[InHam] SB 109 passes the Indiana State Senate!

[David Spoelstra]

Indiana hams, you are to be congratulated!  Your phone calls and emails to
your State Senators made SB 109 pass the Senate 41-8!  We are halfway there!

Senator Rose Ann Antich did a fabulous job answering the other Senator's
questions and defending the bill against the eight Senators who spoke
against it.  Senator Robert Meeks got up and told a story about the time
when five tornadoes went through Elkhart within a mile of his house, and the
only information in or out of the disaster area came from Amateur Radio
Operators.  Senator Michael Young spoke eloquently about how "these people
are here supporting Indiana".

Our next challenge is to pass the House.  We are HALFWAY there.  Now is NOT
the time to sit back.  The lobbyists against us will be fighting even harder
to defeat the bill in the House.

1.  IMMEDIATELY Write your House Representative and get at least one other
ham to do the same.  This bill will move very quickly to a vote so you must
act today.  Contact information can be found at:
http://www.in.gov/legislative/contact/index.html

2.  Write your thank you notes!  The Senators have friends in the house, and
if they get a nice thank you note, they might just ask their friends in the
House to vote for the bill.  We might need these Senators to vote on another
bill in the future.

            Your own Senator (remember? The one you emailed before?)
            Senator Antich (the bill's author) s4@ai.org
            Senator Waterman (the bill's co-author) s39@ai.org
            Senator Riegsecker (the bill's other co-author) s12@ai.org
            Senator Nugent (sponsored the bill) s43@ai.org
            Senator Michael Young (sponsored the bill) s47@ai.org
            Senator Landske (sponsored the bill) s6@ai.org
            Senator Robert Meeks (spoke for the bill) s13@ai.org

3.  Forward this information to as many other Indiana hams as possible.  Get
on your radios and nets and make sure every ham knows what's needed to be
done.  We need to get the word out quickly, and we need as many emails as
possible.

4.  When the time comes, remember those who voted AGAINST the Amateur Radio
community in Indiana:

         Senator Billie J Breaux, Democrat, District 34 - Indianapolis
         Senator John Broden, Democrat, District 10 - South Bend
         Senator Beverly J Gard, Republican, District 28 - Greenfield
         Senator Robert N. Jackman D.V.M., Republican, District 42 - Milroy
         Senator Luke Kenley, Republican, District 20 - Noblesville
         Senator Timothy Lanane, Democrat, District 25 - Anderson
         Senator James W. Merritt Jr., Republican, District 31 -
Indianapolis
         Senator Greg D. Server, Republican, District 50 - Evansville

-David / N9KT
ARRL Indiana State Government Liaison