I just called my Rep. - Tan Parker. Jeff who answered the phone said that they had already recieved some calls and letters and it was definitely on the radar. He would not commit the rep. to taking action but I was happy to hear I was not a lone caller!

If you live in the KELLER/SOUTHLAKE/COLLEYVILLE area of North Texas, please call Representative Truitt's office and show your support. I have called several times now and I think I am the ONLY person who has called or emailed!

Another reminder for every single Texan reading this thread to call your State Representative and tell them about this bill and how important it is to you.

We are up against the odds - our bill was filed extremely late in the session, and we will need every single Rep on board with this to help get it through the House in a timely manner. It is depressing how much I am hearing that someone called their Rep's office and was told "this is the first we've heard of it!". We need to MAKE SOME NOISE, come on CC'ers, we know how to make noise, am I right??

Please email me to let me know who your rep is and sign up for daily email updates. I am creating a matrix of our supports and whose districts they are in so that we know where we have a strong voice and where we have holes. There are 150 districts in Texas - right now we have a LOT of holes.

I did it! I really did it! lol I was so nervous but I called Rep. Rob Eissler office and spoke with the staff member who was really friendly and she said they had got a letter about it. So someone else from this district all so contact them!

I have been following this thread very closely. As you know I am not quite there yet physically. I know I will be living in Tarrant county for sure. Do you think that they will listen to me even if I haven't moved yet???? I know it sounds dumb but we definitely are coming but it will be after they are not in session. What can I do. I feel like I am watching something awesome happen, close enough to be excited about it but too far away to participate.

First of all, do you have any friends or family currently in Texas who can call for you?

Do you know what your address will be when you move to Tarrant County? There are multiple districts in that county because it is so populous.

There is nothing stopping you from calling or writing, so please do!! You can tell them your story, when you will be here, etc. But they may not give it as much weight as they would to an actual constituent.

We have an estimated date when we are arriving, sometime around June 25th. Is Grand Prairie part of Tarrant county? I believe Dallas is, my parents have a couple of friends and Grand Prairie is where the family lives. I will definitely contact them to see if they will call. Unfortunately we don't know where we will live because we are a military family. We are looking to purchase a home, probably in Keller. So we will be setting up roots there, that way we won't look to be so transient. In any case I will stay up late tonight and give them a call. The links that you provided, will they give me the contact information? Thanks for the input.

Good morning everyone!

If the House stays on good pace, our bill may get read and assigned to committee today!

How are those calls coming???????

Kelley,
I have called my rep previously - do I need to keep calling? What do I say? Wouldn't they just be like "ok, we already have your name down, you didn't have to call again". That's what I'm scared of

What to say if you have called previoiusly:

Just ask for the aide that you spoke with previously (if you remember). Tell them your name again, remind them that you had called once before, and ask if they have had a chance to brief Rep. X on HB3282. If they haven't, this will be a reminder for them. If they have, then ask what Rep. X's stance on the matter is. Remind them how important the bill is to you financially, and that if it doesn't pass, two more years might be too late for some of the people in financial crisis right now.

Be very friendly, even joke about the fact that you're calling so often. "It's just so important to me."

I realize it is a fine line between persistence and PITA. I've been trying to walk it for 6 weeks.

YAY It just got it's first reading and was assigned to public health! I'm watching it on the house webcam. Really dull except for that lol.

Just got this update:

Bill:    HB 3282
Legislative Session: 81(R)   Author: Gattis   
Add to Bill List   | Add to Alert List
Actions: (descending date order)

H   Referred to Public Health 03/18/2009      
H   Read first time      03/18/2009      
H   Filed       03/11/2009   

I am clueless when it comes to passing bills.

Is Public Health the committee that the HB is assigned to or does it have to pass through Public Health now before being assigned to a committee?

WE HAVE BEEN READ!!!! YAY! Alright Public Health Commitee- Here We Come!

Just wanted to give everyone an update:

My meeting today with Rep. Bolton's office went extraordinarily well! They LOVED the cake and were oohing an awwing over it. Rep. Harless from across the hall came over and also commented that the "Bill is a good bill and it's a shame it died in committee 2 years ago." Rep. Bolton replied, "We'll make sure that doesn't happen again this go round". So I'm 99% sure she will be a supporter if not a co-author.

Anyone who is afraid to call their rep's office should have NOTHING to fear. They are the nicest people and completely down to earth. In fact, the aide's all looked like they were barely out of college. They love hearing from us and are there to help us out.

I want to thank Kelley again for all her efforts and hard work!

Momtofourmonkeys - Public Health is the committe - it's committee members are as follows -

Rep Lois W Koklhorst - Brenham, Texas
Rep Elliott Naisthat - Austin, Texas (there is more than one rep)
Rep Garnet Coleman - Houston, Texas (more than one rep)
Rep John Davis - Houston, Texas
Rep Veronica Gonzales - McAllen, Texas
Rep Chuck Hopson - Jacksonville, Texas
Rep Susan King - Abilene, Texas
Rep Jodie Laubenberg - Rockwall, Texas
Rep Jim McReynolds - Lufkin, Texas
Rep Vicki Truitt - Southlake, Texas
Rep John Zerwas - Simonton, Texas

http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/welcome.php

If you go to this address, you can enter your address info in the box on the right and find out who your rep is. If you know your rep, you can click on their name on the left and go to their website.

For those of you worrying about calling over and over - I made a phone call and spoke to someone in my Reps Office and then they emailed me and I have gotten responses from them, continued to email back and forth with them. I did tell the lady that I knew that Rep Brown was aware of the bill, why it was so important to me, and that I was aware they were "behind" in the house and I was sorry for pestering them, but it was really important to me - I just feel like the initial contact that led to email to me was a way "in" to keep communicating. But they did tell me that I was the only one in my area calling (College Station) and so I got my email list, emailed everyone in my area with a link to his office, and asked them to send an email again. I know some called instead of emailing and some did both.

I just keep updating my friends in Texas regarding the bill and where we stand and seriously beg for their help. My DH lost his job recently and they are aware how much I want to be a legal kitchen. So they are helping me out and aren't complaining about the updates. One of my friend's DIL is a cake decorator too. It effects her as well. If nothing else, she can update her DIL and get her going too.

There are quite a few women on the committe and some of these towns are small towns. I'm hoping this is a good thing. I'm sure Kelley can give us a better update than this, but this is what I know and what I did. Hopefully it encourages someone else to do their part.

I've already written to Patrick asking about it - it was news to me, too.

Rachelally - good job!

Kelley - I figured you'd be on that like icing on a cake - giggle!

I can't wait to hear this answer. Do you think that because some of these places are small towns they might be more interested in this bill, and the fact that there are quite a few women? And at what point do we start contacting these reps or do we even contact these reps? I don't know the ramifications of calling or emailing them or if that is even the next step?

Any ideas? I know the public hearing, but can we bother these people now to be sure we get one?

Argh, I've been wrestling with this all day.

The fate of the bill lies in the hands of these 11 people.

We need to make them aware of how important it is to us, without pissing them off by flooding their offices with calls from non-constituents.

My lobbyist neighbor says that often the Committee has its mind made up before the public hearing, so we need to get their attention now.

First - are any of you in these people's districts (look at Peggy's post above), or do you have friends or family in their districts? Can you get them to call? I think only constituents should be calling.

The rest of us, let's send emails and faxes. That way our message will come through without monopolizing their staff time. If it's an email, in the subject put 'In support of HB 3282, the Cottage Food Bill'. Then write your own statement of support - short and to the point. Include the statement that the bill is currently before the Public Health committee.

Here is a link to the Committee members:
http://www.house.state.tx.us/committees/list81/410.htm

Austin people - we are going to canvass every single office. If you would like to be involved in this, we are meeting at All In One on Wednesday the 25th at 7:00 to brief everyone and give informational materials. Please email me or PM if you would like to come. We need every able body we can get!

Kelley, I have to say I think that is a very good plan. I am much better in writing than I am in person. I tend to get excited and start talking really fast. People get lost sometimes. SIGH.

I will send short but sweet emails to these people. It's on my list of things to do tomorrow because I have to get up and go to work in the morning. UGH.

I still have my fingers crossed. But again, I agree that the constituents should be taking up their representatives office personnel time. Those constituents pay for them.

All we can do is make them aware that we are aware and we're serious about what we want and I think that emails or faxes are appropriate from nonconstituents. They are a committee who still have a responsibility to listen to what the people of Texas want, it's not about their personal district at this point - although I think their constituents can drive home how important it is to them in their areas.

But we need to let them know that other areas are really interested too.

I officially emailed my representative tonite at 11 pm. Will let you everyone know if and when I get a response...

baycheeks1

Don't be disappointed if it's not really personal, or much more than we got your email and thank you for your input. Whoever sends it to you - most likely someone in the office, email back to them, and continue it. You build a relationship with them of sorts. That's what I've been doing. Dont be embarrassed. We're not going away - legal or not!

Laughing.

Ok I just sent an email to everyone on the committee even though I don't live in any of their districts. Hope it helps!

I just emailed every committee member as well. I really really hope that helps.

When I type in my address on the state website, it pulls up 3 representatives - Bolton, Naishtat, and Rodriguez. My voter registration card says I'm in 47 (Bolton). Naishtat's district map shows the border just on the outside of my neighborhood. He is the vice-chair of the Health Committee and I would be happy to meet with him in person. However, I'd like to have someone else there that IS actually in his district. So, if anyone would like to have a meeting in person but is too scarred to do it by themselves... this is your chance. Please, please, please PM me!

Also, my mom lives in Houston, Clear Lake area - John Davis' district (member of the Health Committee) and she said she would come to Austin and go with me to meet with him too.

Do you think the meetings are overkill even if the constituents are there?

has any one said what day everyone is meeting in austin?

rachelally - One meeting isn't overkill - my neighbor the lobbyist says a meeting with every one is absolutely necessary at this point to have any chance of moving the bill through in time.

Scox - the Austin folks are meeting on Wednesday 3/25 at 7:00 at All In One to plan the Capitol office meetings.

Patrick emailed me back - he can't find any record of a previous 'Cottage Food' bill or anything similar last session. I had also shared with him Bolton and Harless's positive comments - he says he is glad we are getting good feedback from members.