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A lot has happened since I last posted about the NJ Cottage Food Law. I'll start with the great news first!
As a reminder, back in 2009 a bill for a Cottage Food Law was introduced to the committee and given the number S2908. Below is an update from Grace...
"I received an e-mail today from Senator Bateman's office and he's reintroducing S2908!!! Once it's reintroduced in Senate it will receive a new number and be given to a committee (probably the same one as before: Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens). Once in committee then it's time to make a lot of noise and bring a lot of attention to this issue. I'll let you know when this happens.
Right now I'm in the midst of making calls to our Assemblypeople and trying to find out who will sponsor a bill for us in the House. I was told by a reliable source to try to concentrate on the members of the Health and Senior Services Committee (this is the committee likely to get the bill after it's been introduced in the House) so I'll be giving them calls throughout the week. Also, I've already been in contact with Asw. Coyle (the one who wrote back to me) and spoke with her Chief of Staff who told me she'd be including the folder I sent into the Asw's packet of files that she'll be reviewing soon. Again, this is good news even though Asw. Coyle isn't on the Health & S.S. Committee."
The important thing to remember now is that the last time this bill was introduced, it died in committee. That means we need to keep writing our representatives, sending e-mails and making phone calls (Find your written letter here). The more who know about the bill, the better chance we have at getting it passed! More info on how you can help can be found here.
I also want to add that Grace didn't get this response by just sending letters (although this is important). She put together a packet/presentation containing a two page letter paper clipped to the front cover of a blue double pocket folder. The folders contained three sections: Presentation, Petition and Articles. The Presentation section contained a PowerPoint presentation that Kelley Masters of Texas had originally put together and was kind enough to share with Grace (in 2009) who tailored all 20 pages of it for New Jersey. The Petition section had the cover sheet/letter to the Legislators (as seen at the online petition) followed by 25 pages of signatures (at the time it was printed there were 1,115 signatures but as of today there is 1148!). The final section contained some articles found online (if you'd like to see them you can Google them. They are as follows: CNN.com Apple cakes save home from foreclosure; www.lansingonlinenews.com why we need a cottage food law; www.heritage.com Granholm signs cottage food operations bill (Michigan's Governor signed a Cottage Food Bill into Law on July 12, 2010); article entitled Woman hopes state will enact Cottage Food Act to help Floridians..... at www.abcactionnews.com; and at www.sellingcakes.com/?p=492 Are You Too Scared to Sell Your Cakes?
To do all this Grace used her own money to purchase the following items...
2 boxes of copy paper
2 boxes of 10x13 envelopes
1 box of business letter paper
1 package of address labels
5 packages black ink cartridges
2 packages color ink cartridges
12 packages of 10 twin pocket/3 hole fastener folders
11 packages of tabbed dividers
Copies made by Staples (2,141 petition pages copied and 645 article pages copied (some double-sided))
All of this totaled $763.58 ($207.76 of this was just the cost of copies made by Staples). The cost for the postage came to $589.50 (she mailed all 129 representatives), so the grand total was $1,353.08!
I have a strong feeling that all of Grace's hard work and money will not go to waste this year but if you would like to thank her, I will be collecting PayPal donations here and sending them to her at the end of every month.
Grace is very grateful for any financial help received but more importantly loves hearing about the letters, phone calls, and e-mails sent so keep us updated on your progress.
Here are more ways to help support this cause.
As a reminder, back in 2009 a bill for a Cottage Food Law was introduced to the committee and given the number S2908. Below is an update from Grace...
"I received an e-mail today from Senator Bateman's office and he's reintroducing S2908!!! Once it's reintroduced in Senate it will receive a new number and be given to a committee (probably the same one as before: Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens). Once in committee then it's time to make a lot of noise and bring a lot of attention to this issue. I'll let you know when this happens.
Right now I'm in the midst of making calls to our Assemblypeople and trying to find out who will sponsor a bill for us in the House. I was told by a reliable source to try to concentrate on the members of the Health and Senior Services Committee (this is the committee likely to get the bill after it's been introduced in the House) so I'll be giving them calls throughout the week. Also, I've already been in contact with Asw. Coyle (the one who wrote back to me) and spoke with her Chief of Staff who told me she'd be including the folder I sent into the Asw's packet of files that she'll be reviewing soon. Again, this is good news even though Asw. Coyle isn't on the Health & S.S. Committee."
The important thing to remember now is that the last time this bill was introduced, it died in committee. That means we need to keep writing our representatives, sending e-mails and making phone calls (Find your written letter here). The more who know about the bill, the better chance we have at getting it passed! More info on how you can help can be found here.
I also want to add that Grace didn't get this response by just sending letters (although this is important). She put together a packet/presentation containing a two page letter paper clipped to the front cover of a blue double pocket folder. The folders contained three sections: Presentation, Petition and Articles. The Presentation section contained a PowerPoint presentation that Kelley Masters of Texas had originally put together and was kind enough to share with Grace (in 2009) who tailored all 20 pages of it for New Jersey. The Petition section had the cover sheet/letter to the Legislators (as seen at the online petition) followed by 25 pages of signatures (at the time it was printed there were 1,115 signatures but as of today there is 1148!). The final section contained some articles found online (if you'd like to see them you can Google them. They are as follows: CNN.com Apple cakes save home from foreclosure; www.lansingonlinenews.com why we need a cottage food law; www.heritage.com Granholm signs cottage food operations bill (Michigan's Governor signed a Cottage Food Bill into Law on July 12, 2010); article entitled Woman hopes state will enact Cottage Food Act to help Floridians..... at www.abcactionnews.com; and at www.sellingcakes.com/?p=492 Are You Too Scared to Sell Your Cakes?
To do all this Grace used her own money to purchase the following items...
2 boxes of copy paper
2 boxes of 10x13 envelopes
1 box of business letter paper
1 package of address labels
5 packages black ink cartridges
2 packages color ink cartridges
12 packages of 10 twin pocket/3 hole fastener folders
11 packages of tabbed dividers
Copies made by Staples (2,141 petition pages copied and 645 article pages copied (some double-sided))
All of this totaled $763.58 ($207.76 of this was just the cost of copies made by Staples). The cost for the postage came to $589.50 (she mailed all 129 representatives), so the grand total was $1,353.08!
I have a strong feeling that all of Grace's hard work and money will not go to waste this year but if you would like to thank her, I will be collecting PayPal donations here and sending them to her at the end of every month.
Grace is very grateful for any financial help received but more importantly loves hearing about the letters, phone calls, and e-mails sent so keep us updated on your progress.
Here are more ways to help support this cause.
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