Please contact your Massachusetts State Representative ASAP and ask him/her to support Amendment #1202 to the State Operating Budget, which would increase the annual cap for the Conservation Land Tax Credit (CLTC) program. Filed by Minority Leader, State Representative Bradley Jones, this amendment has 23 co-sponsors!
House budget debate begins the week of April 22rd, so the land community needs to make contact now. The sooner you can make your call, the more momentum we can build for the amendment!
All it takes is a quick call or email to their office (under five minutes). Contact information for your legislator (searchable by municipality) can be found here. For a fact sheet on the CLTC program and proposed changes, please click here. Below is a sample call "script" and email that you can send to your State Representative (feel free to augment it with the additional information in the fact sheet or a story about a landowner you worked with who has been able to take advantage of, or is on the wait list for, the tax credit).
Dear Representative ________: As part of a [land conservation organization] in your district, I am contacting you to ask you to co-sponsor and support Amendment #1202 to the House budget for the Conservation Land Tax Credit program filed by Representative Brad Jones, the Minority Leader. The amendment would increase the annual cap to eliminate the backlog of this successful program and enable our organization to collaborate with private landowners to conserve land for farming, forestry, wildlife and clean water.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Your Name and Org/Group [Give your home address or org address, whichever is in their district]