[InHam] My last SB 109 update

[David Spoelstra]

Fellow Indiana Hams,

The events of the past week have been tough on ham radio in Indiana, and
especially tough on me.  I will never know exactly what happened, but I
firmly believe I walked into a "political minefield," as Jim Sellers put it,
that was planted for me by the very strong opponents of our bill.  I knew it
would be a tough sell.  I was an unpaid volunteer, motivated only by my
passion for ham radio, competing with paid professional full-time lobbyists
for the attention of the legislators.  I did call Rep. Bauer's office last
Wednesday, and I did leave a message with an assistant asking for the
Speaker's support, but I NEVER threatened anyone, and the quotes attributed
to me in the newspaper are absolutely false.

Since the newspaper article came out, a number of legislators that I talked
with over the past months about our bill have come to my defense.  Because
of their support, Rep. Bauer this afternoon revived SB 109 and ordered the
Rules and Legislative Procedures committee to hear our bill.  It is now
clear that many people had doubts about the events described in the
newspaper story.  I think that nothing that I could have said in my own
defense speaks louder than the revival of the bill by the Speaker.  I wish
to thank all those legislators and the Indiana hams who stood by me during
this ordeal.

Although I am no longer your State Government Liaison, I have one more
update for you.  I am very happy to report that our bill passed unanimously
out of the Rules committee tonight and it will now go to the full House for
a vote on either Wednesday or Thursday.  After all we have just been
through, PLEASE don't let the opposition kill our bill now.  EVERYONE must
IMMEDIATELY contact their Representative and ask them to vote for SB 109.
You can email your Representative through
http://www.in.gov/apps/sos/legislator/search/

-David/N9KT