<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><HTML><P ALIGN="CENTER"><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" FAMILY="SERIF" SIZE="4"><B> Annapolis Action Alert<BR>
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Clean Money Campaign Finance Reform<BR>
HB 731/SB 546<BR>
Lead Sponsors: Del. Jon Cardin and Sen. Paul Pinsky</B></FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" FAMILY="SERIF" SIZE="4"><BR>
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Dear Friends,<BR>
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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. <BR>
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</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" FAMILY="SERIF" SIZE="4"><B><U>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.</U></B></FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" FAMILY="SERIF" SIZE="4"><BR>
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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. <BR>
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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. <BR>
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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. <BR>
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Now is the time to take action and make your voice heard! <BR>
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</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" FAMILY="SERIF" SIZE="4"><B><U>Please send an e-mail today to Senator Conway at joan.carter.conway@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.</U></B></FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" FAMILY="SERIF" SIZE="4"> 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. <BR>
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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. <BR>
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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! <BR>
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Matthew Weinstein </FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Geneva" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" SIZE="2"></FONT></P><BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com.</HTML>