Gopher Fan Legislative Action Alert!! Contact these 6 tonight!

[GoalLineClub]

As you know there has been an effort underway this session to fix the ridiculous from last session that prevents that University of Minnesota from running their athletic facilities in the manner they see fit. If this law is not repealed it will cost the athletic department millions in revenue that could be vital to the success of all Gopher athletic programs going forward. The Senate easily passed an amendment to the higher ed policy bill that would do the right thing and repeal the silly "all or nothing" language from last year. Unfortunately, thanks in large part to the ignorance and arrogance regarding this issue of the Higher Ed Committee Chair, the House voted down a similar amendment earlier this week. The bill now goes to conference committee where three members each from the House and Senate will work on the differences between the two bills before final vote by both chambers. This vital conference committee meeting will take place this Thursday from 9-11am. We are asking all Gopher fans to contact the following legislators to express their support for the Senate language and for returning full control of our athletic facilities back to the people who run them for a living, U of M athletic staff, administration on the Board of Regents. It doesn't make any sense for the U of M to be punished by the legislature for wanting to run their stadiums and arenas like every other member of the Big Ten conference. The U needs to be able to make their own decisions in this regard, without legislative interference. When contacting legislators it helps to be as polite and brief as possible. We have a real shot at getting this fixed tomorrow, but the swing votes on the committee need reassurance that the people actually affected by this are in favor of repeal. Please contact these folks before 9am tomorrow:

Representative Carol McFarlane, [email protected], 651.296.5363

Representative Kathy Brynaert, [email protected], 651.296.3248

Representative Tom Rukivina, [email protected], 651.296.0170

Senator Claire Robling, [email protected], 651.296.4123

Senator Ron Latz, [email protected], 651.296.8065

Senator Sandy Pappas, email form HERE, 651.296.1802

If you would be able to show your support in person at the committee meeting tomorrow drop a note to [email protected] and we'll get you the information. Packing the room with Gopher fans wouldn't hurt.

UPDATE: meeting might be getting bumped from 9am Thursday, stay tuned but keep up the emails and phone calls.