AWMA sent the following email legislative alert out to all our Coalition To Stop Contraband Tobacco members.  We are asking our members to contact their legislators once again to urge their support for moving this legislation through the U.S. Senate as soon as possible.  Thank you all for your continued work on this important issue!  

PACT Act Update & Call to Action

To All Coalition to Stop Contraband Tobacco Members:

The Senate is back in session following the President’s Day recess and the momentum is on our side as the coalition continues to grow and members of the Senate and the staff hear from you each day.

Every day we are closer to pushing the Senate to focus attention and vote on the PACT Act, Senator Kohl and his colleagues continue working hard to pass this bill. We need to show the Senate that the bill has broad bipartisan support from a wide number of diverse groups. The Native American tribal groups maintain their aggressive campaign inside and outside the Beltway putting pressure on Senators to vote against the PACT Act – and we need to do our part to get the truth out there.   

One of the big messages that we need to promote is the fact that jobs are being lost as a result of inaction on the PACT Act.  When you contact your lawmakers any information you can provide in terms of the impact of these illegal remote sales on your business – or even anecdotal information – would be helpful.  For example, we have learned that a number of distributor businesses in NY State have either closed or have had to slash jobs as a direct result of being undercut by these illegal remote sales.  We were able to secure the actual names of companies in NY – along with the number of jobs lost – and we are using that information to give the NY State Senators a clear understanding of just how lack of action on PACT is impacting their state.  If you have similar information please pass it along to your legislators.

In addition to reaching out to your Senators, we would encourage you to write letters to the editors in your local papers, and if you have members, employees or colleagues in other organizations, please encourage them to participate in this coalition – the goal line is in sight. If the Senators in your state are not sponsoring the PACT Act, they need to be asked why not, and your grassroots actions will help them make this decision. Nearly a quarter of the Senate is signed on in support of S.1147.

You can view the latest news, and see who is sponsoring the legislation at www.PACTactNow.com.

The action center website to send an email to your Senators is: http://www.capwiz.com/ctsct/issues/alert/?alertid=14343481&type=CO.

As always, if you need media support, materials, or have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. We hope to back in touch soon with news that the bill is moving.

Again, please continue to check www.PACTActNow.com for updates and news on this important legislation and tell a friend here: http://www.pactactnow.com/tellafriend.

The Coalition to Stop Contraband Tobacco is a group of individuals, associations, businesses and other organizations that share the goal of enacting legislation that will eliminate underage access to tobacco on the Internet, curtail associated illegal activities and capture lost state excise tax revenues.