"More Than Fine" jumps into the fray over HR3753

Check it out.

A call to action...

I commented this: "Hmmm. perhaps we should organize an effort to call Inhofe's office early next week. Put out the phone number and have everyone call on the same day. I think Monday or Tuesday is a better day to make waves then of Friday when not as much business is conducted. " on the HR 3753/ S 1691-Homeschool NonDiscrimination Act 2005 blog. Well, someone made a decision and we hope to make calls on Monday. This announcement is going out on numerous websites and is up on blogs. Susan put the info up over at the HILL. I'll put that info up here to make it easier for everyone.

Senator Inhofe's contact information from here. I'm going to call the D.C. office because I don't live in Oklahoma. I think if we mainly call one office we'll get more attention than if the calls are distributed over the lines. But, if you can't get through to D.C. call another office.


Senator's Offices

Washington, DC
453 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-3603
Phone: 202-224-4721
Fax: 202-228-0380

Tulsa
1924 S. Utica Avenue
Suite 530
Tulsa, OK 74104-6511
Phone: 918-748-5111
Fax: 918-748-5119

Oklahoma City
1900 NW Expressway
Suite 1210
Oklahoma City, OK 73118
Phone: 405-608-4381
Fax: 405-608-4120

McAlester
215 E. Choctaw
Suite 106 McAlester, OK 74501
Phone: 918-426-0933
Fax: 918-426-0935

Enid
302 N. Independence
Suite 104
Enid, OK 73701
Phone: 580-234-5105
Fax: 580-234-5094

Senator Musgrave's office still hasn't called back. I expect we may try and organize some calls for her also. Stay tuned.

Senator Inhofe responds re: HR 1692:

Over at the HR 3753/ S 1691-Homeschool NonDiscrimination Act 2005 blog is posted a response from Senator Inhofe. It is under Sept. 29. Unfortunately, with the way the blog is set up I haven't figured out how to link directly to a specific post. If anyone knows, please clue me in. There is also a post about how the legislation might impact Illinois on a Sept. 28 post.

Some questions

Have people been calling legislative offices? Have you heard any responses from correspondence? I'm hoping to make some calls tomorrow. If you've called, what's your feel for what's going on? Are the people who answer the phone familiar with the bill? If an issue is hot, people who answer the phone in the offices know about the issue. Please drop me a comment or a link to a blog if you can answer my questions.

North Carolina Legislative Issues

There's quite a bit to read. I don't think I've linked to the 2005 HONDA discussion from N. Carolina.

Links at Atypical Homeschooling

Atypical homeschooling has put together a neatly organized post on links to the HONDA issue. I'm pretty sure that I've covered them all on my blogs. Go on over and take a look.

Still Waiting

For the call back from Representative Musgrave's office and the Senate Finance Committee's tax person. I'm not surprised. I'm still working on sample letters. I'll post them when they are complete.

I'm so pleased

I started a webring for Homeschool Legislation and two people have joined. I'd like to welcome North Carolina Homeschool Legislative Issues. We're still trying to get Valerie's code up and running over at Happy as Kings so that she can join also.

The Backwater Report

This blog has a two part discussion on HONDA. You can read part one and part two if you click on the hypertext. It seems like those of us who homeschool have a whole lot to say. The author makes some arguments I haven't seen before. The most interesting part about this is that the author states he is a member of HSLDA. Although I don't agree with some of the philosophies, I thought the summary at the end of part two was interesting. Many of the blogs I have seen take the bill apart one section at a time. This author attacks the entire idea of federal intervention.

Homeschooling Legislation Watch Web Ring

I've just started a web ring to try and hook up all the websites, blogs and organizations together that follow homeschool legislation.

The ring description is:
This is a place to connect websites and blogs who keep abreast of legislation affecting homeschoolers. Our current interest lies in the discussion of the HONDA legislation. I made the ring name generic so it would fit as new legislation is brought forward. This is for all sites that discuss legislation so that we can see both sides of the issue.

The membership recquirements are:
Please only join if you have posts on homeschooling legislation. It doesn't matter if you are a blogger, have a website, are an organization etc. We just want people to be able to connect in the interest of discussion. If you are homeschooling, then you probably have children. Please only try to join if your sites are appropriate for children.

To join: click here

Log in here to edit your information. (If anyone knows of a better link, drop me a comment. I'm new to this.)

Membership List

Link to a random site in the webring.

All right, I'm now supposed to put the code on here. I can't get it to work. I'll return to this issue later. When you join, you get the code.

Bulletins Covering HR 3753/S 1691

Susan has been busy over on the HILL blogging on some bulletins that were written during the 2003 HONDA battle. She has some links and shares her thoughts.

Hop on over to Agent Tim's

There's more discussion there.

More on the military part of HONDA

Valerie Moon is over at HEM working away at explaining the military segment of the HONDA legislation. Go on over and give it a read. She left a trail of bread crumbs in the comments, but I wanted to make sure everyone would see her latest article.

Homeschoolers split over education bill

Susan offers her commentary on this article over on the HILL

Homeschoolers debate Homeschool Non-Discrimination Act

Chris O’Donnell’s blog is stimulating the discussion about HONDA. If nothing else, Chris' fisking is the most entertaining discussion of this issue.

HR 3753/ S 1691-Homeschool NonDiscrimination Act 2005

Another blog devoted to this issue. Two of us must be thinking along the same lines. Does anyone know about anymore blogs devoted to this issue?

Chicago-style voting

There were some voting irregularities over at Atypical Homeschooling. The owners of the poll discovered the ballot box was being stuffed. The poll was moved to a new location.

Hurry up and Wait

I've spent some time doing research today. My goal was to lay out a timeline for the bills going through the committee process. Hah! So far, no one has been able to tell me anything and my phone bill gets larger and larger. I called the Senate Finance Committee majority phone number. The first lesson I learned is that before you call someone you have to know everything about the bill you are asking about. You must have it in your hands with pertinent information highlighted. The person who answered the phone figured I had called the wrong committee. After much discussion is was decided that I needed to talk to someone in "taxes". I could have saved myself on the phone bill if I had known why the bill was in that committee. The result of all that talking was I have to wait for a call back. Since it is now 4:19 in Washington DC and no one has called back, I'm guessing that isn't going to happen today.

Then I phoned the House Education and Workforce Committee. There is some lag time between my last round of calls. I needed to get my ducks in a row and guess at what parts of the bill sent it to that committee. Notes were taken and I made the call. Absolutely no help there on a timeline for when the bill would go before the committee. It was pointed out to me that I could use the dropdown box at the top of the screen that says "legislation" to find out what was going on once something was happening with the bill. That's good to know so I guess it wasn't a total waste of time and money to make that phone call.

I then called Senator Grassley's office since he is the Chairmen of the Senate Finance Committee. I thought I would attack the problem from a different direction. I got the impression that the office was not flooded with calls or letters about this bill. The person who answered the phone was unfamiliar with the bill. It was decided that I should be turned over to "someone in taxes". I'd left a message there already during my first call of the day. I guess I'm now calling in circles. How does anyone accomplish anything in Washington? You start to understand why there are paid lobbyists.

I tried tactic number three for today. I called the contact number on the press release from Representative Marilyn Musgrave's office to ask some questions. The nice person who answered the phone and I quickly came one conclusion. The email the offices sends out to answer questions about the bill was not going to answer my questions. Off I went to voice mail, again. I left a message for Representative Musgrave's legislative assistant. I'm guessing I won't get a call back today.

Tommorrow is another day and I'll try to make more calls to provide people with more information.

Poll on HONDA

Go on over and vote. Scroll down, it's in the right sidebar. Only 5 people have voted so far and I'm one of them.

Home Education Magazine has posted on HONDA in the news and commmentary section.

This is a blog devoted to the discussion of the HONDA legislation (Home School Non-Discrimination Act of 2005 To amend selected statutes to clarify existing Federal law as to the treatment of students privately educated at home under State law) that is in committees in the United States House of Representatives and Senate. The bills are HR 3753 in the House and S1691 in the Senate. The legislation is being pushed by HSLDA. I am hoping to help organize opposition to this legislation. It will take me some time to get all the pieces in place. I'm trying to assemble all the links to discussions on blogs. I hope to get some sample letters to help people write opposition letters to committee members.

Currently S1691 is in the Senate Finance Committee. HR3753 is in House Education and the Workforce Committee, House Ways and Means Committee,and the House Armed Services Committee.

If you know of any links I need to add please let me know. If you would be willing to share a sample letter, that would be excellent. You can comment or send an email to homeschoolillinois [at] insightbb [dot] com.