Write a letter (Dear____)
Send the Email
Other Important Ways
***Urgent: Please Contact the Senate Agriculture and Rural Economic Development Committee and Senate Leadership Now***
The spay/neuter assistance bill, Senate Bill 5329, is currently in the Senate Agriculture and Rural Economic Development Committee. Since it's critical to get this bill out of committee by February 25, 2009, please contact the committee members and key senate leaders now and urge them to move the bill forward. (Names and email addresses are provided below.)
Key Points: Be brief; be polite and respectful; mention the bill name and number; and include your name, address, and affiliation.
Here is suggested language you're welcome to use for your email. Please modify it as you see fit to create a more personal message:
Dear ______
I am respectfully requesting that the companion animal spay/neuter assistance bill, SB 5329, be passed through the senate agriculture committee. This is an issue of statewide importance and deserves broader consideration in the senate.
Please note that the bill is funded by a small fee that supplements the existing inspection fee on pet food that is paid to the Department of Agriculture. It was prepared as a fee, not a tax, by house finance staff.
I hope that you'll see that the bill's enactment is justified, even during this economic crisis. It can be considered a priority because it truly is a life and death issue. The bill's enactment would have no adverse impact on any other programs.
Sincerely,
Name
Affiliation
Address
Send the email to the following people:
Senator Brian Hatfield, Senate Agriculture and Rural Economic Development Committee Chairman: hatfield.brian@leg.wa.gov
Senator Lisa Brown, Senate Majority Leader: brown.lisa@leg.wa.gov
Senator Tracey Eide, Senate Majority Floor Leader: eide.tracey@leg.wa.gov
Other members of the Senate Agriculture and Rural Economic Development Committee: ranker.kevin@leg.wa.gov; schoesler.mark@leg.wa.gov; becker.randi@leg.wa.gov; haugen.marymargaret@leg.wa.gov; jacobsen.ken@leg.wa.gov; morton.bob@leg.wa.gov; shin.paull@leg.wa.gov
###
Other Important Ways to Help
1. Contact Your State Legislators Now
This will be a tough legislative session for bills with new dedicated funding sources. Many programs' budgets will be reduced. However, your voice matters to the state senator and state representatives that serve you. This bill will succeed ONLY if you let your state legislators know that you want the bill passed this session, and you urge their support. Remember, this really is a life and death issue and should be a priority.
This is also a matter of equity. Consider this: There is an estimated $80 million or more per year of retail sales tax collected by the state from the sale of pet products (food, collars, carriers, leashes, toys, etc.) that goes into the state general fund. However, year after year, nothing is spent by the state through any fund to help save companion animals' lives from shelter deaths. The spay/neuter assistance bill would establish a fee, not a tax, on pet food distributed in Washington State and not take a dime from the general fund. The fee would affect cat and dog owners only (through pet food purchases) rather than the general public, and the fee would have an impact of less than $0.03 per pound.
Whether you're an individual that just cares about animals, or you represent an animal welfare organization, shelter, municipal or county animal care and control agency, contact your legislators through the legislative hotline or by email now to urge their support for passage of the companion animal spay/neuter assistance bill, SB 5329/HB 1406.
How to reach them:
1. Call the legislative hotline at 1-800-562-6000 and leave a message.
2. Here is a link to the Washington State Legislature's website that will help you identify your state senator and representatives and provide you with their email addresses: Find Your Legislators.
3. OR, use this express method to contact your legislators with a standard message, courtesy of the ASPCA: Contact Your Legislators.
Tips on contacting legislators:
1. Please contact the state senator and two state representatives in your district; that's more effective than contacting state senators and representatives in districts other than your home, business, or service area.
2. Legislators and their assistants are very busy. The most effective way to contact your legislators is to email them rather than try to reach them by telephone. They'll appreciate your consideration.
3. Reference the bill's name and bill numbers in your email.
If you need assistance finding your district, please contact us and we'll help.
2. Help Get the Word Out Now
You can do this in several ways:
1. Post a link on your website to our homepage www.savewashingtonpets.org. Tell visitors to your website that you support the bill to help save Washington pets through an aggressive spay/neuter program.
2. Send an email or newsletter to your organization's mailing list informing them of the bill and what it's about. Send them to this website for more information. Use the Spay/Neuter Bill Flyer as a handout for people at meetings or events.
3. At meetings or by phone, let people know about the bill and that they can get more information on this website.
4. If you work as a volunteer for an animal welfare organization, ask your organization to support the spay/neuter bill.