Final Push for Original Co-sponsors, Fight Conservation Cuts, Census Deadline

Ask Your Rep to be an Original Co-sponsor

The Conservation Easement Incentive Act now has 40 original co-sponsors!  Their support for this bill will help us make the enhanced tax deduction for conservation easement donations permanent.  Click here or scroll down to see if your Representative has signed-on.

We only have another week or so to gather original co-sponsors before Reps. Jim Gerlach (R-PA) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) introduce the House bill. Original co-sponsors are listed in the bill text itself and an extensive list will be extremely helpful in demonstrating the breadth of our support. Yes, it's a bit harder to ask for help before we have a bill number, but it is worth it! Like-minded original co-sponsors will help convince others to co-sponsor later.

Members of the Ways & Means Committee, which handles tax legislation, are particularly important. If you have any connection to the following members please call and urge them to sign-on by next week! We've listed their staff members on tax issues and those marked with an asterisk were co-sponsors last year. Please email policy@lta.org to tell us who you've contacted and what you hear back.

Ways & Means Committee Members who are not yet co-sponsors:

Committee Member                              Tax Staff

UPDATE:  Members who have since co-sponsored are italicized.

Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA/31)**         Esther Oh

Rep. Rick Berg (R-ND/At-large)           Jonathan Casper

Rep. Diane Black (R-TN/6)                   Robert Cogan

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR/3)*        David Skillman

Rep. Charles W. Boustany (R-LA/7)    Terri Fish

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX/8)*                   Kimberly Ellis

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL/13)*          Shane Lieberman

Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI/4)* - Chair      Rob Guido

Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY/7)*          Kevin Casey

Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY/4)*                   Jim Swift

Rep. Wally Herger (R-CA/2)                 Jay Sulzmann

Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS/2)*               Nick Corellas

Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX/3)*              David Eiselsberg

Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI/3)*                       Erin Gulick

Rep. John B. Larson (D-CT/1)*           Lee Slater

Rep. Sander M. Levin (D-MI/12)          Jeff Ziarko

Rep. John Lewis (D-GA/5)*                  Miguel Martinez

Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-TX/24)          Scott Cunningham

Rep. Richard E. Neal (D-MA/2)**        Melissa Mueller

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA/21)*             Damon Nelson

Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ/8)*                  Keith Castaldo

Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN/3)*               Katie Meyer

Rep. Tom Price (R-GA/6)                      Kris Skrzycki

Rep. David G. Reichert (R-WA/8)        Jason Edgar

Rep. Peter J. Roskam (R-IL/6)*          David Mork

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI/1)*                    Joyce Meyer

Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL/18)              Mark Roman

Rep. Adrian M. Smith (R-NE/3)*         Monica Jirik

Rep. Fortney Pete Stark (D-CA/13)    Elizabeth Herman

Rep. Patrick J. Tiberi (R-OH/12)*       Brad Bailey

*Co-sponsored H.R. 1831 (2009-10), **Co-sponsored H.R. 1576 (2007-08)

To reach any Member of Congress, simply call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for their office. When you reach your Representative's tax staffer, urge them to become an original co-sponsor by calling Lori Prater in Rep. Gerlach's office or Carla McNeill in Rep. Thompson's office. Click here for detailed talking points, fact sheets, and letters you can forward (including details on the Senate bill, S. 339).

Half the members of the new Congress -- 317 Representatives and 50 Senators -- have previously co-sponsored legislation to make the easement incentive permanent. We urgently need your help getting those past supporters back on to this year's identical bills so we can focus on broadening our support.

Fight Cuts to LWCF, NAWCA and Other Conservation Funding

For months, the government has been operating under a series of short-term "continuing resolutions" (the latest of which cut LWCF by 16 percent vs. 2010), but it appears Congress is headed towards a showdown with the looming prospect of a government shutdown on April 8. The next week may be our last chance to fight severe cuts to conservation funding.

Congressional leaders are currently seeking a compromise between the House's H.R. 1 (which would cut important conservation programs by 85-100 percent) and more modest cuts favored by Democrats. Now is the time to weigh in with your members of Congress and urge them to restore funding for the programs you care about.

For specifics, we encourage you to visit the action alert sites of key partners fighting these cuts:

• The Land and Water Conservation Fund Coalition
• Ducks Unlimited (working on NAWCA, State Wildlife Grants and other programs)
• Environmental Defense Fund (fighting cuts to farm bill conservation programs)
• The Nature Conservancy (fighting for a broad suite of programs)

Thanks for helping!

P.S. -- Tomorrow is the deadline for the 2010 National Land Trust Census. This detailed survey, completed once every five years, provides critical information for our policy work. To respond, please visit: www.lta.org/census by March 31.

Original Co-sponsors of the Conservation Easement Incentive Act

LEAD SPONSORS:

• Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-PA/6th)*
• Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA/1st)*

CO-SPONSORS (40 total, Alphabetical):

• Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV/1st)*
• Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA/28th)
• Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA/44th)
• Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA/23rd)
• Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI/1st)
• Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA/11th)
• Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA/15th)
• Rep. Michael Doyle (D-PA/14th)
• Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY/2nd)
• Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI/1st)
• Rep. Martin Heinrich (D-NM/1st)
• Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV/2nd)*
• Rep. Mazie Hirono (D-HI/2nd)
• Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA/15th)
• Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH/9th)
• Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI/5th)
• Rep. Peter King (R-NY/3rd)
• Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI/2nd)
• Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM/3rd)
• Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY/At-large)
• Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA/7th)*
• Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI/10th)
• Rep. Chris Murphy (D-CT/5th)
• Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX/14th)
• Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME/1st)
• Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO/2nd)
• Rep. David Price (D-NC/4th)
• Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY/15th)*
• Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN/1st)
• Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA/29th)
• Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA/13th)
• Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX/32nd)
• Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC/11th)
• Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA/9th)
• Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD/8th)
• Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY/9th)
• Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA/6th)
• Rep. David Wu (D-OR/1st)

* Members of the Ways & Means Committee

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