Hi everyone I just received this information last night. Now is the time to contact your representative! Peggy Youngs Folks, This is important news (see the announcement below). The vote was 22-13 in the state Senate. Senator Glenn Anderson (D-Westland) and Senator Mickey Switalski (D-Roseville) joined a united Republican caucus in rejecting the governor’s proposal to disband the Department of History, Arts, and Libraries. Please, now is the time to write a letter to your state Representative and ask them to support this Senate bill when it comes to the House. I have just written my letter to my Representative and will mail it off tomorrow morning. It is especially important for those of you with Democratic Representatives to contact them and ask them to support this bipartisan effort to save the Library of Michigan and keep its collection intact and in place in the Michigan Historical Center along with the Archives of Michigan and the Museum of Michigan. If you are a Democrat, then make sure you mention that in your letter to your representative. We have to make this bill as bipartisan as possible. It is going to be difficult for Democratic Representatives to vote in favor of this bill since it means contradicting Governor Granholm, so it is important that we put as much firm but polite pressure on them that we can as they are in the majority in the state House. Lastly, if your state Representative is a Republican, then do not assume that he/she will automatically support this bill, it is equally important to contact Republican Representatives. To find your state representative, please point your browser to http://house.michigan.gov/find_a_rep.asp. Write your letter now because in a few days it might be too late. Remember, if the Library of Michigan is destroyed and you did nothing to stop it, then do not blame the politicians, the fault lies with any of us who do not rise to the occasion and take action. So get going. JP John P. DuLong, Ph.D. Acadian and French-Canadian Genealogy 959 Oxford Road Berkley, MI 48072-2011 (248) 541-2894, home (248) 890-4853, cell http://habitant.org ------------------------------ *ArtServe Michigan* * * *Senate Rejects Gov's EO and Passes SB 503-527* A few minutes ago, with a vote of 21 ayes, 14 nays and 2 excused, the Senate both rejected the Governor's Executive Order to close HAL and passed its own plan to close HAL but keep the components together within the Department of State. This was the first hurdle in what will be a long journey if we are to see this package signed into law. The bills will now go before a committee in the House of Representatives before heading to the full House for a vote. There is certainly a sense of urgency in the matter as the House has until September 11th to join the Senate in rejecting the Governor's Executive Order, yet the House does not meet until September 2nd. Thank you to the hundreds who quickly sent an email to your Senator regarding this issue. It is only through your continued support that we will have a chance at getting these bills passed. *STAY TUNED* As soon as we learn which committee the bills will be sent to, we will ask you to send a similar pre-drafted email to members of the committee asking for a hearing to be held as well as for their support. As always, if you have any questions or comments please feel free to reply to this email or call Mike Latvis at 248-379-5897. ------------------------------