The Farmer Protection Act is ALIVE and MOVING once again! YOUR CALLS made the
difference in the House this week. The Speaker's office has reported that this is the
issue with the most calls this year! A few dozen legislators went to the Speaker this
week because of YOUR CALLS, asking for a vote this year on the bill! KEEP IT UP! (see
below for actions you can take to keep this bill moving and keep liability strong!)

The House Judiciary Committee has scheduled hearings, beginning on Tuesday, May 31st
at 10:00 am. The hearings will go all day, and into Wednesday and Thursday. On
Tuesday, they will begin with Sam Burr, legislative council, Secretary of Agriculture
Steve Kerr, and Assistant Attorney General Mike Duane. They are working to get others
on the list as well for Tuesday...there will be a break in the middle of the day for
lunch and party caucuses, then they will be back in the committee room in the
afternoon (probably around 2:30 or 3 pm). If you have some time, PLEASE COME - even
for a little while. The House Judiciary Committee is on the second floor, across from
the Agriculture Committee, near the ramp to the cafeteria. Wear red if you can. We
will update our outgoing voicemail message at Rural Vermont as we get more details
throughout the week: 802-223-7222.

IMPORTANT ACTIONS FOR THIS WEEK:
Now that our bill is moving, the real fight is to keep our STRONG LIABILITY provisions
in the bill. We do not want our farmers to be at risk for liability associated with
GMO seeds! We MUST hold the corporations accountable! We need to keep this message in
the forefront as the house members work on this bill because the opposition will be
working hard to gut our language. So, please TAKE ACTION THIS WEEK

WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR!!
Thanks so much to those of you who have been writing...we've seen several letters
around the state published last week, and it is important to KEEP THEM COMING! Take 15
minutes and write a short letter (2-3 paragraphs is enough!). Say that you want to see
the Farmer Protection Act enacted into law THIS YEAR and you want strong liability
provisions in the bill to protect all Vermont farmers! You can find the email
addresses of local papers here: http://www.ruralvermont.org/getinvolved.html (scroll
halfway down the page).

WRITE A THANK YOU CARD
To the folks who worked so hard in the statehouse to get our bill moving again! Please
do NOT call these folks...a nice, handwritten card will mean a lot! You can address
all the cards to [name], Vermont Statehouse, State Street, Montpelier, VT  05633.
Please write notes to: Speaker of the House Gaye Symington, Representative Carolyn
Partridge, Representative Floyd Nease, Representative David Zuckerman, Representative
Bill Lippert, Representative Willem Jewett, and Representative Dick Marek. Others
worked on hard this as well, but these folks were on the front lines. If you have some
extra time, send a short note to your own Representatives at the same address, urging
them to ensure that strong liability is kept in the Farmer Protection Act. You can
find out who your Representatives are here:
http://www.leg.state.vt.us/legdir/districts.cfm?Body=H .
Remember, NO PHONE CALLS yet...

GET READY FOR REAL ACTION!
Whenever the bill comes to the House Floor, we are going to need YOU to come to the
statehouse. If you have any flexibility in your schedule, please plan to keep a day
open to come. We do not know when this will happen, and we will not have very much
notice before it happens, so everyone who has any possibility to come - WE NEED YOU!
If you think you will be able to make it, please contact our office and let us know,
so we can get you on our list to call as soon as we know. Talk to Annelisa at
802-223-7222, or leave your name and number on our voicemail with a message to put you
on the Vote Call List. Our goal is to match legislators one-for-one on this
history-making day! That means we need 150 people to show up at the statehouse for
this vote. The House Floor vote will not be the last step in the process, but it is
one of the most important!

Finally, please SUPPORT OUR CAMPAIGN!
THANK YOU to all who have already contributed! Your contributions are helping us to
keep this campaign going...We are doing all we can to make sure our legislators know
what we want! We will keep it up til the very end, and your support is really helping!
We have already raised over $450 in small donations from this email list - THANK YOU!
Every little bit helps us to be able to do ONE MORE THING! Please make your check out
to Rural Vermont and write "GMOs" on the memo line. Donations are tax deductible, and
we'll send you a Time Out magnet or bumper sticker as a thank you. Mail to Rural
Vermont, 15 Barre Street, Ste 2, Montpelier, VT  05602. You can also charge a donation
to your Visa or Mastercard by calling the office at 223-7222. We wouldn't ask if we
didn't really need it! Please help if you can.

If you have any questions about this email or want to subscribe to or unsubscribe from
the Farm Policy Network Activist List, please contact amybeth@together.net.
Amy Shollenberger
Policy Director, Rural Vermont