If you plan on making the meeting or not...

There is a new bill for ballot access this session in the General Assembly.  The courts have failed us but that just puts the ball back in our court.  Below are the links to the bill, it's progress to date, and committee links where the bill is currently or shortly will be being considered.
We urge everyone to call every one of these committee members SEVERAL TIMES.  Email them every day until it leaves their committees and, if at all possible, arrange a meeting with members of these committees to express your support.
This bill is the best offered to date.  It will allow us to get on the ballot as a MINOR PARTY with only 5,000 signatures statewide.  Even better, depending on how it is finally passed, it may put us on the Ballot through 2020 based on Shaun Crowell's 2014 Governor's race results. As it is currently written it will only require only 1.5% of the Governor's race to remain on the ballot as a "Statewide Party" from then on.  But we can easily do 5,000 signatures across the state.  10 Counties with 500 signatures each is all that would be needed.
According to Joan Castle the reason we lost in court boiled down to ONE QUESTION...  
"Why did we stop trying to collect signatures?"  We need to show we are committed to making it happen without the courts being our Santa Claus.
If current law stands we will need over 32,000 signatures to get on the ballot as a "Minor Party" and we only have 18 months to do it for 2018 and we'd have to start again for a 4 year window after the next governor's election.
Please call and keep calling, emailing, writing and visiting all the members of the committees in support and your own State Senator / State Representative to ask for their support and to sign on as co-sponsors to the bills.

SENATE BILL 770 By Senator May Beavers 
HOUSE BILL 662 By State Rep. Bud Hulsey
BE SURE AND CALL  THEM TO THANK THEM FOR CARRYING THE BILLS!

Links
The bill itself
Status, Amendments, Videos, Summary, Fiscal Note, & Votes
TN House Standing Committee for Local Government
TN Senate Standing Committee on State and Local Government

THOSE WHO SUCCEED IN GETTING ISSUES PASSED IN LEGISLATURES KNOW THAT IF IT IS WORTH EMAILING ONCE IT'S WORTH DOING DAILY FOR UP TO 30 DAYS.  We may not have that long if the bill gets killed in committee.  Call, email, write, and visit committee members and General Assembly members as often as you can beginning immediately.  If they don't hear from us immediately this bill will become nothing more than a pipe dream!

See you at the annual meeting Saturday!

Mike Warner
SEC Secretary, Constitution Party of Tennessee