Aaron M. Michlewitz
The folks working with 350ma.org to move Senate bill 1225 , which calls for divestment of state pension funds from fossil fuel companies, need our help! If we can flood Boston with calls and letters urging House Chair, Rep Aaron Michlewitz to move s 1225 out of the Joint Committee on Public Service in the first 2 weeks of December, we have a good chance of making Massachusetts the first state to divest state pension funds from the nasty actors coal, oil and the like.
Are you ready to help deliver a December blizzard of letters and calls to the state house in order to help Senate bill 1225 move forward? Senate bill 1225 calls for divestment of state pension funds in Massachusetts.
That is the forecast for the Joint Committee on Public Service through the first two weeks of December!
S. 1225, the fossil fuel divestment legislation needs pressure to move it out of the Joint Committee on Public Service, with most of that pressure on the House Chair, Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, and on the House members of that Committee.
This may be a critical point in the life of the bill. We need a surge of support to show the committee how much interest there is in making Massachusetts the first state to divest of fossil fuels. Support from all of 350MA.
To do this, we are going to put our effort into a two week blizzard of meetings, letters and calls.
The guidelines/talking points are attached below. Because Representative Michlewitz represents the Waterfront district, we are going to focus on the “taxpayer indignation about the cost of climate mitigation/adaptation” arguments, as well as our basic talking points.
Here is our fact sheet, with the list of legislative supporters and endorsers. (Our sponsorship on agenda for ad comm 12/1)
Optional: Here is another recent article with GREAT language about divestment.
We are calling on you do the following actions:
1) Write a letter and then follow up calls to Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, asking him to report S. 1225 out of the committee with a favorable report as soon as possible. A good way to do this is to pair up with a buddy so that you can help and remind each other! And/or plan a letter writing party.
Address: Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, Chair, Joint Committee on Public Service, Room 156, State House, Boston, MA 02133
Phone: (617) 722 2240
Email: (not recommended) Aaron.M.Michlewitz@mahouse.gov
2) One letter/call to your own Reps. who support the bill asking them to urge Rep. Michlewitz to move S. 1225 out of committee with a favorable report. A letter with a follow up call is preferred. This is where you can find your legislator and contact information.
These are the Reps. who support:
- Cambridge Node: Reps. Provost, Conroy, Decker, Garballey, Hecht, Rogers, Sciortino.
- Western MA Node: Reps. Andrews, Kocot, Kulik, Story, Scibak, Vega.
- North Shore Node: Rep. Erlich
- Core Team: Reps. Gordon, Miceli
- Boston Node: Rep. Smizik
- Metro West Node: Rep. Walsh
- Worcester Node: Rep. Benson (member of the PS Committee—special request to support)
3) Meet with your own legislators who don’t yet support the bill asking them to support the bill and to urge Rep. Michlewitz to move S. 1225 out of the Public Service Committee with a favorable report. (This would include Democratic legislators that are not listed for your node in #2 above.) Legislators are back in their districts now through the first week of January so are easier to schedule for an in district meeting. Please try to schedule the meeting as soon as possible and try to go with a group. This is where you can find your own legislator and contact info.
Special efforts go to Democratic members of the PS committee:
- Western MA Node—Reps. Swan and Petrolati
- Cambridge Node—Rep. Brodeur
- And to the Speaker:
- Winthrop contingent—Speaker DeLeo
4. Please report your actions to your (TBD: node point person) including the responses you have gotten and anything new you have learned. He or she will take a count of our progress at the end of week 1 or on December 7.
Follow and tweet about the campaign on Twitter using #S1225, @repmichlewitz, #mapoli or follow @350Mass & @BetterFuturePro.
