Call to Action SUNDAY, MAY 5

This is what we can do today.  This evening we will post what can be done on Monday, which will make phone calls a priority.  If the bills are not on the calendar by the end of tomorrow, they're dead.  We must act now.

Breastfeeding legislation in Texas has the potential to benefit people far outside of our state over the years.  If you are not a Texas resident, we still welcome your participation in our efforts to pass our breastfeeding bills.  Contacts from men are also of value.

House Bills 741 and 1706 are currently listed as being "Considered in Calendars."  As the website has not been updated and we have no time to waste, today we will send emails to all legislators asking for them to be sure that the bills are set, and prioritized in doing so to ensure that they will be voted upon before the midnight Thursday deadline.  If you write and want to do more today, you can leave voice mails for the calendars committee.  

Copy and paste the following email addresses into the "To" section of your email:

Alma.Allen@house.state.tx.us, Roberto.Alonzo@house.state.tx.us, Carol.Alvarado@house.state.tx.us, Rafael.Anchia@house.state.tx.us, Charles.Anderson@house.state.tx.us, Trent.Ashby@house.state.tx.us, Jimmie.Aycock@house.state.tx.us, Cecil.Bell@house.state.tx.us, Dwayne.Bohac@house.state.tx.us, Dennis.Bonnen@house.state.tx.us, Greg.Bonnen@house.state.tx.us, Dan.Branch@house.state.tx.us, Cindy.Burkett@house.state.tx.us, Lon.Burnam@house.state.tx.us, Angie.Button@house.state.tx.us, bill.callegari@house.state.tx.us, Terry.Canales@house.state.tx.us, Giovanni.Capriglione@house.state.tx.us, Stefani.Carter@house.state.tx.us, Travis.Clardy@house.state.tx.us, Garnet.Coleman@house.state.tx.us, Nicole.Collier@house.state.tx.us, Byron.Cook@house.state.tx.us, Philip.Cortez@house.state.tx.us, Tom.Craddick@house.state.tx.us, Brandon.Creighton@house.state.tx.us, Myra.Crownover@house.state.tx.us, Tony.Dale@house.state.tx.us, 

Drew.Darby@house.state.tx.us, John.Davis@house.state.tx.us, Sarah.Davis@house.state.tx.us, Yvonne.Davis@house.state.tx.us, joe.deshotel@house.state.tx.us, Dawnna.Dukes@house.state.tx.us, Harold.Dutton@house.state.tx.us, craig.eiland@house.state.tx.us, Gary.Elkins@house.state.tx.us, Pat.Fallon@house.state.tx.us, Joe.Farias@house.state.tx.us, Marsha.Farney@house.state.tx.us, Jessica.Farrar@house.state.tx.us, Allen.Fletcher@house.state.tx.us, Dan.Flynn@house.state.tx.us, James.Frank@house.state.tx.us, John.Frullo@house.state.tx.us, Charlie.Geren@house.state.tx.us, Helen.Giddings@house.state.tx.us, Craig.Goldman@house.state.tx.us, Larry.Gonzales@house.state.tx.us, Mary.Gonzalez@house.state.tx.us, Naomi.Gonzalez@house.state.tx.us, Lance.Gooden@house.state.tx.us, bobby.guerra@house.state.tx.us, Ryan.Guillen@house.state.tx.us, Roland.Gutierrez@house.state.tx.us, Patricia.Harless@house.state.tx.us, linda.harperbrown@house.state.tx.us, Ana.Hernandez@house.state.tx.us, Abel.Herrero@house.state.tx.us, Harvey.Hilderbran@house.state.tx.us, Donna.Howard@house.state.tx.us, Dan.Huberty@house.state.tx.us, Bryan.Hughes@house.state.tx.us, Todd.Hunter@house.state.tx.us, Jason.Isaac@house.state.tx.us, Eric.Johnson@house.state.tx.us, Kyle.Kacal@house.state.tx.us, James.Keffer@house.state.tx.us, Ken.King@house.state.tx.us, Phil.King@house.state.tx.us, Susan.King@house.state.tx.us, Tracy.King@house.state.tx.us, Tim.Kleinschmidt@house.state.tx.us, Stephanie.Klick@house.state.tx.us, Lois.Kolkhorst@house.state.tx.us, Matt.Krause@house.state.tx.us, John.Kuempel@house.state.tx.us, Lyle.Larson@house.state.tx.us, Jodie.Laubenberg@house.state.tx.us, George.Lavender@house.state.tx.us, Jeff.Leach@house.state.tx.us, Tryon.Lewis@house.state.tx.us, Oscar.Longoria@house.state.tx.us, jose.lozano@house.state.tx.us, Marisa.Marquez@house.state.tx.us, Armando.Martinez@house.state.tx.us, Trey.Martinez.Fischer@house.state.tx.us, Ruth.Jones.McClendon@house.state.tx.us, Jose.Menendez@house.state.tx.us, Borris.Miles@house.state.tx.us, Doug.Miller@house.state.tx.us, Rick.Miller@house.state.tx.us, Joe.Moody@house.state.tx.us, Geanie.Morrison@house.state.tx.us, Sergio.Munoz@house.state.tx.us, Jim.Murphy@house.state.tx.us, Elliott.Naishtat@house.state.tx.us, Poncho.Nevarez@house.state.tx.us, Rene.Oliveira@house.state.tx.us, Rob.Orr@house.state.tx.us, John.Otto@house.state.tx.us, Chris.Paddie@house.state.tx.us, Tan.Parker@house.state.tx.us, Diane.Patrick@house.state.tx.us, MaryAnn.Perez@house.state.tx.us, Charles.Perry@house.state.tx.us, Larry.Phillips@house.state.tx.us, Joe.Pickett@house.state.tx.us, Jim.Pitts@house.state.tx.us, Four.Price@house.state.tx.us, John.Raney@house.state.tx.us, Bennett.Ratliff@house.state.tx.us, Richard.Raymond@house.state.tx.us, rraymondtx@aol.com, Ron.Reynolds@house.state.tx.us, Debbie.Riddle@house.state.tx.us, Allan.Ritter@house.state.tx.us, Eddie.Rodriguez@house.state.tx.us, Justin.Rodriguez@house.state.tx.us, Toni.Rose@house.state.tx.us, Scott.Sanford@house.state.tx.us, Matt.Schaefer@house.state.tx.us, Kenneth.Sheets@house.state.tx.us, j.d.sheffield@house.state.tx.us, Ralph.Sheffield@house.state.tx.us, Ron.Simmons@house.state.tx.us, David.Simpson@house.state.tx.us, Wayne.Smith@house.state.tx.us, John.Smithee@house.state.tx.us, Drew.Springer@house.state.tx.us, Phil.Stephenson@house.state.tx.us, Jonathan.Stickland@house.state.tx.us, Mark.Strama@house.state.tx.us, Joe.Straus@house.state.tx.us, Van.Taylor@house.state.tx.us, Ed.Thompson@house.state.tx.us, Senfronia.Thompson@house.state.tx.us, Steve.Toth@house.state.tx.us, Chris.Turner@house.state.tx.us, Scott.Turner@house.state.tx.us, Sylvester.Turner@house.state.tx.us, Jason.Villalba@house.state.tx.us, Michael.Villarreal@house.state.tx.us, Hubert.Vo@house.state.tx.us, Armando.Walle@house.state.tx.us, James.White@house.state.tx.us, Paul.Workman@house.state.tx.us, Gene.Wu@house.state.tx.us,  Bill.Zedler@house.state.tx.us, John.Zerwas@house.state.tx.us, Brian.Birdwell@senate.state.tx.us, Donna.Campbell@senate.state.tx.us, John.Carona@senate.state.tx.us, Wendy.Davis@senate.state.tx.us, bob.deuell@senate.state.tx.us, Robert.Duncan@senate.state.tx.us, Rodney.Ellis@senate.state.tx.us, Kevin.Eltife@senate.state.tx.us, Craig.Estes@senate.state.tx.us, Troy.Fraser@senate.state.tx.us, Sylvia.Garcia@senate.state.tx.us, Kelly.Hancock@senate.state.tx.us, Glenn.Hegar@senate.state.tx.us, Juan.Hinojosa@senate.state.tx.us, Joan.Huffman@senate.state.tx.us, Eddie.Lucio@senate.state.tx.us, Jane.Nelson@senate.state.tx.us, Robert.Nichols@senate.state.tx.us, Dan.Patrick@senate.state.tx.us, Ken.Paxton@senate.state.tx.us, Jose.Rodriguez@senate.state.tx.us, Charles.Schwertner@senate.state.tx.us, Kel.Seliger@senate.state.tx.us, Larry.Taylor@senate.state.tx.us, Carlos.Uresti@senate.state.tx.us, Leticia.VandePutte@senate.state.tx.us, Kirk.Watson@senate.state.tx.us, Royce.West@senate.state.tx.us, John.Whitmire@senate.state.tx.us, Tommy.Williams@senate.state.tx.us, Judith.Zaffirini@senate.state.tx.us, USBFLeg@gmail.com

 
Then choose one of the following five sample emails below (in black) and copy and paste it into the body of your email.  Please personalize it as much as you can take the time to do (but better sent generic than not sent at all - just change anything in ALL CAPS).  As you personalize your email, consider the following:

• Begin by introducing yourself as a constituent, IF you are a Texas resident. Find your district number here. If you are writing on behalf of a group, please identify yourself here ("Member of Texas Breastfeeding Coalition", "Secretary of IBCLCs of Dallas", etc)

• Keep it short (two paragraphs). 

• If you have been affected by discrimination for nursing in public or a lack of support for pumping at work, relate this very briefly. 

• Ask that the legislator do whatever (s)he can to convince the Calendars Committee to set HB 741 and HB 1706 for a date on the House floor ASAP.  

• Ask for a written response on the Representative's position on the bill. That way a staffer has to do some research and the member has to sign a letter with a position on it. 

• Make certain that letters are not antagonistic or accusatory.

• Please include with your signature (for Texans only - out of state supporters please just sign your name and phone number):

1. Name
2. Physical Address
3. Zip Code
4. Phone Number(s)
5. Your organization if you are writing on behalf of a group ("Member of Texas Breastfeeding Coalition", "Secretary of IBCLCs of Dallas", etc)

If you are writing on behalf of a group, such as Texas local breastfeeding coalitions, Texas IBCLC clubs, Texas chapter of AAP, Texas Baby Friendly folks, Texas Mother Friendly folks, parenting groups, etc. please consider the following:
Letters should begin with an introduction of your group. They should talk about health benefits of BF, how you support BF in your community, and HB 1706 and HB 741. Letters from a mom should be personalized from the mom's point of view, but these letters should be personalized from the organization's view. These letters can be more lengthy than the 2 paragraph max for letters from individuals (but still somewhat brief).
Please make clear that you represent constituents outside of just your zip code, if that is the case.  Please give an idea of how many people are in your group, and/or how many people your group serves. 

SAMPLE EMAILS: 


Example #1 

Dear Legislator, 

I hope this email finds you well. As a resident of (DISTRICT #, REGION, OR TEXAS AND MEMBER OF ORGANIZATION), I’m writing to ask for your support of House Bill 1706 authored by Rep. Farrar, and House Bill 741, authored by Rep. Walle and coauthored by Rep. Hernandez Luna. These uncontroversial bills passed unanimously out of the Business and Industry Committee but were held back in Calendars.  Women and babies need these bills to be set for the House floor early enough to ensure that they will be voted on by the midnight Thursday deadline.  I hope that you will do all you can to ensure that this happens.  

Currently Texas law states "A mother is entitled to breast-feed her baby in any location in which the mother is authorized to be." However, this merely asserts her right. It does not protect her right, as there is currently no enforcement provision. Mothers are frequently discriminated against for feeding their children while they are out supporting the economy by shopping for their families and eating in restaurants. Fear of this discrimination prevents many mothers from choosing optimal nutrition for their babies as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Health Organization, and others. HB 1706 will not only serve mothers and babies, it will inform businesses of the law and allow them to avoid the negative media attention that sometimes follows an incident where an ill-informed employee humiliates a mother who is trying only to feed her child.  House Bill 741 will extend worksite pumping protections to salaried public employees so that they can contribute to the work force but still provide their babies with breastmilk.  I would be grateful for a written response letting me know your position on these bills. 

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely, 

NAME
PHYSICAL ADDRESS
ZIP CODE
PHONE NUMBER
ORGANIZATION (IF ANY)

Example #2 

Hello,

I hope this email finds you well. I am a mother who resides in the State of Texas (OR BE SPECIFIC ABOUT DISTRICT/REGION IF IT IS THIS LEGISLATOR'S) and I am writing to ask for your support for House Bill 1706 and House Bill 741 by doing all you can to have these bills set for the House floor as soon as possible to be certain they come to a vote before the deadline.  Though they passed unanimously out of the Business and Industry Committee and would significantly impact public health and thereby the economy, they have been held back in Calendars.  Texas law already recognizes breastfeeding as the best method of infant nutrition and states that a mother may breastfeed her baby in any location in which the mother is authorized to be; however she is not truly protected because there is no enforcement of that law, and is thus at risk of being harassed and ceasing to breastfeed as a result.  And while hourly public employees have reasonable accommodations to express breastmilk at work, currently salaried public employees are exempt.  

Breastmilk is the ideal food for newborns and infants. It gives infants all the nutrients they need for healthy development. It is safe and contains antibodies that help protect infants from common childhood illnesses - such as diarrhea and pneumonia, the two primary causes of child mortality worldwide. Breastmilk is readily available and affordable, which helps to ensure that infants get adequate sustenance (World Health Organization, 2012).  As a breastfeeding mom and advocate for mothers and children, I urge you to support this legislation to better protect a woman’s right to breastfeed. I would very much appreciate a written response explaining your position on both of these bills.  And I would welcome the chance to meet with you to further discuss the importance of community support and breastfeeding! 

Thank you for your time and support,

NAME 
PHYSICAL ADDRESS
ZIP CODE
PHONE NUMBER
ORGANIZATION (IF ANY)

Example #3 

Hello,   

I'm a new mother in (CITY/DISTRICT/REGION, TX, AND ORGANIZATION IF ANY) and I breastfeed my baby. I am writing to ask you to do anything in your power to have HB 1706 and HB 741 set for a date on the House floor early enough that they will see a vote.  I would appreciate a written response with your position in these bills.  They were passed unanimously out of the bi-partisan Business and Industry Committee, yet have been held back in Calendars.  Currently, state law asserts that I have the right to nurse my baby anywhere that I am authorized to be... but that hasn't stopped people from asking me to move to a private area when I breastfeed my baby, or telling me that I need to cover up with a blanket (even though I take care not to expose myself), as though by feeding my baby I am doing something wrong. Other Texas women have been harassed even more harshly than I, have been humiliated publicly, and have been banished from public places, all for giving their babies the very best food available: breastmilk. This has caused many of my friends to avoid nursing in public at all costs, which incidentally has a side effect of depriving local businesses of potential customers. HB 1706 will amend our existing law to create a private right of action as a recourse for mothers who are discriminated against or harassed for nursing in any public place where they are already allowed to be.  

HB 741 will extend work site accommodations to salaried public employees which are already afforded hourly employees.  Breastfeeding rates of initiation are around 75-80%, however, as women return to work and are unsupported in their efforts to express breastmilk for their babies, breastfeeding rates drop dramatically.  This is a public health issue.  Increased breastfeeding rates will save lives and a lot of money.  Please support these bills, and support Texas mothers and babies. 

Thank you, 

NAME and son/daughter NAME (NUMBER OF months) 
PHYSICAL ADDRESS 
ZIP CODE
PHONE NUMBER
ORGANIZATION (IF ANY)

Example #4  

Hello, 

I am a constituent of district (DISTRICT NUMBER AND ORGANIZATION IF ANY) and breastfed/am breastfeeding my child(ren). I’m writing to ask your support for House Bill 1706, authored by Rep. Farrar, and for HB 741, authored by Rep. Walle and coauthored by Rep. Hernandez Luna by ensuring that they are set for the House floor and soon enough that they will be voted on before the midnight Thursday deadline.  Though they had unanimous support from the bi-partisan Business and Industry Committee, they have been held back in Calendars for almost a month.  HB 741 will support mothers who return to work in their efforts to continue to provide breastmilk for their babies by providing reasonable accommodations to salaried public employees that are already afforded hourly employees.  Texas law already recognizes breastfeeding as the best method of infant nutrition, and a mother may breastfeed her baby in any location in which the mother is authorized to be.  However she is not truly protected because there is no education about or enforcement of that law, which HB 1706 would provide.  Frequently there are stories in the media of mothers being confronted for breastfeeding in public, which is very telling of the fact that without an enforcement provision, people who do not agree with Texas law treat following it as optional. 

Mothers like me are frequently discriminated against for feeding their children in public. This happens at malls, restaurants, and parks across the state.  The fear of being belittled by another person can be enough motivation for some moms not to breastfeed, despite recommendations from some of the biggest health organizations in the world including the AAP and WHO. The benefits of breastfeeding are well known, but a nervous new mom may choose not to breastfeed to avoid potential public ridicule. HB 1706 will not only serve mothers and babies, it will ensure that businesses and their employees are up to date on what the law protects. As a breastfeeding mom and advocate for mothers and children, I urge you to support this legislation as we strive to truly protect a woman’s right to breastfeed.  Please ensure these bills are set for a date on the House floor at the earliest opportunity.  I would very much appreciate a written response regarding your position on these bills.  

Respectfully, 

NAME
PHYSICAL ADDRESS
ZIP CODE 
PHONE NUMBER
ORGANIZATION (IF ANY)

Example #5

Dear Legislator,

I am a breastfeeding mother living in (DISTRICT #, REGION, OR TEXAS, AND ORGANIZATION IF ANY) and it has come to my attention that House Bills 1706, authored by Rep. Farrar, and 741, authored by Rep. Walle and coauthored by Rep. Hernandez Luna, are listed as under consideration in the Calendars Committee after a near month of being held back despite unanimous support by the bi-partisan Business and Industry Committee. I ask that you support them by ensuring they are set for a date on the House floor, and early enough to be voted on by midnight this Thursday.  Under the current law, a woman has the right to breastfeed in any location that she has permission to be.  However, because there is no education about or consequences for disturbing a breastfeeding mother, this law is often violated. Additionally, federal law requires that working mothers paid on an hourly basis receive reasonable breaks for pumping and a space in which to pump, but there is no protection like this for salaried public employees such as teachers.
 
I ask that you help us to support these pieces of legislation so that we can give our children the best possible nutrition without fear of harassment; so mothers won't be forced to choose between their babies and their jobs.  I would appreciate an opportunity to discuss this important public health issue, and I hope to receive a written reply with your position on the bills.  Thank you for your consideration.

Best Regards,

NAME
PHYSICAL ADDRESS
ZIP CODE
PHONE NUMBER
ORGANIZATION (IF ANY)


The email list above includes an address for one of our advocates who will track what districts letters are being sent from (based on your address) so that we can be certain that are hearing from their own constituents among all of the contacts they receive, as legislators focus on their own constituents almost exclusively.  Your information will not be shared.  If you do not wish to send your email to our representative, however, simply delete the last address, USBFLeg@gmail.com, from the list.

Thank you so much for taking the time to support breastfeeding mothers and babies!