Hello all; YOUR HELP IS NEEDED -- TODAY!!!! Widest dissemination of this message to all Washington state maillists is requested. John Donnellan is the Director of the Washington State Cemetery Board. A discussion with him last night revealed that he has introduced legislation in the House, HB 1251, to combine two state boards (the Cemetery Board and the Funeral Home Board) into one group. This was done at the request of the Governor. Why is the Washington State Cemetery Association assisting in gathering support for this legislation? By supporting the Cemetery Board in this endeavor, we are working with them to accomplish our end goal -- that of saving old and abandoned cemeteries. Apparently both Boards (the Cemetery Board and the Funeral Board) do common work and by combining, they would be able to combine that common work to release more hours for other duties. Currently, both Boards have three employees and one public (unpaid) member. The new legislation would allow for the combined six employees and two public employees PLUS one new public (unpaid) member for a total of nine Board members. This would mean equal representation for all concerned. Why is your help needed? Because the highly paid lobbyists of the private cemeteries and private funeral homes within the state have, for the last six years convinced politicians in Olympia that this new legislation is NOT NEEDED. Why are they paying those lobbyists the big bucks to suppress the legislation? Because if the Boards combined, the funeral homes and cemetery owners would be competing for the same monies and they don't want to do that. What can you do? Here are some email addresses for you to send an email to supporting HB 1251 (see below signature for more information on bill) -- send one to each! If you can attend the hearing on Friday in Olympia, the hearing is before the House State Government Committee. John Donnellan jdonnellan@dol.wa.gov Representative Patricia Lantz lantz_pa@leg.wa.gov Senator Bob Oke oke_bo@leg.wa.gov State Government Committee Members McMorris, Co-Chair (R) mcmorris_ca@leg.wa.gov Romero, Co-Chair (D) romero_sa@leg.wa.gov Campbell, Vice Chair (R) campbell_to@leg.wa.gov Miloscia, Vice Chair (D) miloscia_ma@leg.wa.gov Dunshee dunshee_ha@leg.wa.gov Haigh haigh_ka@leg.wa.gov Lambert lambert_ka@leg.wa.gov Schmidt, D. schmidt_da@leg.wa.gov -------------- Andrea D. MacDonald "Andi" andimac@oz.net Washington State Cemetery Association http://www.rootsweb.com/~wapsgs/ House Bill 1251 information ftp://ftp.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/1999-00/house/1250-1274/1251_01201999 ftp://ftp.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/1999-00/house/1250-1274/1251_dig_01201999 ftp://ftp.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/1999-00/house/1250-1274/1251_history