By phone or by fax
Soliciting support for Barton bill
MACLA, SDA plan events to boost legislation
The first week of March will bring two events designed to increase support in Congress for HR 1711, aka the Barton bill.
The Mid-Atlantic Cleaners and Launderers Association is organizing a Congressional Phone and Fax Day on Wednesday, March 4, in which individual cleaners will call or fax their representatives to request sponsorship of the legislation.
In a "face to face" effort, MACLA will assist members in making appointments with their representatives for meetings in Washington, DC, that day, also. MACLA said it will arrange for "professional support as needed" during the face to face meetings.
Members unable to visit Washington that day can still participate by calling or sending faxes to their representatives. MACLA has provided a sample fax form and a listing of the office addresses, phone and fax numbers of all the members of Congress in it territory.
Of the 11 representatives from Virginia, four are cosponsors of the Barton bill -- Owen R. Pickett, Norman Sisisky, Virgil H. Goode Jr., and Robert Goodlatte. MACLA said that constituents of those congressmen should send an acknowledgment and thanks for their support.
The other seven Virginia representatives, as well as all eight from Maryland, all three from West Virginia and the District of Columbia non-voting member must be encouraged to cosponsor the legislation.
"We cannot let up. The stakes are high, We must try everything to push this effort toward a successful conclusion," said Earl Knight, chairman of MACLA's legislative, environmental and regulatory committee.
"Even though very much money is needed to keep the Barton bill moving, just giving money is only half the battle." Knight added. "I think unrelenting personal contact is the other half of the battle."
Although the MACLA program is mainly designed to involve the members of the regional association, non-members, including those who are not within the MACLA territory, can join the campaign as well. See the links in the column at right for a copy of the fax letter produced by MACLA along with instructions provided by MACLA and assistance in finding your representative's phone and fax numbers.
Meeting with Barton
The action will shift to Rep. Barton's home state of Texas the following weekend. The Congressman is scheduled to be among speakers at a Saturday morning program during the Southwest Drycleaners Association convention in Austin, March 5-8. A panel of industry leaders will duscuss of legislative strategy during the program.
Brooksher Banks of Fashion Park Cleaners in Little Rock, Arkansas, will moderate the discussion with panelists Abe Cho and Tae Hee Han of the Korean American Cleaners association of New Jersey, Bill Seitz of the Neighborhood Cleaners Association-International, Bill Fisher of the International Fabricare Institute, Gary Baise of the Washington, DC, law firm of Baise & Miller, and Barney Deden, an Omaha, Nebraska drycleaner who has been a leading campaigner for the legislation.
The Fabricare Legislative and Regulatory Educational (FLARE) organization will sponsor a Saturday afternoon discussion of legislative strategy and will hold a breakfast meeting on the morning of Sunday, March 8 to draw up an industry-wide action plan.
FLARE asks those who want to attend the Saturday afternoon session of the Sunday morning breakfast meeting to call 630-416-6221 to ensure that enough space will be set aside to accommodate everyone.
To attend the Saturday morning program, which is part of SDA's trade show program, arrangements should be made through SDA, 210-826-4684.
The SDA show, a 250-booth affair, will open on Friday afternoon with exhibit hours continuing on Saturday and Sunday. Other programs are planned in addition to the legislative program on Saturday. For complete information, contact the association or visit the SDA web site.
"We are confident that the fabric care industry Barton bill action meeting will propel H.R. 1711 closer to passage," said FLARE Adminstrator James Mayberry. "United and energized we can be strong enough to succeed."
Barton has said that if 100 of his colleagues agree to cosponsor his legislation he will be able to convince House leadership and committee chairs to move ahead with hearings. As of February 1, 66 of those cosponsors had been found.
Time is short, however, to get action on the bill in the Congress. In all likelihood, congressional activity will slow to a crawl in late spring or early summer and little may be accomplished until after the November elections. Congress could conceivably meet in a "lame duck" session after the elections, but any bills that do not pass by the year-end adjournment will expire. New legislation would have to be reintroduced in the 106th Congress that convenes in January, 1999.
The cosponsor list had a growth spurt at the end of January as Congress got back to work in Washington. Seven Republicans and one Democrat joined the 58 representatives who previously had agreed to cosponsor the legislation introduced by Texas Republican Joe Barton in May, 1997.
Republicans signing on were Charles T. Canady of Florida; Dan Burton of Indiana; Howard Coble of North Carolina; Rep. Richard H. Baker, Louisiana; Jay Kim of California; Nick Smith of Michigan; and Vince Snowbarger of Kansas. Ohio Democrat James A. Traficant also joined the list of cosponsors. The 67 sponsors include 15 Democrats and 52 Republicans from 26 states.
Known formally as The Small Business Remediation Act, the bill would tie standards for cleaning up drycleaning solvents in soil and groundwater to standards set by OSHA for exposure of cleaning plant workers to the same solvents.
Fund-raising campaign
In addition to encouraging cleaners to get their representatives to sign on as cosponsors, industry supporters of the legislation are seeking contributions to a fund created to help advance the bill's prospects in Congress.
Those fund-raising efforts got a boost in January when the Mid-Atlantic Cleaners and Launderers Association announced it will donate $10,000 to the Dry Cleaners Action Fund of America, which was organized last fall to raise money to defray expenses involved in keeping the legislation moving.
"We're putting our money where our mouth is by giving a very substantial donation in an effort to keep the Barton bill moving in Congress," said Barbara Harvey, president of MACLA.
"We're pretty much assured that without at least a reasonable national standard to peg scientific legislative and regulatory efforts to, Mid-Atlantic members are going to be slowly picked of, one by one, by becoming embroiled in long, drawn-out controversy and litigation. Without exception, the Barton bill simply has to have the total support of everyone in our industry. We urge every industry member to send a donation to the Drycleaners Action Fund so we can get this job done."
Other associations that have contributed to DCAFA include SDA ($10,000), the Nebraska Fabricare Association ($5,200) and the Michigan Institute of Laundering and Drycleaning (nearly $40,000 received out of $50,000 in member pledges). Merry Bering, executive director of the Michigan group, has volunteered to lead the DCAFA efforts. She said a number of smaller donations from individual cleaners had been received, too.
A group of employees of One Hour Martinizing in Omaha, Nebraska, also contributed to DCAFA. A $500 check, representing donations of $5 and $10 from the company's employees, was presented to Barney and Patty Deden at the company's annual Christmas dinner.
"Barney and Patty do so much for us, and we wanted to do something for them," said Dolores Morton, Martinizing's training director. We know how important the Barton bill is to our livelihood, so each sore manager took up a collection."
Barney Deden observed that if every employee of each drycleaning plant in the US gave a similar donation the industry could raise more than half a million dollars.
The Details...
- How to participate in Phone & Fax Day
- Dry Cleaners Action Fund of America
- Summary of HR 1711
- Rep. Barton's "Dear Colleague" letter
- The Barton bill Scorecard
- The problem and solutions
- Barney Deden's letter to drycleaners
Be Your Own Lobbyist
- Sample Congressional Letter
- Talking Points
- How the Barton Bill Protects Cleaners from Excessive Clean-up Costs
- Environmental Problems Facing Drycleaners
- Possible Arguments Against The Bill
Information from FLARE to help cleaners get the message to Congress
