Objectives

• Flood Senate members with emails and calls asap
• Continue through the day of Senate floor (Tuesday)
• Draw attention to issue via press and faith leaders
• Repeated calls and emails…do daily…volume matters and is critical
• Creating groundwork for future legal action if they pass this measure

Tools

• Email addresses ready to copy and paste into your email document are at the end of this handout. Copy five at a time to send to avoid bounce backs. 
• LRC hotline number is 1-800-372-7181. Opens at 7:00 am. Closes at 11:00 pm

What to Do and When 

Today, Saturday, March 21st

• Email your representative in the Senate, tell them you are a constituent, tell them  “no on moral instruction amendment to HB 253”, give reasons, ask for a response. Use something like this in your subject line: “HB 253- No to Amendment 1” or “HB 253-No to Moral Instruction Mandate”. Then, email all Senators, doing the same. Copy and paste the emails of the senators- use list at the end of this document. 
• Email Rep. Tipton (R), the sponsor of the original bill which was aimed at improving reading. He worked across the aisle on this bill and has taken the bill through the entire process per protocol. Senator Reed has put a “poison  pill” on a thoughtful bill designed to improve student achievement. Rep. Tipton may be asked about accepting that bill with the amendment. Please encourage him to not do that. Rep. Tipton is a possible ally so please communicate in a positive and encouraging way. Ask him to protect instructional time for our students. 
• Encourage friends and family to do the same. Connect them to the KCFD website, KCFD Facebook, and email newsletter for updates and calls to action

Tomorrow, Sunday, March 22nd

• Repeat first bullet above action, don’t email Rep. Tipton. We want numbers for the senators. We want time for Rep. Tipton to read and consider. We do not want him to feel swamped. We need to keep him as an ally.
• Email Senator Reed, the sponsor of the amendment, and object to the maneuver made. Be respectful but pointed. Ask why this was not done in a more transparent way, why it never was reviewed in the education committees. Point out this is a change in student scheduling and instructional hours- big change, but no process to vet?
• Email Senator Stivers, who is leader and controls the Senate. He is pivotal in all this-he has the ability to kill this amendment. The message to him should center on the process used to get this to the floor: no education committee hearings, no fiscal impact, no input from educational leaders, lack of transparency. Hammer that the process was flawed. 
• Encourage friends and family to email, connect them to KCFD website, KCFD Facebook, and email newsletter for updates and calls to action

Monday, March 23rd and Tuesday, March 24th

• Today is about flooding the Legislative Research Committee (LRC) call lines. This is critical and may require patience on your part. Keep calling until you get through. The LRC call agent will ask you for some basic information first. He/she will ask whom you want your message to go to. Tell them “all senators”. You will then be asked about the message you want to send. Be brief and quick. Call numbers count- want others to get through. Bottom line- they will be reporting about the volume of calls and the topic. 
• On Tuesday, please call before noon. The LRC line opens at 7:00 am. The Senate will meet on the floor at 2:00 pm.. We want calls to hit before they go to the floor.

Key Messages (Keep It Simple)

• Protect instructional time
• Protect school districts from lawsuits
• Preserve local control – school boards need to decide, not Frankfort
• This is already legal under current law
• Mandates impacting school schedules and instructional time should be properly vetted and go through the process, not tacked onto an unrelated bill

Important: What Not to Do

Avoid messaging that:

• Sounds anti-religion
• Is overly legal/technical
• Attacks legislators personally

 Keep it focused on:

• Schools
• Parents
• Local decision-making by school boards

Amplify on Social Media

Post and share as as much as you can on Facebook and other platforms

Post and tag your senator:

• HB 253 is already allowed under current law.
• Don’t expose schools to lawsuits or remove local control.
• Last minute, not vetted, and not necessary

Email addresses: 

Senator Robert Stivers, leader of the Senate: Robert.Stivers@kylegislature.gov

Senator Aaron Reed, sponsor of the amendment to mandate moral instruction: aaron.reed@kylegislature.gov

Representative James Tipton, sponsor of the original bill: James.Tipton@kylegislature.gov

Senate email distribution list: 

jason.howell@kylegislature.gov, danny.carroll@kylegislature.gov, craig.richardson@kylegislature.gov, robby.mills@kylegislature.gov, stephen.meredith@kylegislature.gov, lindsey.tichenor@kylegislature.gov, aaron.reed@kylegislature.gov, gary.boswell@kylegislature.gov, david.givens@kylegislature.gov, matt.nunn@kylegislature.gov, steve.rawlings@kylegislature.gov, amanda.bledsoe@kylegislature.gov, reggie.thomas@kylegislature.gov, jimmy.higdon@kylegislature.gov, rick.girdler@kylegislature.gov, max.wise@kylegislature.gov, robin.webb@kylegislature.gov, michael.nemes@kylegislature.gov, brandon.storm@kylegislature.gov, christian.mcdaniel@kylegislature.gov, shelley.frommeyer@kylegislature.gov, robert.stivers@kylegislature.gov, gex.williams@kylegislature.gov, stephen.west@kylegislature.gov, scott.madon@kylegislature.gov, brandon.smith@kylegislature.gov, phillip.wheeler@kylegislature.gov, geraldn.neal@kylegislature.gov, keturah.herron@kylegislature.gov, cassie.armstrong@kylegislature.gov, julie.adams@kylegislature.gov, karen.berg@kylegislature.gov, matthew.deneen@kylegislature.gov, donald.douglas@kylegislature.gov, greg.elkins@kylegislature.gov, gary.clemons@kylegislature.gov, jared.carpenter@kylegislature.gov, mike.wilson@kylegislature.gov

If your email is returned as potential spam, try sending individual emails. We are also providing links to the legislators’ web-based contact forms as another option.

Robert Stivers
Aaron Reed

James Tipton

Jason Howell
Danny Carroll
Craig Richardson
Robby Mills
Stephen Meredith
Lindsey Tichenor
Gary Boswell
David Givens
Matt Nunn
Steve Rawlings
Amanda Bledsoe
Reggie Thomas
Jimmy Higdon
Rick Girdler
Max Wise
Robin Webb
Michael Nemes
Brandon Storm
Christian McDaniel
Shelley Frommeyer
Robert Stivers
Gex Williams
Stephen West
Scott Madon
Brandon Smith
Phillip Wheeler
Gerald Neal
Keturah Herron
Cassie Armstrong
Julie Adams
Karen Berg
Matthew Deneen
Donald Douglas
Greg Elkins
Gary Clemons
Jared Carpenter
Mike Wilson