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Help Make Ham Radio History in New York!
Our bills continue to make progress… After a lobbying visit to Albany
in mid April by Hudson Division PRB-1 Task Force members the Assembly version of the bill
was reported out of the Local Government Committee a week later and moved on to the
Assembly Ways and Means Committee. Task force
members are in almost daily contact with the sponsors and committee leaders. If you assembly representative is a member of the Ways and Means Committee, please contact them and ask that they “report out” Assembly Bill 1565. There is less than two months left before this year’s legislative session ends in early July. Last year, thanks
to your letters, e-mails and phone calls, we were able to get our Assembly bill through
three committees in the New York State Assembly before the session ended and came very
close to getting our tower law enacted in New York State.
Your letters, phone calls and contacts with your local state assemblymen and
senators made that happen. We need you to
do your part again in 2001. This time
we have a cosponsored bill in the Senate with four state senators signing on. We have made real headway. The bill is essentially the same one as last year. We need you to do your part – write. Please write. We have a bill
reintroduced in Albany that will enable amateur radio operators to put up effective
antennas without long, costly battles with their local governments to get a building
permit. But that bill won’t become
law unless you persuade your New York State Assemblyman and Senator to cosponsor or
support Assembly Bill A 1565 (Tocci) and Senate Bill S 2893 (Volker, Larkin, Maziarz,
McGee). You need to write six letters
– and invest in $2.04 postage to pass the bills.
Help New York hams have a chance at an effective antenna! It’s worth the effort and the postage.
We need to point
out to legislators that Amateur radio operators provide an emergency communications
network that is disaster-tested and robust. We
provide this service free of charge to the citizens of New York, a service that would
require many millions of dollars to replace. We
are, in many ways, like volunteer firemen but we respond to communications emergencies. A key element of a radio amateur’s capability
is a small radio tower high enough to ensure effective communication. Let your
legislators know that federal law already requires that reasonable accommodation be made
for these amateur radio support structures that serve the public interest; however local
towns, municipalities and radio amateurs cannot easily bear the burden of resolving local
disputes over what is “reasonable.” This
delays replacing key elements of the amateur radio emergency network. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal, court
and expert witness fees are spent annually to resolve these matters. Ten states have
already enacted legislation to remedy the situation. Therefore, it is in the interest of
the citizens of New York State that there be enacted into law specific guidance regarding
the minimum height below which local government and municipalities cannot restrict amateur
radio antennas. But this bill won’t become law unless you send
this message and persuade your New York State Assemblyman and Senator to cosponsor or
support the bills so New York hams have a chance at an effective antenna! Write a letter. Make
a phone call.
Send an e-mail. Do all
three to make sure they get the message. Ask
your representatives to co sponsor or support A
1565 and S 2893. Contact your
Assemblyman and State Senator and tell them about the benefits of Amateur Radio to your
local community, the state of New York and the nation. Also write to the important Local
Government Committee Chairperson, Senator Mary Lou
Rath, 817 LOB, Albany, NY 12247 and Herman D. Farrell Jr., Chairman of the Assembly
Ways and Means Committee, LOB 923, Albany, NY 12248.
Please send a letter or QSL card to Speaker
of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, LOB 932/CAP 349, Albany, NY 12248, and also to Senate Majority Leader, Joseph L. Bruno, 909 LOB,
Albany, NY 12247. Get your relatives, friends and neighbors to do the same. Please, ask everyone you know to tell his or her
state representatives to support the bill. We
need thousands of letters to be effective! Amateur Radio has a long proud history
of public service. Tell your Assemblyman and State Senator that we need this antenna
law so that we can continue to do our important emergency communications job with no cost
to the state. Don’t wait!
Do it now! Help us make ham radio history in
New York State. Frank Fallon…….N2FF
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A Message from N2FF About PRB-1 In NY State!!