#go ahead and sb or hb me

[writing-with-olive]

How to call your representatives in 10 minutes or less

1: Pick a bill you want to call about. If you don't have one off the top of your head, go to your state's legislature website or congress.gov and type in a keyword about a topic you're interested in, and pick one that looks of note to you.

2: Check if the bill is in the house or senate (HB means house bill unless it's already passed and is now in the senate, vice versa for SB)

3: Figure out who's your representative(s) in that chamber. State sites will have a "who's my representative" field somewhere, and you can find your federal reps here. Put their contacts into your phone so you don't have to do this step again

4a: If you want to, you can stop here and go ahead and call your representative. You can come up with an elaborate script if you want, but my conversations often go like this if I have not checked whether or not my rep is on the subcommittee where the bill's probably sitting at. It rarely goes over 2.5 minutes

Staffer: Hello, this is the office of [lawmaker]. Me: Hi, I'm calling as a constituent of [lawmaker] about [house/senate bill, bill number, bill name]. I wanted to express my [support/lack of support] for it, and was hoping you could pass along the message to [lawmaker] that as [his/her] constituent I would like [her/him] to vote [in favor/against] [bill name]. Staffer: Thank you so much for calling and voicing your opinion. I will let you know that the bill is currently [insert information about what subcommittee it's stuck in], but when it comes down for a floor vote, I'll be sure your voice is heard in the discussion. Can I get your name, and a phone number or email address? Me: My name is [name], my phone number is [number I called them from] Them: Alright, well thank you again for calling in today, and I'll be sure to pass this along Me: Thank you so much. Have a good day Staffer: You too, bu-bye *hangs up*

note: they are legally obligated to tally a yea/nae count of constituents calling/writing in and have to share it with reps

4b: If you want to call about bills that your representative currently has some direct sway over, check what subcommittees they're a part of. If you type their name in to this site and scroll down, you can find a list.

5: On the bill, there will be a line (or tab) that says activity, and says where it was most recently referred to, and see if one of your rep's subcommittee assignments is on there

6a: If they're on that subcommittee, great! go ahead and call using the same script as above

6b: If they're not on that subcommittee, click the "get alerts" button to get automatic updates if movement happens, or set a reminder to check back later and see if it's moved

[ajaxeology]

Before The Year Ends

Hi! This is Sherry. A few of you might recognise me better from my main @shxnosuke and a few from the discord server Liyue Harbor.

I haven't been here for long, but it's been a wild ride with all of you. I've had so many unforgettable moments in Genshinblr and made so many friends. 200 followers isn't as many as a lot of Genshinblrs out there, but I wouldn't have gotten here without any of you. So thank you, whoever that's reading this.

To my mutuals that I didn't mention, I'm sorry that I haven't interacted much. As of late, my online social battery is slowly starting to become similar to my irl social battery (= very low). Plus, I haven't interacted much with you due to my own awkwardness. Either those or I'm still a little too intimidated to mention you. No matter what, I want you to know that I appreciate you being mutuals with me. Next year, I hope I'll be able to find something to chat about with you and get to know you much better.

To my readers, thank you for all your likes, reblogs and notes. It makes me so happy to know that you enjoy my work and I hope that you will continue to enjoy the things I write in the future.

To Childe, Tartaglia, Ajax, ilysm <3

individual messages utc! I'm sorry I'm long-winded 😔 if you don't wanna read it then don't /j (please read it ;_; ). Please don't be pressured to respond to it, I'm grateful to you just for reading it <3. I also apologise for any grammatical errors because I wrote this across a few days and I wrote them all pretty casually.

Dear

My one and only didi Genesis @abyssheart ,

Thank you for being my first follower (that’s why you’re at the top of this whole long mf-ing essay </3 I’m sparing you the agony of scrolling as a first follower privilege HAHA) and being so supportive of me. Thank you for always being so encouraging and understanding towards me as well.

We don’t talk as much anymore but I miss you and I still care very much about you. It’s always fun to talk to you and I remember when I first joined your server, I laughed a lot seeing your conversations. I don’t remember whether you’re back, but I hope that you’re having fun on your roadtrip!

I love your writing very much (I still have the screenshot from the 100 follower matchup you did forme in my favourites, if you didn’t know ;>). I hope that you find joy from writing as much as I do from reading what you write. Ilysm and looking forward to your writings in 2022 <3

My beloved meimei J @yeetmeoffjueyunkarst ,

I don’t know if you will see this, but when you do, I want you to know that I’m so thankful for you. You are one of my first friends in Genshinblr and you will always be my beloved sister. I may not have seen the whole thing, but I know for a fact that you’ve grown into a better person from when I first met you. Just so you know, there are things that I look up to you for and things that I’ve learnt from you as well.

Thank you for listening to me talk about bullshit and listening to me talk about the two series that I haven’t even freaking started.

We both know it’s going to be difficult next year, but I will be here for you whenever you need it. Literally anything and I’ll see what I can do for you. I’ll miss you but I’m happy that you’ve found things that you want to work towards. Remember that I’m always rooting for you and I want you to be happy.

For 2022, I wish you courage and strength to push through the year. I hope that even with the hardships, you’ll be able to have moments and events that’ll make you happy, no matter how little. Ily <3

My lovely mei Sarah @almondoufu ,

I used to think to myself, “HAH, wouldn’t it be funny if I made a friend online by helping them with homework?”. To think that it actually happened and you’ve become one of my closest online friends even though we didn’t talk as much HAHA. Thank you so much for allowing me to become friends with one of the best Genshin writers (YOU BTW) and checking in on me when I was having my exams.

I check up on your blog every now (well definitely not because I want to know how you’re doing). I recently came across an ask where you said, “go easy on yourself. coming from me it’s a bit hypocritical since i’m a perfectionist, but the way to get better at writing is to practice. so if your first fifty works are terrible, that doesn’t matter bc it’s all practice for the things you’ll write and be proud of later”. And well damn I saved it down bc I always feel shit about my writing and yk that really helped me.

You know that letter you posted before the New Years? I read it and I almost teared up. I’m so happy for you that you became someone that you wanted to be. I’m so proud of being able to know you, a person who overcame all her difficulties and grew into a person she liked. I may be older than you, but you’ve grown so much more than me and there’s so much I can learn from you.

Have a wonderful year ahead from your jie and ilysm. I hope that 2022 will be a year that you envision it to be :>

Ball of Sunshine Meimei Jia @ohmykazuha ,

You’re a huge blessing to the Genshinblr community and we are so lucky to have you. I’m so thankful for all the positivity and love you give to the community, as well as the events that you do.

I really look up to how you always do your best, how you’re so sweet and how you’re so optimistic. At this point of writing, it hit me that I haven’t really interacted much with you personally. I hope that in the next year, we’ll be able to chat more.

Whenever you feel overwhelmed, I want you to know that I’ve got your back and I’m rooting for you. Remember to give yourself a breather at times and have sufficient rest okay. When looking out for all of us, don’t forget to look out for yourself. And always remember the first line of this paragraph.

Thank you for being my mei. Ilysm, I hope that you have a wonderful, fantabulous 2022 that you deserve <3

The Barbara to my Jean Angie @yuezhong ,

In a good way, I don’t even know where to start *keyboard smashes*. I don’t think I really stand out in the sea of people from Genshinblr and it’s no one’s fault. But you make me feel remembered. Whenever there’s an ask game, you tag me most of the time, if not, always. It’s a really little thing, but I want you to know that I appreciate it so much.

I love getting tiktoks from you. I’m sorry that I’m terrible at responding, but I want you to know that I appreciate you so much for sending them. I seriously wish my fyp had more Zhongli content for me to share to you, but it’s getting more messed up on it’s own smh. I’m getting less Genshin content there I get annoyed with my fyp, but you always send me the Childe stuff I want to see.

Thank you for being so encouraging during my exam period and looking out for me.

I think you already know this, but I want you to know that you can always hit me up. Anything. Even if you just want to say something about Zhongli? Yes.

For being so sweet, you deserve a wonderful and fulfilling 2022 and I wish that your year will be so.

Big Deal™️ Mint @sohyuki ,

Idc, ur a Big Deal to me bc I remember the time my dash was filled with people accusing you of being a Childe kisser (and it was fuNNY)!!!

We haven’t interacted much, but from the few interactions we had, thank you for being so easy to talk to! I’m really happy whenever I see you on dash. Just so you know, every time you do, I just want to hop into your replies and askbox (but I don’t because I don’t wanna annoy you HAHA).

I saw you’ve been feeling down a while ago and I hope that you’re feeling a lot better now! I’m sorry I didn’t reach out to you so here I want to say that, I love your writing sm. I’m so excited whenever I see your writing going around on dash. And just so you know, thanks to one of your writing, I’ve decided if a boy won’t peel oranges for me I’m not dating them HAHAH. Whenever you need to, please remember to take breaks!! If you ever need my help for anything, please know that you can reach out to me.

Thank you for becoming friends with me and have an amazing 2022.

One of the coolest people Koi @chichikoi ,

We haven’t talked much but I’ve gotten so used to seeing you on my dash every day. I think there was a period you didn’t and it felt kinda weird. So yk I just want you to know that I appreciate you and care about you, even if we may not have interacted a lot.

I’ve always wanted to get closer to you. I remember feeling super happy and ??!! /pos when you followed me, even when I shifted blogs. But man I’m such an awkward shit bc you’re 2 cool 4 me, way out of my league. I never knew there were leagues in friendships until I met you /lh /j. But I want you to know that if there’s anything u need me to help u with or anything u want to say to me, you can always come drop in my inbox.

I wish you an amazing 2022 and that the year will be good to you next year <3

My fellow Yuuta + Eugeo appreciator Irene @wispycecilia ,

The way we just hit it off was so immaculate. I’ve been here a while, but it’s the first time I actually had a decent conversation about a character or series with someone that I’ve nEVER talked to before.

You will always be my Yuuta and Eugeo (now that I think about it, both of them have their romanised names starting with “yu” KHSAKJHSKJH). You can hit me up in dms, asks or mention me in your posts any day to talk about them. I’d love to listen to brainrot about yuta SDJHHSHDSHFLKSJh. I hope the movie goes to your country soon so you can enjoy the movie!!

One of my mutuals I've been friends with for the longest time @kazuqha Mimi,

Wow, it's been almost 2 years since I met you through the Haikyuu fandom and I'm back to interacting with you because of Genshin <3

I feel like I have so many things to say thank you for or maybe it's just that I have for you a whole armful of gratitude I don't know how to express using words. Thank you for letting me become one of the mods on your server. My whole Genshin journey on tumblr wouldn’t have started if you said no. I made so many friends on your server who share the love for Genshin.

Thank you for fuelling my love for Childe by sharing tiktoks with me. As each day passes, I get down so bad below the floor I’m starting to wonder where rock bottom down bad is but I love it anyway.

Have a wonderful year ahead, lovely Tianquan of Liyue Harbor

Tart kisser attacker @almond-adeptus Almond,

Hello angst demon, I’m still waiting for you to attack me /j. It’s a joy to see you on dash because it’s hilarious how you’re always out for the other Childe kissers.

I don’t remember how my blog looked initially, but it’s a huge compliment for me when you said “warm and cosy when it's snowing outside”. I take it that I’m very approachable then /j. And hey I’m sure you’re the one with the good ideas!! I still remember that Childe and Kimi no Na Wa crossover that you were talking about in dash.

We haven’t interacted for very long, but I always find it enjoyable to engage in brainrot with you and talk to you about ideas. Ngl I always thought his thigh garter was seggsy (I’m laughing as I type this) but that post you made me think further about how it could actually be used.

Thank you for running the childe rp blog as well *laughs nervously about the rp I left hanging*(I’m sorry I haven’t gotten to it in a while :”””>).

I look forward to more brainrot and screaming about ideas with you next year hehe. Have a good 2022 :>

Another pogass user Dex @xiao-cafe ,

Thanks for sending me that dumb Childe pic for EBG HAHAHA. In return, I’m sending you willpower right now to finish the remainder of your next semester (if you have any? Bc my friends are gonna have their last sem for 2nd year fkshglsdj I don’t think I’ve truly gotten a hang of how poly works). I know we haven’t really talked much and all, but you’re a pretty cool person to me. Idk why you just give cool people vibes.

It’s probably a really small thing to you, but thanks for liking and reading the stuff I shitpost. To me, those little things tell me that yeah we’re still mutuals and it makes me a lot less intimidated to interact with you (just that I haven’t as much as I wanted bc I’m not sure what to say kdshfksjdhk).

I hope that you’ll have a good 2022 and thanks for being here for my 2021 :>

Kiznaiver friend Taz @help-wtf-am-i-even-doing ,

We haven't interacted for a while and I hope that you've been doing well! You're still the only person that I've really had a conversation with about Kiznaiver. Thank you for having that conversation with me about Kiznaiver and it's a conversation that I won't forget for a super long time.

I really enjoy the posts you reblog on my dash too, your sense of humour is *chef's kiss*.

Have an amazing 2022 and thank you for being a part of my 2021.

A very fun, lovable friend @bookuya

BOO I should have found more opportunities to talk to you so much earlier aaaaaaaaaaaa. You’re such a fun person that I can just wild with.

Also holy cow thank you for being so supportive to me! Ur compliments to me in your ask pls 😭.

Did you know that you’re one of the first few people I follow in Genshinblr? I really enjoy your works and I read them whenever they show up on dash. I remember raiding the Childe one but I might not have rb-ed it back then so time to add it to my todo list. I think your stuff doesn’t really show up on my dash because of timezones and because I follow more people rn, but with the taglist you’re not escaping me >:)

I wish you an amazing 2022 and I hope we can have more fun together heheheheh

@simplyxsinned @cxlrose @kamiyatos @mikachuchu @stellumi @kriaeya @caracalia @astrealia @bluexiao @siluc @lilikags

I'm sorry that I don't have an individual message for you, but I wanted you to know that I am really really really grateful for the little interactions we had. Be it talking in servers, interacting with my writings and blog (liking, reblogging etc), I enjoy all the moments we shared together and it would have never been the same without you guys. You're all really sweet, fun and amazing people in your own ways and I hope to be able to interact with you more in the upcoming year. I'm wishing you an amazing 2022 because amazing people should get a wonderful year that'll treat them right <3

Love,

Sherry

[goldeagleprice]

Three states consider tax exemptions

There are currently efforts under way in Alabama, Kansas, and Tennessee to seek sales and use tax exemptions on the in-state retail sales of rare coins and precious metals bullion.

Last fall, the state of North Carolina became the 36th state to have either no sales and use taxes at all (Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon), or a complete or partial sales tax exemption on the in-state retail sales of rare coins and precious metals bullion.

Further, North Carolina also exempted the retail sales of legal tender currency from sales and use taxes as did Indiana the year before, both joining a small number of other state doing so.

This year, there are efforts under way in three additional states to seek similar sales and use tax exemptions.

In Alabama, a new pair of bills, HB 19 and SB 156, were entered this year after last year’s effort to gain an exemption failed when the session adjourned.

The Alabama House bill has already passed favorably out of the House Ways and Means Education committee on Jan. 24 and has gone through its second reading in the full House chamber. It might be voted upon by the full House as early as this week.

The Alabama Senate bill passed out of the Senate committee with little opposition on Jan. 31 and has been sent to the entire Senate Chamber for a vote. The exemption would cover gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion products of at least 90 percent purity and all legal tender coins and currency. For details of the legislation, refer to pages 39-40 of https://legiscan.com/AL/text/HB19/2018.

Whichever bill first passes both chambers and is signed by the governor would take effect on the first day of the third month after the effective date that it becomes law. The law does contain a five-year sunset provision, meaning that the exemption would expire unless it was renewed by the government. The exemptions in California and Virginia had or still have similar sunset provisions.

Hopes are high that the Alabama exemption will be enacted this year.

In Kansas, House Bill 2421 was introduced in May 2017 but lay dormant while the legislature wrangled over significant fiscal problems.

The current text of this bill is available at http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2017_18/measures/documents/hb2421_00_0000.pdf (go to pages 36-7). It would exempt gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion products plus all legal tender coins and currency.

The potential fiscal obstacles have now been resolved. Last week, the Kansas House Committee on Taxation heard testimony on the exemption bill from four Kansas dealers, Kathy McFadden, the executive director of the Industry Council for Tangible Assets (ICTA), and me.

The committee did not take a vote on the bill. The lobbyists hired by Kansas coin dealers are now polling committee members. If there is sufficient support among them, the committee chair will be asked to bring it up for a committee vote. From there it would advance to the full House. If successful in the House, it would advance to the Kansas Senate for a committee hearing and then vote of the full chamber. The effective date of the exemption would be after its publication in the statute book or possibly at the beginning of the next fiscal year on July 1.

In the committee hearing, the dealers presented a strong case of significant lost business to dealers in the states surrounding Kansas (Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma), all of which already have rare coins and precious metals sales and use tax exemptions.

Information was also presented from ICTA’s national coin dealer survey in 2016 that determined it is virtually certain that state treasuries in states with complete or partial sales rare coins and precious metals sales and use tax exemptions actually collect higher sales taxes per capita than do states that do not exempt them from such taxes! In effect, these exemption bills could more properly be considered jobs creation and business development bills that do not require any net state government outlays.

The effort in Kansas may be more of an uphill challenge than in Alabama. Some tax cuts in recent years brought on a major fiscal crisis for the Kansas state government to such a degree that some legislators may automatically oppose any newly proposed tax credits, exemptions, or reductions. To help advance the effort in this state, Kansas residents can contact ICTA at icta@ictaonline.org, or call 410-626-7005 for more information.

In Tennessee, HB 342 was introduced in February 2017 seeking a sales and use tax exemption on gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion products and legal tender coins and currency. You can read the text at http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/110/Bill/HB0342.pdf. The Senate bill was referred favorably with recommendation to its Finance, Ways and Means Committee by its subcommittee. The House Bill remains in its Finance, Ways and Means subcommittee because the state’s governor late last year directed the committee’s chairman, Rep. Charles Sargent, to not send him any sales and use tax exemption bills to sign. The information I have is that this state has a large budget surplus that the governor wanted to leave intact when he left office at the end of 2018.

The efforts in Tennessee have thus far been pursued without the support of professional lobbyists. ICTA and the state’s coin dealers are working to overcome the political obstacles. However, without a commitment of funds by the state’s coin dealers to pay for a lobbyist, the efforts may take longer. ICTA Chief Operating Officer David Crenshaw has made multiple trips to Nashville for meetings seeking to promote this bill. I visited there twice to testify before a subcommittee and meet with the head of the state’s fiscal agency and key legislators.

By the way, last week there were additional similar sales and use tax exemption bills introduced in the Tennessee legislature, HB 915 and SB 1893. This certainly indicates interest in the issue and may help garner enough support to achieve an exemption.

Incidentally, there has also been a separate push for Tennessee to establish a state-owned precious metals storage facility. Such a development would pretty much require that the state enact a precious metals sales tax exemption first. The state treasurer has expressed support for such a storage facility.

Once again, Tennessee coin business owners and collectors can contact ICTA by email at icta@ictaonline.org for more information on how they may help in this exemption effort.

Over the past four years, new exemptions have been gained in Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma and Virginia. A suspension of Louisiana’s exemption was eliminated and substantially restored ahead of schedule. The existing exemptions in Texas and Virginia were expanded. Clearly, the momentum is on adding more rare coins and precious metals state sales tax exemptions over time.

In most of the states with recent legislative success or where efforts are now under way, there were past efforts to gain rare coins and use tax sales tax exemptions that were not successful. The recent string of successes takes advantage of the significant data accumulated by ICTA to support such efforts. Further, the current strategy to meet with state fiscal agency, revenue and treasury personnel in advance of the introduction of the legislation to defuse potential opposition once the legislative process begins has made an enormous difference.

ICTA staff are working on enough other projects (such as promoting the Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force) that it is not possible to devote staff time to too many sales tax exemption efforts simultaneously. Dealers and collectors who may be in the other 11 states or in the District of Columbia that do not yet have any rare coins and precious metals sales tax exemptions (Arkansas, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin) may want to contact ICTA soon to arrange for an effort in 2019.

Patrick A. Heller was the American Numismatic Association 2017 Exemplary Service and 2012 Harry Forman Numismatic Dealer of the Year Award winner. He was also honored by the Numismatic Literary Guild in 2017 and 2016 for the Best Dealer-Published Magazine/Newspaper and for Best Radio Report. He is the communications officer of Liberty Coin Service in Lansing, Mich., and writes “Liberty’s Outlook,” a monthly newsletter on rare coins and precious metals subjects. Past newsletter issues can be viewed at http://www.libertycoinservice.com. Some of his radio commentaries titled “Things You ‘Know’ That Just Aren’t So, And Important News You Need To Know” can be heard at 8:45 a.m. Wednesday and Friday mornings on 1320-AM WILS in Lansing (which streams live and becomes part of the audio and text archives posted at http://www.1320wils.com).

  This article was originally printed in Numismatic News. >> Subscribe today.

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