The instructions you see above come directly from the Governor's office by email to somebody on our team a month ago. They are the instructions that are used for sending support letters and they have been used for multiple years by people who know the governor's office well. They are also used by other organizations for other bills.
I was also confused when I saw that line on the website, since it contradicts the specific instructions and also because it is on a page that does not have an email address. (Why would the Governor's office give people instructions for sending emails on a page that does not list an email address? It doesn't make sense. That's why my hypothesis is that the word "email" is a misnomer and it actually refers to the contact form on that page, which does not have a place for attachments.)
I agree with you that it seems like a poor security practice. But I err in favor of following the explicit written instructions provided to us by the Governor's office.
That website is confusing; however, the line about "email attachments" I believe is meant to refer to the website contact form. I think it is attempting to explain why there is no way to attach files in that form. I know it is not an "email" and this message confused me too, but it is in fact common practice to send emails with attachments in the format specified.
Are you willing to draft some rough bullet points (that you urge people to NOT copy and paste) on SB-1047 that might help people complete this exercise faster?
This page has a number of points (it also includes a few other actions that you can take).
Also, do you have a sense for how much better a slightly longer letter (e.g. a 1 page note) is as compared to just a 1 paragraph email with something like: "As a [location] resident concerned about AI safety, I urge you to sign SB 1047 into law. AI safety is important to me because [1 sentence]."
One paragraph is definitely fine unless you have personal experience that is relevant (for example, you are an AI researcher, founder, etc.).
I also wasn't sure how important it was to create the PDF — otherwise I would have just sent an email on my phone, which would again have been a bit faster.
Makes sense! It is important to create the PDF, just how these things are supposed to be submitted.
Agree. This really shouldn't take longer than 10 minutes. In this case (can't speak for every case like this), it does matter that the messages are unique and not copy pasted, which is why I didn't provide a letter to copy paste. But it is highly unlikely anybody will read the letter in great detail.
Hello! The legislative session is over, so no more changes can be made to the bill. Sometimes that kind of thing does happen, but it happens during the legislative session.
We have reason to think this is not true in this particular case. It can definitely be true in other cases. See my previous message about this.
The instructions you see above come directly from the Governor's office by email to somebody on our team a month ago. They are the instructions that are used for sending support letters and they have been used for multiple years by people who know the governor's office well. They are also used by other organizations for other bills.
I was also confused when I saw that line on the website, since it contradicts the specific instructions and also because it is on a page that does not have an email address. (Why would the Governor's office give people instructions for sending emails on a page that does not list an email address? It doesn't make sense. That's why my hypothesis is that the word "email" is a misnomer and it actually refers to the contact form on that page, which does not have a place for attachments.)
I agree with you that it seems like a poor security practice. But I err in favor of following the explicit written instructions provided to us by the Governor's office.
That website is confusing; however, the line about "email attachments" I believe is meant to refer to the website contact form. I think it is attempting to explain why there is no way to attach files in that form. I know it is not an "email" and this message confused me too, but it is in fact common practice to send emails with attachments in the format specified.
This page has a number of points (it also includes a few other actions that you can take).
One paragraph is definitely fine unless you have personal experience that is relevant (for example, you are an AI researcher, founder, etc.).
Makes sense! It is important to create the PDF, just how these things are supposed to be submitted.
You don't have to live in the US to do it. You can help send a powerful message that the entire world is watching California on this issue.
Thank you, Toby!
Agree. This really shouldn't take longer than 10 minutes. In this case (can't speak for every case like this), it does matter that the messages are unique and not copy pasted, which is why I didn't provide a letter to copy paste. But it is highly unlikely anybody will read the letter in great detail.
Hello! The legislative session is over, so no more changes can be made to the bill. Sometimes that kind of thing does happen, but it happens during the legislative session.