Action Item for Memorial Day week to advance solar in Pennsylvania

Please reach out to your area legislators, particularly the House members or ones you may have visited when in Harrisburg last week and take the following action:

Call your House Member district office and talk to them over the phone about supporting HB #1580 (Ross). Better yet, set up a short meeting with your legislator in their district office this week. If you were in Harrisburg, this may be a brief follow up meeting. If you can take another solar business or a customer or two with you, all the better but not necessary. Legislators are often more able to spend time with you when they are in their district office but they may be more willing to accommodate you without a lot of notice if they think you will only take 15 minutes of their time, although often meetings will go longer. The legislators will likely be in their district offices all this week and they will return to Harrisburg June 6th. We are nearing the end of the legislative session before they break for the summer and we want to move the bill as far as possible before the break.

One meeting with them will not get the job done.

It is important you follow up.

• See if the Member has any questions or concerns about the legislation. Make a note of it.

• Ask if they will be voting for the bill if it comes up. If not, find out why. We can design our responses around the "No Votes" to try to convince them to vote with us. A "no" can some times to turned into a "yes" although some will never change their minds.

• Thank them for co-sponsoring if they have done so. We are now up to 39 co-sponsors. We had 30 before PASEIA's press conference and lobby day so your work paid off.

• PASEIA is beginning to track "yes" "no" and "maybe" votes on a central spreadsheet. Please email your legislators response to Linda Johansson at ljohansson04@yahoo.com, so PASEIA can track where to expend our efforts that will be most effectively move our agenda.

• If you call your Senator, remember that there isn't a Senate version of the bill at this point. We hope to have one soon and will let you know via these email blasts. If you call your Senator along with your House Member, remember to let them know you understand there is no senate version at this time, but you are calling to inform them of the SREC problem and let them know about HB 1580. Ask them if they are likely to support a bill that would help the solar industry weather this market change.

• Don't forget to make use of PASEIA's talking points, Q&A, sample letters and other materials. We will be developing another letter that will look at impacts of Marcellus Shale on solar, revenues lost to the state if solar stalls etc.

Please don't put off taking action. Time is very short.

The legislature could recess after they pass the budget in

both the House and the Senate and it has already passed

the House on May 24th.

Regards,
Maureen Mulligan
PASEIA Lobbyist and Government Relations

For information about your House and Senate members: www.legis.state.pa.us

Please read recently published articles in:
Philadelphia Inquirer: PA Can Do More To Promote Solar Energy,
Solar Makes Sense, Cloudy Day For Solar Homes
Scranton Times: Don't Let Sun Set On PA Jobs
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: State Rep to PA Utilities: Buy More Solar