Time To Move On The 3/16 Initiative

[Mark Christianson]

ooops
Did I bump this up?

[MT Net]

I recieved this email and thought I would pass this along here.

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**Concerning 3/16 --the Momentum is Gaining--we need your help now!**

**Please read and forward to your sportsman friends if you want 3/16 passed this legislative session!**

Dear Sportsmen & Conservationists:

I am as excited as you undoubtedly are about the tremendously successful news conference about 3/16 that was held on Friday, February 6. Democrats and Republicans are finally working together on a bill that will fund hunting & fishing habitats with new money for $68 million a year, every year for the next 20 years! Momentum seems to be gaining; however, we must also face the fact that unless we have a way to impress our legislators about the importance of 3/16 to their constituencies that this tremendous conservation proposal will soon fade from the priority list of our legislature's agenda this session. This legislation was already approved Monday, February 9 by the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee and is now moving on to other committtees. For the past three years this committee has held up this legislation and now it is on its way!

We must not lose this momentum. That is why I am proposing a dramatic statewide initiative to be instituted by all sportsman groups, conservationists and others that would benefit from the 3/16 proposal. I have named this grass roots' effort "10,000 Calls for Conservation & 3/16" as a rallying cry for all who love our outdoors. This strategy consists of a massive calling effort to our state senators and representatives from every sportsman banquet, every regional sport show and every meeting of every conservation group that convenes during the next 3 months. We can also involve every major retailer in the state to provide call-ins not only by their employees but also possibly by customers themselves at the various stores. This effort revolves around a piece of technology that virtually everyone has access to--cell phones.

This unique contacting approach was tested at the Walleye and Bass Expo at Canterbury Downs on Feb. 7 & 8. I brought my idea to a booth of the Game and Fish Coalition and asked and asked if I could bring several cell phones, a legislative district map and a printout of all state senators and state representatives and see if sportsmen were willing to call their legislators. To my amazement, 50% of those that came by the booth and heard my 45 second spiel actually DIALED THE PHONES and left messages TO BOTH THEIR STATE SENATORS & STATE REPRESENTATIVES to support 3/16! I merely asked the callers if they believed dedicated funding of over $60 million a year for the next 20 years was worthwhile and if they wanted to leave a 30 second message stating the caller's first & last name, address and that they wanted the elected official to support the 3/16 Conservation/Outdoors Amendment. (I mentioned if they left their home or work phone number also they would have even double the impact--and many did). Those that called were aware of 3/16 and WANTED TO SEE IT PASSED, made the calls and left the booth with a handshake, good feeling and smile on their face.

Attached you will find the senator and representative list that I put in an Excel spreadsheet format that is ready to print and use in your own efforts. The far column to the right also shows the major cities each legislator represents. You will notice I have the senator and represenatitves for each district grouped together so they are easy to reference on the list. Just look for your town or city in the far right column and if you are in a county or rural area your legislators should all be the same. If need be, legislative maps can be purchased at the State of Minnesota GIS Office that actually have senator and represenative's faces as little dot pictures within their respective districts at a cost of $9.00 per state map. The State GIS Office has two full time employees: Troy 651-296-0547 or Lee 651-896-0098 that can send maps to you. I suggest you get the state rep. map that shows the A & B legislative disticts instead of getting the senator district map and for the following reason. On the rep. map both districts 1A & 1B appear and you can then cross reference the Excel sheet to find the state senator since the 1 designates the single senator covering both those A & B districts. (If you get the Senate district map it will not show the separate districts for the state reps so you would be left with a guessing game on which rep to choose from the list and we have to get them on board also).

I believe that if all the sportsman/conservation banquets currently being held statewide in the next 3 months used this approach at least 10,000 calls could be made to our legislature.

With 10,000 calls placed to the legislature's 67 senators and 134 representatives it could result in approximately 50 contacts from their voting public in each of their districts. Of course, some would get more and others less--but the main idea is that these are calls coming from back home by the very people that vote them into office. I don't see how the legislature could NOT pass a 3/16 bill with such a constituent involved piece of legislation. BUT, we all have to do our part and yes, sportsmen must become involved and every chapter of every group must do something. This method allows every member of every banquet to take only 30 seconds to "reach out and touch a legislator" (a mere 60 seconds covers both their rep and senator) and "get the Capitol's attention for 3/16!" Of course, if at the same time the caller wanted to mention a plug for permanent easement options for CREP II and perhaps a dove season or shooting range protection that might not be a bad idea also depending on your desires. Regardless, 3/16 is the main prize and time is wasting since this is a short legislative session.

You will see listed below a summary of the procedures used to make this campaign successful at sportsman booths and banquets.

We need to have all sportsman/conservation groups involved. If chapter banquets and the very organizations they represent are about habitat, doesn't a cell phone effort at these functions seem like the perfect place to take a stand for 3/16 and dedicated funding for our hunting and fishing heritage?

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[This message has been edited by MT Net (edited 02-11-2004).]

[Giant_Jackpot]

MT, Thanks for the update. With all of these efforts we can't lose! But we need to keep the presure on until the last minute!

[Sko]

You know, I am for this 3/16th's deal. It sounds like a great idea. Lets get it done! But I really get sick and tired of hearing about all of the money woes the DNR has when for the past 3 years, our neighbors to the south, east, and especially west, have raised non-resident fee's for hunting and fishing. With all the cabins owned by non-residents in this state, all the non-resident hunters and fishermen, there has to be some more revenue to be made here as well. Heck, I bet some of you didn't get a turkey permit this week and some non-resident from Iowa did. Yet, Iowa charges about $20 more to hunt turkey's in their state and almost $100 more to hunt deer, if you are a non-resident. Lets do this right, get the 3/16th's done and even the playing field with non-resident fee's.

[Giant_Jackpot]

ttt

[gophish]

i have sent my emails and am encourageing members of my sportsmans club here at college to do the same.
lets hope for the best.
gophish.

[Bobcat45]

Done. It would be great if this passes. Thanks for starting this Giant-Jackpot

[MT Net]

Here is some more information on this. What really botheres me, is the statement toward the end: "The Wildlife Division and Fisheries only get $2.1 million dollars from the general fund out of the billion dollars we generate from taxes from fishing and hunting annually."

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For the Game and Fish Coalition to be effective, we need each of you to be in contact with Governor Pawlenty who supports 3/16 and your State Senator and State Representative to thank them for their support of 3/16 or to ask them to support 3/16. You can check our survey to see if they are supporting 3/16 of one percent of Sales Tax.

Increases the funding for game and fish by about $130 million annually out of the general fund. This is a Constitutional Amendment that would allow the voters in 2004 to vote to decide whether they would like 3/16 of one percent of the sales tax to be dedicated to game and fish. Senator Pat Pariseau is introducing legislation in the Senate along with other Senators dedicating 3/16 of one percent of the sales tax for game and fish. It is based on the Missouri plan. Of this, all will go to game and fish.

With dedicated permanent funding, game and fish would not be dependent on the legislature every year for funding. Game and Fish would receive about $130 million annually. We need your help in getting your State Senator, State Representative and to support this legislation. A phone call, fax, letter or email to each of them will help get this legislation passed. We need your help, it would need to receive more than 50% of the votes to pass on the next statewide ballot. Every legislator for decades has said more funding should go to hunting, fishing and natural resources. This is smoke, mirrors and cheap talk. 3/16 puts words into action and gets commitment.

The Wildlife Division and Fisheries only get $2.1 million dollars from the general fund out of the billion dollars we generate from taxes from fishing and hunting annually. This means game and fish gets virtually non of the revenue from sales taxes, property taxes and corporate and state income taxes. The wildlife and fisheries division are only 25% of the DNR budget. Hunting and fishing license fees go directly to the DNR and are in addition to the $2.1 million dollars we get back from the general fund.

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[kevfish]

I E-mailed Elaine Harder-from district 22B and got a reply in less than a couple hours-she basically stated that she does not and will not support this initiative.