KBD rocked!

hey hey!

so pretty much, Kick Butts Day was a great success!  we are in the process of gathering footage and media of the event, but if you would like to find out a little more about what happened and get more details, check out the facebook page (the link is found just to the right of this blog!)

and hey! we are actually working on getting a new website! yeah, a legit website... no more of this blogging stuff (even though we greatly appreciate blogspot for the free page!). like i said, its in the works, and it might not happen for a few months, or maybe even a year (dont you like how i get your hopes up and then dash them to pieces?!).

stay tuned!

faith.hope.charity.

peter.moosman.

its been a while!

yo yo yo!

sorry its been a while since i have posted on this site! we have been putting stuff up on facebook quite often (its easier to access and work with than this... lazy me...)

a few updates:

the legislative session in Utah is OVER! though they didnt vote on the tobacco tax increase, we saved our $4MIL due to the "many, many, many, may, many" emails we, and others sent! so that was a success! also, they passed the internet tobacco sales prohibition bill. thanks to everyone that was willing to write an email or call or rally (or participate in any way at all!). it has been proven that an email can make a difference, so thank you!

success, success, and more success!

 a few of the Reps that i have talked to said that they will have a special legislative session in a couple months that the tobacco tax increase will be introduced and voted on. so the fight isnt over! bring it on Big Tobacco!

and remember that this week is Kick Butts Day (march 25th). its going to be killer! so make sure to make an appearance. it will be at the salt lake public library (and across the nation!). for more details, check out:

www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=59033605727

hey everyone!
so here is a run-down of the latest events up on capitol hill:

1. for no logical reason, House Majority Leadership wont let HB219 (Tobacco Tax Increase) be voted on... but "hopefully" in a special session in may-aug. so hold tight for further updates on that.

2. HB444 (Tobacco Settlement Money) has become even more confusing than ever before, and pretty much nobody on the hill understands it, so it may not be voted on.

3. HB284 (smoking in cars with children ban) is also being swept under the rug for unknown, illogical reasons.

4. SB228 (prohibition on internet tobacco sales) still stands a chance!!!

a little info on SB228:
WHAT IT IS:
SB228 prohibits the purchase of tobacco products via the internet or through mail-order by individuals or businesses not licensed by the state to receive untaxed tobacco products.

WHAT IT DOES:
it will curtail or eliminate the illegal purchase of cigarettes and other tobacco products by minors.
it will make tobacco products less affordable and therefore less attractive, and will curtail consumption, particularly by youth.
it will deter the evasion of state and federal tobacco taxes.
it will save the state money and increase revenue collections.
it will assure that tobacco products comply with federal and state regulations (such as labeling and fire-safe regulations) related to those products.
it will SAVE LIVES!!!


WHAT YOU CAN DO:
email all the members of the House and urge them to vote YES on SB228. share personal stories, as well as the above mentioned benefits.

their email addresses to copy and paste in BCC window of email:
dipson@utah.gov, dclark@utah.gov, mnoel@kanab.net, evickers@utah.gov, blast@utah.gov, kaymciff@utah.gov, cwatkins@utah.gov, bwinn@utah.gov, ppainter@utah.gov, mikemorley@utah.gov, fgibson@utah.gov, blockhart@utah.gov, sclark@utah.gov, cherrod@utah.gov, keithgrover@utah.gov, bdaw@utah.gov, lfowlke@utah.gov, ssandstrom@utah.gov, cfrank@utah.gov, ksumsion@utah.gov, jmathis@utah.gov, kraigpowell@utah.gov, melbrown@utah.gov, cwimmer@utah.gov, greghughes@utah.gov, merlynnnewbold@utah.gov, jseegmiller@utah.gov, tbeck@utah.gov, steven_mascaro@comcast.net, mariepoulson@utah.gov, lblack@utah.gov, tcosgrove@utah.gov, wharper@utah.gov, jbird@utah.gov, toddkiser@utah.gov, lhemingway@utah.gov, jdunnigan@utah.gov, ehutchings@utah.gov, csmoss@utah.gov, priesen@utah.gov, markwheatley@utah.gov, koryholdaway@utah.gov, nhendrickson@utah.gov, ronbigelow@utah.gov, lwiley@utah.gov, jbiskupski@utah.gov, janicefisher@utah.gov, briansking@utah.gov, jdougall@utah.gov, dlitvack@utah.gov, christinejohnson@utah.gov, rchouck@utah.gov, jseelig@utah.gov, sduckworth@utah.gov, jgowans@utah.gov, beckyedwards@utah.gov, sherylallen@utah.gov, rogerbarrus@utah.gov, jfisher@utah.gov, kgarn@utah.gov, daagard@utah.gov, coda@utah.gov, pray@utah.gov, rgreenwood@utah.gov, bdee@utah.gov, bwallis@utah.gov, neilhansen@utah.gov, gfroerer@utah.gov, ryanwilcox@utah.gov, kwgibson@utah.gov, curtwebb@utah.gov, fhunsaker@utah.gov, jdraxler@utah.gov, bcferry@utah.gov, rmenlove@utah.gov

THIS IS ONE OF OUR LAST CHANCES TO MAKE AN IMPACT ON THIS LEGISLATIVE SESSION! LETS CLOSE WITH A BANG!

thanks sooo much for taking your time out to do this! you rock!

faith.hope.charity.
peter.moosman.

eh.

so im sorta upset, people. and that is the understatement of the century.

we had some Project:1200 reps up at the capitol today, me included. the sight was NOT pretty. so let me tell you about some events that took place today:

i met a lobbyist that works for R.J. Reynolds. big fat jerk, fyi. he ran away from me and talked to his tobacco lobbyist friends. yes, he literally ran away from me.

later on, when standing outside the door of the House Chamber, our dear friend Bigelow came waltzing out like he owned the world, took a glance at me and QUICKLY looked away and continued on towards our dear tobacco lobbyists... laughing, smiling, having a good time. jerk.

i talked to a few of the leaders of the House. the democrats seemed more supportive than the republicans... in fact, the republicans were TOTALLY AGAINST the tax. every single republican leader said that there was no way it would pass. a few responses i got were:

"there is no way it will go through. we will only do one tax increase, and this year its not going to be the tobacco tax." and i asked why the car registration tax (which nobody supports) and not the tobacco tax (which has 80% constituent support). he didnt say anything...

"we dont want it to look like we are pointing the finger at the bad guy and singling people out. and the car registration tax will have more of a revenue." i respond "but what about morals? this saves lives! its been proven in other states that increase their tobacco tax that less youth start and more people quit." she responds: "thats what tobacco prevention and cessation programs are for." HA! i let her know that they are cutting those and she just walked away....

so pretty much i think they all hate me now.

conclusion: the tobacco tax increase bill is not looking so good (even though it passed the committee vote, 6 to 1 and has over 3/4 of utah is supporting it). so what do we do about that? well, tomorrow is their day off, so we are going to blitz them! this is where you come in! we need you to call, email, text, and visit the republican leaders of the House. do what it takes. show no mercy!

Speaker of the House:
David Clark
staying at the Grand America Hotel
Home Phone: 435-628-5108
Work Phone: 435-634-5123

Majority Leader:
Kevin Garn
2206 E SUMMERWOOD DR, LAYTON, UT 84040
Home Phone: 801-544-3533
Work Phone: 801-776-0232

Majority Whip:
Brad Dee
111 W 5600 S, OGDEN, UT 84405
Home Phone: 801-479-5495
Work Phone: 801-399-8623

Majority Assistant Whip:
Rebecca Lockhart
1754 S NEVADA AVE, PROVO, UT 84606
Home Phone: 801-377-7428
Cell Phone: 801-369-6784

Appropriations Co-Chair:
Ron Bigelow
4658 WATER WOOD DR, WEST VALLEY CITY, UT 84120
Home Phone: 801-968-4188

Appropriations Vice-Chair:
Brad Last
staying at Grand America Hotel
Home Phone: 435-635-7334
Work Phone: 435-673-8666

Rules Committee Chair:
Ben Ferry
staying at Grand America Hotel
Home Phone: 435-744-2997
Work Phone: 435-744-2997

let passion flow from your fingertips, from your lips, from your FISTS! (hehe just kidding on the fists thing... but seriously.)

and keep contacting your senators about HB444

yours in the fight,
peter.moosman.

p.s.remember to EMAIL Gov. Huntsman
http://governor.utah.gov/goca/form_governor.html

your flyers and phone calls should include:
-I won’t /don’t stand for HB444 which cripples needed tobacco prevention and quitting services in Utah ($4M cut), and siphons off every single penny of tobacco settlement funds to go to everything BUT helping people to quit.
-Raise the tobacco excise tax (HB219) AND appropriate tax funds to tobacco prevention and cessation so that as many people as possible who use tobacco can be helped to quit.
-Big tobacco addicts kids, and Utah legislators. Call Rep. Bigelow to push back against Big Tobacco’s manipulation: 801-968-4188.

See www.stopthechop.com for resources:
-March 2nd Post: Talking points on why robbing the MSA is amoral and detrimental.
-February 28th Post: Talking points on the excise tax.
-February 7th Post: Talking points on the effectiveness and need for tobacco prevention programs in Utah.

Anything can happen in these last days of the legislative session. Let’s sock it to Rep. Bigelow so that Big Tobacco doesn’t sock it to Utah.

we still have a chance! ACT NOW!!!

this message is long, but PLEASE PLEASE read it all!

so bad news... Rep. Bigelow's bill, HB444, which strips Tobacco Prevention Programs of the Tobacco Settlement money (yeah, pretty much destroys the programs) passed in the House. Bigelow was sneaky in every move to get this thing passed. now we need to stop it before it passes in Senate. here is the game plan:

ACT TODAY!!! it passed in the house in two days. we cant let it pass in the senate!

1. EMAIL, CALL, AND TEXT the Senators (especially yours!) and let them know that HB444 is a deadly bill that needs to be stopped. it will cripple Utah's success and the health of its people. tell them that you support them voting AGAINST it.
(see http://www.healthpolicyproject.org/AdvocacyToolkit.html and then to “Legislator Contact Info–Perfect for Mail Merge!” to copy and paste ALL Senate addresses into the BCC line of your email).

2. EMAIL and CALL Rep. Bigelow. we are going to flood every line he has till he has no choice but to do what he knows he should. his numbers:
home: 801.968.4188
office: 801.538.1029
email: ronbigelow@utah.gov

3. get a group together (if you need someone, call me!) to knock doors in Bigelow's District to spread the word to his constituents. he represents House District 32 (west valley area)

4. EMAIL Gov. Huntsman
http://governor.utah.gov/goca/form_governor.html

your flyers and phone calls should include:
-I won’t /don’t stand for HB444 which cripples needed tobacco prevention and quitting services in Utah ($4M cut), and siphons off every single penny of tobacco settlement funds to go to everything BUT helping people to quit.
-Raise the tobacco excise tax (HB219) AND appropriate tax funds to tobacco prevention and cessation so that as many people as possible who use tobacco can be helped to quit.
-Big tobacco addicts kids, and Utah legislators. Call Rep. Bigelow to push back against Big Tobacco’s manipulation: 801-968-4188.

See www.stopthechop.com for resources:
-March 2nd Post: Talking points on why robbing the MSA is amoral and detrimental.
-February 28th Post: Talking points on the excise tax.
-February 7th Post: Talking points on the effectiveness and need for tobacco prevention programs in Utah.

Anything can happen in these last days of the legislative session. Lots on our side. Let’s sock it to Rep. Bigelow so that Big Tobacco doesn’t sock it to Utah.


yours in the fight,
.peter.moosman.

new site!

hey everyone!

i just added a "MEDIA" site to the whole shin-dig for pictures, videos, etc., so feel free to check it out and tell me what you think. its nothing big and amazing, but it will do for now!

www.project1200media.blogspot.com

faith.hope.charity.

peter.moosman.

under attack again!

EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!

Rep. Bigelow just introduced HB 444 that would gut TPCP programs. Because this bill is coming out so late, it won’t get the same attention, so we need to contact everyone up on Capitol Hill to let them know the serious harm this bill would cause.

If HB444 passes, Utah’s TPCP will have NO tobacco settlement (MSA) money dedicated to the programs (the programs that the money was initially supposed to go to!).

Contact ALL House and Senate legislators to tell them to vote against the bill (your House rep. especially) using this web site: http://www.healthpolicyproject.org/AdvocacyToolkit.html
go to “Legislator Contact Info—Perfect for Mail Merge!” and copy and paste the email addresses into the BCC line in your email.

When emailing your specific House legislator, include your home address so they know you're their constituent. Tell them your tobacco story.

Also be sure to contact Governor Huntsman via: http://governor.utah.gov/goca/form_governor.html

Even if you’ve already contacted these persons on the tax or TPCP funding, do it again. This time, reference this specific bill.

friday's event? awesome!

i just want to give a big shout out to those of you that came to the rally on friday! YOU ROCK MY SOCKS!
i feel bad for everyone else that didnt make it, because it was so coolio! and for those of you that didnt make it, i thought i would give the DL of what happened.

here goes...
we all met in the parking lot of West High and decorated cars... and... well... two U-HAULS! yeah! we got butcher paper and spray paint and covered those suckers! since the decorating took longer than expected, we had to split up! the two u-hauls, along with most of the drivers, followed a route through the city so that everyone could see our message!!! the rest of us went to the rally site and got the petition going and had signs for people to see, via channel 2 news, trax, driving by, and walking by. i havent counted how many signatures we got, but we did get a few pages full! we even got the kutv security guard to sign (and lets not forget the uta man who kicked us off their property!)

overall, it was a great success! we got lots of attention with the rally, and even more with the caravan! pictures and video will be added shortly, for the full effect of the whole shin-dig. and when they get posted, PLEASE send them to your representative up on capitol hill. let them know that work is being done by the people... and they should do whats right to follow.


and fyi: stories are STILL being collected.
tell about a success story of how you quit, how you got involved in tobacco prevention, or how you lost a loved one due to tobacco (or how they are still alive, but how the suffering hasn't stopped).

thanks, crew!
.peter.moosman.