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.