The Iowa Bicycle Coalition’s District Leader program empowers and encourages you to connect with your legislators. District leaders actively seek meetings or attend forums with elected officials to talk about bicycling issues.

We count on district leaders to share important information, action alerts, and petitions with your bike club, team, or anyone else you ride with. District leaders help us keep the biking community informed and up-to-date on the Iowa Bicycle Coalition’s work and events.

Local legislative forums occur during the legislative session from January to May. One-on-one meetings with legislators can take place anytime.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Become a member of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition.
2. Join our email list to get action alerts and information about bicycle advocacy work going on in Iowa.
3. Email Megan McDowell, our Membership & Advocacy Director, to confirm you will be a district leader.
4. Download the following resources to refer to at your meetings with legislators:
• End Distracted Driving Iowa handout
• Iowa Hands Free Policy Brief
• Advocacy Toolkit
4. Check in with other district leaders or find new district leaders in your area. If you know people who want to get involved, invite them to be district leaders and form a district committee to work together on important safety issues. Log into your Iowa Bicycle Coalition membership account to view the District Leader Directory. The username is your email. Click the “Having trouble logging in” link if you can’t remember your password.
5. Schedule meetings with your senate and house candidates and/or legislators. The goal is to schedule meetings before October 20 because the election is on November 8.
• Find your legislator here.
6. Send Megan a meeting report and other important details from your conversation.

Sample meeting request email:

Dear [Representative/Senator NAME],

I am a voter in your district from [CITY] and I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to meet with you to discuss issues important to bicyclists. I hope your busy schedule will allow you to meet with me/us [add any other names]. I am available at [telephone number] or [email address] to address any questions you may have.

Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from your office.

Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]

Which district do I vote in?

You can check which district you belong to here. 

What is the strategy for meetings?

We want to know which lawmaker is going to vote for bike policy issues and who isn’t. The only way to get this information is if you, as a district leader (or district committee), ask elected officials as a voter from their district. With your help, our lobbyists can start the legislative session already knowing we have votes lined up. This helps us move our proposals forward more effectively.  

You can also meet with your house and senate candidates running for office and give them your perspective on our main policy issues. We would prefer you to have meetings in-person, but a virtual or phone meeting would work if necessary.  

What else can district leaders do to participate?

  • Attend district leader meetings. We hold online meetings to review the legislative session on Fridays starting in early December. District leaders can join the call to learn about policy priorities, updates from our lobbyists, and share input on strategies to pass legislation. These meetings are optional but often helpful. We may hold additional meetings as needed. If you can’t make it, no worries. We distribute notes, and sometimes videos, from our meetings.
  • Join us at the Iowa Bicycle Day at the Capitol. Show up to share your stories with legislators and advocate for bike safety. You can find this event and many others on our event calendar.
  • Respond to action alerts. Share these emails with your network to take action and make a bigger impact.

For more information:

If you are interested in becoming a district leader for the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, please email Megan McDowell.