| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
< BACK TO ARCHIVE |
| Date: From: Subject: | 5/29/2007 10:13:23 AM Home School Legal Defense Association South Carolina--Anti-Lobbying Bill Set for Hearing for Today |
|
====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== May 29, 2007 South Carolina--Anti-Lobbying Bill Set for Hearing for Today Dear HSLDA members and friends: The South Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee has placed Senate Bill 714 on its agenda for today, May 29, at 3 p.m. This bill would regulate the lobbying efforts of organizations such as Home School Legal Defense Association in contacting our member families about legislation and other government activities. Your calls to committee members are needed to defeat this dangerous legislation. This bill is intended to muzzle the voice of South Carolina citizens who want to express their views to legislators to influence the outcome of bills. It is a direct threat to the constitutional right of freedom of speech as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. This bill must be stopped. Please contact members of the committee and your own state senator immediately about this bill which threatens your civil liberties. Since there are so many Senate Judiciary Committee members, we thought it would be best to split the calls according to the first letter of your last name. We urge everyone to call the chairman of the committee as well as seven other members of the committee as set forth below. ACTION REQUESTED: 1. Please contact members of the Senate Judiciary Committee as designated below and your own state senator and urge them to vote against Senate Bill 714 with this message: "Please vote against Senate Bill 714, an anti-lobbying bill which would require political awareness organizations to register with the state and report personal information about donors who support the organization. This bill would discourage citizens from supporting public interest organizations and expressing their views to legislators about bills being considered." It is not necessary to identify yourself as a homeschooling family, since this issue is broader than just homeschooling. The contact information for the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee is as follows: If your last name begins with the letters A-G, please contact the following senators: (1) Sen. Glenn F. McConnell (R), Chairman Telephone: (803) 212-6610 Email: SJU@scsenate.org (2) Sen. Ralph Anderson (D) Telephone: (803) 212-6108 Email: RA@scsenate.org (3) Sen. Kevin L. Bryant (R) Telephone: (803) 212-6024 Email: BRYANTK@scsenate.org (4) Sen. George E. Campsen, III (R) Telephone: (803) 212-6016 Email: CAMPSEN@scsenate.org (5) Sen. Raymond E. Cleary, III (R) Telephone: (803) 212-6032 Email: CLEARYR@scsenate.org (6) Sen. Dick Elliot (D) Telephone: (803) 212-6000 or (803) 771-8711 Email: DE@scsenate.org (7) Sen. Robert Ford (D) Telephone: (803) 212-6124 or (803) 798-9220 Email: RIF@scsenate.org (8) Sen. Chauncey K. Gregory (R) Telephone: (803) 212-6330 Email: SFG@scsenate.org If your last name begins with the letters H-M, please contact the following senators: (1) Sen. Glenn F. McConnell (R), Chairman Telephone: (803) 212-6610 Email: SJU@scsenate.org (2) Sen. John D. Hawkins (R) Telephone: (803) 212-6008 Email: DH@scsenate.org (3) Sen. Bradley Hutto (D) Telephone: (803) 212-6140 Email: CBH@scsenate.org (4) Sen. Darrell Jackson (D) Telephone: (803) 212-6048 Email: DJ1@scsenate.org (5) Sen. John M. Knotts, Jr. (R) Telephone: (803) 212-6350 or (803) 755-6253 Email SIV@scsenate.org (6) Sen. Joel Lourie (D) Telephone: (803) 212-6116 Email: JBL@scsenate.org (7) Sen. Gerald Malloy (D) Telephone: (803) 212-6148 Email: MALLOYG@scsenate.org (8) Sen. Larry A. Martin (R) Telephone: (803) 212-6340 Email: SRU@scsenate.org If your last name begins with the letters N-Z, please contact the following senators: (1) Sen. Glenn F. McConnell (R), Chairman Telephone (803) 212-6610 Email: SJU@scsenate.org (2) Sen. Thomas L. Moore (D) Telephone (803) 212-6156 Email: TLM@scsenate.org (3) Sen. Luke A. Rankin (R) Telephone: (803) 212-6132 Email: LR@scsenate.org (4) Sen. James H. Ritchie, Jr. (R) Telephone: (803) 212-6032 Email: JHR@scsenate.org (5) Sen. Randy Scott (R) Telephone: (803) 212-6024 Email: SCOTTR@scsenate.org (6) Sen. Vincent A. Sheehan (D) Telephone: (803) 212-6124 Email: VS@scsenate.org (7) Sen. Lewis Vaughn (R) Telephone: (803) 212-6100 Email: LRV@scsenate.org (8) Sen. Kent M. Williams (D) Telephone: (803) 212-6008 Email: WILLIAMSK@scsenate.org You can find the name and telephone number of your state senator by using HSLDA's Legislative Toolbox at http://capwiz.com/hslda/state/main/?state=SC&view=stateofficials#1 2. Please forward this email to every family you know who is not a member of HSLDA and urge them to contact members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and their own state senator with this same message. BACKGROUND: South Carolina Senate Bill 714 defines a "political awareness organization" as follows: "'Political awareness organization' means an organization or committee that receives contributions and makes expenditures, totally or in part, for the purpose of promoting specific issues in order to influence public opinion with the intent to impact or change local and state government or its subdivisions, or both, and has the Internal Revenue Service classification of '501(C)(4)' or '527' or operates within an organization with the Internal Revenue Service classification of '501(C)(4)' or '527'." It appears that HSLDA would fall within this definition. A political awareness organization receiving or expending more than $2,500 during a calendar year would have to register with the State Ethics Commission and pay an annual fee of $100. The organization would have to file reports of contributions, including the name and address of each person making a contribution of more than $100 and the amount and date of such contribution. An organization violating this law would be subject to a fine of $2,500 or imprisonment for one year, or both, and would be barred from acting as a political awareness organization for three years. Needless to say, the reporting required by this law would not only be an administrative burden to public interest organizations but would also discourage donors from making contributions to these organizations because of privacy concerns. The effect of such legislation would be to further insulate government from public opinion. To view the text of Senate Bill 714, go to: http://www.scstatehouse.net/sess117_2007-2008/bills/714.doc Sincerely, Dewitt T. Black, III HSLDA Senior Counsel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Will your friends stand by you in trouble? They will if you're an HSLDA member and your homeschool is threatened. HSLDA is ready to stand by your side along with 80,000 other homeschool families. More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1105 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. Box 3000 Purcellville, Virginia 20134 Phone: (540) 338-5600 Fax: (540) 338-2733 Email: info@hslda.org Web: http://www.hslda.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- How To Subscribe: - Subscribe to the HSLDA E-lert Service at our website: https://secure.hslda.org/hslda/elert/account.asp?Process=Subscribe - Or send an email with name and complete mailing address to: subscribe@hslda.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscription Information: - You subscribed to the HSLDA E-lert Service as: ##ToAddress## - To unsubscribe from the HSLDA E-lert Service send an email from the email address you want to unsubscribe to: unsubscribe@hslda.org - To change your email address or make other changes to your subscription, visit the HSLDA E-lert Service account web page at: https://secure.hslda.org/hslda/elert/account.asp ---------------------------------------------------------------------- POSTMASTERS: This message is being sent to the most recent address we have for our subscribers. If this is an invalid email address or you have other problems, please reply to webmaster@hslda.org. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER: This is considered a private and confidential message from HSLDA to its bonafide HSLDA E-lert Service subscribers. HSLDA cannot attest to the authenticity of copies posted, forwarded, or sent by any party other than HSLDA. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: Please do not reply or otherwise use this email address; hslda@hslda.org is for broadcast purposes only and is not intended to receive incoming messages. We cannot reply to any email sent to this address. If you have comments or questions, please send email to info@hslda.org or call HSLDA at 540-338-5600. HSLDA members can also email staff directly through the Members website at http://members.hslda.org/contact.asp. Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
