FYI:

73,

Don Milbury, W6YN

---------------------------------------------------- From: "Fried Heyn (SW Dir)" wa6wzo@arrl.org

For those of you with clubs in California, please help get the word out on SB 1714 (the update below was written by Pacific Division Director Jim Maxwell, W6CF):

SB 1714 has been assigned to the Local Government Committee of the California Senate for hearings. The chair of the Local Government Committee is Senator Richard K. Rainey, of Contra Costa County. Senator Rainey is the former County Sheriff, and was responsible for establishing the Sheriff's Amateur Radio Reserve. A committee hearing on this bill will be held on May 3, in Sacramento. A favorable report by committee, as well as future enactment, requires vigorous support by the amateur community. Vigorous support means letters and telephone calls to your State Senator, your State Assembly Member, and Senator Rainey, asking them to support the bill and explaining why you feel that way. The various Senate and Assembly members in California are unlikely to know much about Amateur Radio. They need to learn two things: how many of us (who vote) there are and what we do for the community. An avalanche of letters will help them understand better on both points. The first step is for all interested California hams (and all hams in California should be interested!) to write to Senator Rainey. In your letter note any local ordinances in your City or County which stop you from getting a permit for an antenna or make it more expensive. Discuss how that antenna would be valuable for emergency services, and discuss the fact that antenna regulations, high permit fees and the like hurt all of the amateur service as a disincentive to activity. Where it exists it should help to make a point of cooperation with other services, such as REACT, and to note specific participation in emergency service situations. MARS participants should point out the emergency support role of that service and the fact that it relies extensively on HF frequencies assigned by the military for that purpose. Senator Rainey will understand without being told what RACES is. Letters to him should be addressed to

Honorable Richard K. Rainey, Chair Local Government Committee State Capitol, Room 410 Sacramento, CA 95914

If you wish to comment by email, Senator Rainey's address is senator.rainey@sen.ca.gov Please also write to your own State Senator and Assemblyman and ask them for their support of SB 1714. Provide them with information similar to that written to Senator Rainey, with one exception: Senator Rainey already knows a great deal about ham radio, so it won't be necessary to explain to him who we are. The procedure for sponsoring bills is somewhat different in the State of California than in the federal Senate and House. Rather than "cosponsoring" a bill, the procedure is to "co-author" a bill, and co-authorship may cross the line between the Senate and Assembly. In your letters, therefore, please also ask that they sign up as co-authors of SB 1714. Don't forget to include your name and return address on all your letters! You may follow the progress of this bill by going to http://www.leginfo.ca.gov and following the links to "subscribe" to the bill by number. You will then receive email notice whenever any action takes place. If you're not certain who your Senator/Assemblyman are, go to http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html to locate them.