Postcard that went to Michigan House candidates. Download it.

The Replace Don’t Erase coalition, which includes the Michigan Municipal League and other organizations, has launched a campaign to give all candidates for the state House and Senate the facts about legislation that would give the Governor and Legislature new power to take $470 million a year in local revenues away from local schools and local communities. We’ve posted a social media news release and a traditional press release about it.

We also encourage all League members who are on Facebook and Twitter to help spread the word about this important issue. We feel it’s imperative that the effort to reform the personal property tax not come at the expense of Michigan communities. We want this personal property tax reform issue to be part of every candidate debate, newspaper article and editorial endorsement. We want voters to know how their state House candidates stand on this PPT issue – do they support full, Constutionally guaranteed replacement? Or do they support the current package of bills that would give the governor and legislature additional revenues to pay for state policies and priorities, while local schools and communities would have significantly fewer funds for services local residents deem as essential – police and fire protection, parks, libraries, road repairs and maintenance, and more? School districts use PPT revenues to repay bonds approved by local voters for capital projects.

Below are some sample Facebook posts and Tweets to use. We’ve also included the Twitter handles of as many of the candidates as we could find.

For Facebook, we encourage you to post something like this on your personal Facebook page and encourage your friends to do the same: Michigan voters and daily newspapers oppose legislation to cut the personal property tax and incoming legislative candidates should be aware of this. Elimination without guaranteed replacement could devastate local governments and schools. Learn more at www.replacedonterase.com.

For Twitter, here are some sample Twitter posts. We encourage you to use the Twitter handles of the candidates in your area where applicable (see list below).

Twitter sample 1 with sample candidate handle (pull from list below): Full guaranteed replacement of PPT is essential to a prosperous future for our state .@RobertKosowski #replaceppt

Twitter sample 2 with sample candidate handle (pull from list below): Mich voters and newspapers oppose cutting the Personal Property Tax #replaceppt .@Pat4Rep, learn more:http://bit.ly/RDrOHK

Twitter sample without candidate handle: Incoming lawmakers should be aware that full replacement of the PPT #replaceppt is key to #Michigan’s prosperity

Listed below is the House District, party affiliation, name and Twitter handle of the candidates that have Twitter accounts. When Tweeting please copy and paste the portion that starts with the “@” symbol.

3rd DEM John Olumba @olumbajohn
5th DEM Fred, Jr. Durhal @repfred
6th DEM Rashida Tlaib @RashidaTlaib
10th DEM Phil Cavanagh @cavanagh2012
11th DEM David Knezek @voteknezek
15th DEM George T. Darany @mrdearborn
16th DEM Robert L. Kosowski @RobertKosowski
17th REP Anne Rossio @AnneRossio
23rd DEM Tom Boritzki @TomBoritzki23
23rd REP Pat Somerville @Pat4Rep
25th REP Sean Clark @sean_clark2012
25th DEM Henry Yanez @Yanez4StateRep
26th DEM Jim Townsend @JimTownsend4MI
28th DEM Jon M. Switalski @jonswitalski
29th DEM Tim Greimel @timgreimel
32nd DEM Sheri Smith @VoteSheriSmith
35th DEM Rudy Hobbs @rudyhobbs
40th DEM Dorian Coston @CostonDorian
40th REP Michael D. McCready @McCreadyforMI
41st REP Martin Howrylak @martinhowrylak
41st DEM Mary Kerwin @marykerwin1
43rd REP Gail Haines @RepGailHaines
46th REP Bradford C. Jacobsen @bradjacobsen
49th DEM Jim Ananich @jimananich
52nd DEM Gretchen Driskell @gdriskell
52nd REP Mark Ouimet @markouimet
53rd DEM Jeff Irwin @jeffmirwin
55th DEM Adam Zemke @adamzemke
57th DEM Jim Berryman @Berryman2012
60th DEM Sean McCann @SeanAMcCann
61st REP Margaret E. O’Brien @MargaretOB
63rd REP Jase Bolger @JaseBolger
64th REP Earl Poleski @EarlPoleski
65th REP Mike Shirkey @Shirkeyfor65th
66th REP Aric Nesbitt @aricnesbitt
67th DEM Tom Cochran @tomcochranmi
68th DEM Andy Schor @andyschor
69th DEM Sam Singh @singhsam94
69th REP Susan McGillicuddy @Suemcgillicuddy
70th REP Rick Outman @rickoutman
71st DEM Theresa Abed @abedtheresa
75th DEM Brandon Dillon @BrandonDillon75
77th REP Tom Hooker @rephooker
78th REP Dave Pagel @VoteDavePagel
87th REP Mike Callton @mikecallton
89th REP Amanda Price @amandaprice4rep
91st REP Holly Hughes @hollyhughes
93rd DEM Paul E. Silva @Paul_E_Silva
94th REP Tim Kelly @timothykelly
94th DEM Judith Lincoln @judilincoln
99th REP Kevin Cotter @kevincotter99th
105th REP Greg MacMaster @gregmacmaster
107th DEM Suzanne Shumway @suzanneshumway

Matt Bach is the communications director for the Michigan Municipal League. He can be reached at [email protected] and (734) 669-6317.