[Chat] Annapolis Action Alert: Sen. Joan Carter Conway & Clean Money Campaign Finance Reform

[jberlin]

do  u  have an e-mail address?     judy
On Mar 16, 2007, at 6:18 PM, WeinsteinM at aol.com wrote:

>  Annapolis Action Alert
>
>  Clean Money Campaign Finance Reform
>  HB 731/SB 546
>  Lead Sponsors: Del. Jon Cardin and Sen. Paul Pinsky
>
>
>  Dear Friends,
>
>  Just two and a half months ago, on January 4, 2007, State Senator  
> Joan Carter Conway met with a group of about 30 constituents and  
> others at the NAACP headquarters on 26th Street and committed to  
> support Clean Money Campaign Finance Reform.  She promised that she  
> would personally cosponsor the bill and that it would receive a timely  
> vote in her committee this session.  We were delighted and grateful  
> for her strong commitment of support, especially given her powerful  
> position as chair of the EHEA Committee and also considering the  
> well-known opposition of the Senate President, Thomas V. Mike Miller.   
> And, indeed, she has cosponsored the bill and held the bill hearing  
> early in the session, on February 22nd. 
>
> But this week, with just over three weeks left in the session, Senator  
> Conway has told us that she will not bring up the bill for a vote  
> because of Mike Miller's opposition.  NOW IS THE TIME FOR SEN. CONWAY  
> TO HEAR FROM CONSTITUENTS THAT WE ASK HER TO KEEP HER PROMISE AND HOLD  
> A VOTE ON THE BILL.
>
>  We believe that we have the votes to pass the bill out of Sen.  
> Conway's EHEA committee.  This is the same bill that passed this  
> committee as well as the full House of Delegates last year. 
>
>  By way of background, this is the legislation that will make Maryland  
> the fourth state to enact this cutting-edge solution to the problem of  
> private campaign contributors accruing undue influence in politics and  
> policy-making.  The status quo undermines the very foundations of  
> democracy.  This kind of campaign finance reform -- voluntary public  
> financing for qualified, viable candidates -- makes available a stream  
> of funding that comes with none of the strings that inevitably  
> accompany large private donations, and does it in a way that passes  
> constitutional muster under the Supreme Court's 1976 Buckley v.  
> Vallejo decision.  To read more, please visit www.publiccampaign.org. 
>
>  You can read the Baltimore Sun's editorial on the bill at  
> www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/bal- 
> ed.reform14feb14,0,3311395.story?coll=bal-opinion-headlines, and you  
> can read the report of the state study commission that recommended the  
> bill at http://mlis.state.md.us/other/campaign_financing.pdf.  The  
> General Assembly's fiscal and policy note on the bill is available at  
> http://mlis.state.md.us/2007RS/fnotes/bil_0006/sb0546.pdf. 
>
>  Now is the time to take action and make your voice heard! 
>
> Please send an e-mail today to Senator Conway at  
> joan.carter.conway at senate.state.md.us, or call 410-841-3145 (I am told  
> that phone calls get more attention at this late stage of the  
> session).  Ask her to keep her promise and bring SB546 out of her  
> committee now.  These calls and e-mails are critical -- they will  
> allow Senator Conway to tell the Senate President that pressure from  
> her district requires her to go ahead and hold a vote in spite of his  
> opposition. 
>
>  Please forward this e-mail to other 43rd District constituents,  
> neighborhood e-mail lists, and others who you think will take action  
> to advance this reform. 
>
>  The coalition supporting this legislation is made up of a broad range  
> of organizations including Common Cause, the League of Women Voters,  
> Progressive Maryland, NAACP, AFL-CIO, Sierra Club, PIRG, and the  
> Baltimore Jewish Council.  Thank you for adding your critically needed  
> voice to theirs!  
>
>  Matthew Weinstein 
>
>
>
> **************************************
>  AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's  
> free from AOL at  
> http://www.aol.com._______________________________________________
> Chat mailing list
> Chat at charlesvillage.info
> http://charlesvillage.info/mailman/listinfo/chat_charlesvillage.info
> archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/chat@charlesvillage.info/
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 5308 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://charlesvillage.info/pipermail/chat_charlesvillage.info/attachments/20070317/36cf61a2/attachment.bin>