the movement.  Here is an important thing that Compassion & Choices is encouraging:  If you haven’t shared your support for this campaign with neighbors, friends, and colleagues, please to do so. You can use the following language and links to tailor your own personal message to help us grow this movement. We know that when the bill starts to move, our opponents will pull out all the stops to generate communications into lawmakers’ offices. We won’t be able to compete with the numbers, but we will have a bigger impact if we have intelligent and personalized messages flowing into lawmakers offices on a steady basis.