<\/p>\n
Since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, many politicians have been inundated with calls and correspondence from their constituents.<\/p>\n
The interest was spurred by Trump\u2019s Cabinet nominations and a flurry of administration and congressional actions on hot-button issues such as health care insurance reform, trade agreements and the environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cCalls and letters to our office have increased significantly since the inauguration,\u201d said Laurie Cipriano, spokeswoman for Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet. \u201cOur team is working hard to answer calls and listen to what our constituents have to say.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the U.S. Capitol, every staffer is pitching in to handle calls.<\/p>\n
Republican Sen. Cory Gardner\u2019s office received about 22,000 phone calls and 120,000 pieces of correspondence in January.<\/p>\n
The increase led to constituents having difficulty voicing their opinions because of full voicemails and not enough people to answer the phone.<\/p>\n
Last week, all Senate offices received an email that read: \u201cHigh call volumes are contributing to delays within the voicemail system. We are taking steps to address the impact of these delays.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some offices, including Congressman Scott Tipton\u2019s, use a computer system called Internet Quorum that allows them to input, sort and respond to comments, while others, such as Gardner\u2019s, have upgraded voicemail systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis new system allows us to receive an unlimited amount of messages so that every constituent concern is heard,\u201d said Alex Siciliano, spokesman for Gardner.<\/p>\n
Even members of the House of Representatives, who have no role in Cabinet confirmations, have seen a spike in calls.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been getting a lot of calls about the confirmations. As a member of the House, Congressman Tipton doesn\u2019t get a chance to vote on the confirmations,\u201d said spokeswoman Liz Payne.<\/p>\n
Especially in the last week, with the considerations for Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, some constituents have said their voices were not being heard.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur team listens to and assists constituents, regardless of political party affiliation or personal beliefs,\u201d Cipriano said. \u201cMichael is grateful that our constituents are getting involved, and he weighs all the information and opinions available before casting a vote,\u201d a sentiment that was echoed by staff for Gardner and Tipton.<\/p>\n
The increased constituent activity and interest has spilled into the Colorado State Capitol.<\/p>\n
Since the inauguration, protests and rallies on the Capitol\u2019s western steps have become a weekly occurrences.<\/p>\n
But the level of constituent involvement has varied widely.<\/p>\n
Colorado Senate President Kevin Grantham, R-Ca\u00f1on City, said there hasn\u2019t been a noticeable increase in email and phone calls within his chamber.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean it\u2019s session time, so we get a lot of phone calls, but usually it\u2019s topic-specific, you know whatever the hot topic of the day is, we get a lot of phone calls on it and there\u2019s nothing different about that,\u201d Grantham said.<\/p>\n
House Democratic leadership say they\u2019ve had increased contact from Coloradans, as well as more people at town hall events held by lawmakers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really amazing to see so much engagement,\u201d said House Speaker Crisanta Duran, D-Denver.<\/p>\n
The expanded interest is directly attributed to what is happening in Washington, D.C., and concerns about the impact on Colorado, said House Majority Leader KC Becker, D-Boulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had more people at my town hall in Winter Park than ever before, over 400 people at a town hall in Boulder, and they want to talk about federal issues,\u201d she said<\/p>\n
Gov. John Hickenlooper\u2019s office also reports a 28 percent increase in constituent contact since the first of the year compared with 2016, Holly Shrewsbury, interim director of communication, said in an email.<\/p>\n
Most communication is taking place through the governor\u2019s website, and at least 1,800 of the 3,919 total contacts, as of Feb. 6, are related to federal policies, Shrewsbury said.<\/p>\n
For legislators from Southwest Colorado, constituent outreach is a little hard to nail down.<\/p>\n
Rep. Barbara McLachlan, D-Durango, said she doesn\u2019t have anything to compare to because this is her first session, but she agrees with Grantham that most of her correspondence is based on individual bills that are being heard on any given day.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people call on one issue, which is fine, and I\u2019m trying to answer everybody and respond personally to everybody. So I\u2019m not doing any form letters that go out because I don\u2019t like receiving them, and they probably don\u2019t like getting them back, either,\u201d McLachlan said.<\/p>\n
Sen. Don Coram, R-Montrose, who replaced former Sen. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, said there has been a slight uptick this year for him because he is covering a larger district, but it pales in comparison to his first session.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s basically about normal,\u201d Coram said. \u201cYou understand I started out six years ago in the House of Representatives on congressional redistricting. I got emails from all over the state and 1,500 to 2,000 a day, so what I\u2019m getting ever since then is very, very manageable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shira Stein is a reporting intern for the Herald in Washington, D.C., and a student at American University. Reach her at sstein@durangoherald.com<\/a> and follow her on Twitter @stein_shira.<\/em><\/p>\n