Update from Handmade Toy Alliance

Here's the latest on the CPSIA from an email I received from the Handmade Toy Alliance:

Thank you for your continued support to Save Small Business from the CPSIA. It has been an active week. A stay of enforcement was issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on Friday, January 30th. Although it has stayed enforcement of many provisions of the law, the CPSC has made it clear that they lack authority to fully correct the CPSIA. Urge Congress to provide the CPSC with guidance that will protect toymakers, thrift resellers, publishers, and clothing manufacturers from the unintended consequences of the CPSIA. A technical amendment, the CPSIA Regulatory Relief Bill, will be introduced on the Senate floor soon. It is important that we gain Senate support for this necessary legislation. Here's what you can do:

1. Call your Senator (switchboard: 202-224-3121).
2. Identify yourself as a constituent and ask to speak with the Senator or the staff assistant who follows Commerce issues.
3. Ask him/her to co-sponsor the CPSIA Regulatory Relief Legislation, and tell them if they have questions about the legislation they can contact Tom Jones in Senator DeMint’s DC office at 202-224-6121. Tom’s email address is tom_jones@commerce.senate.gov.
4. Ask them to vote for the CPSIA Regulatory Relief legislation when it comes to the Senate floor, possibly as an amendment to the stimulus package as has been rumored.

Get five friends to do steps 1-4. We need to show strong support of this amendment in order to get the Senate to pass it. To read the specifics of the amendment, go to: http://demint.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=JimsJournal.Detail&Blog_ID=295d58b2-b6fe-c446-1432-24b6199424ed

We have also made strides in our intiative at change.org. We are in the final stages of teaming with a non profit agency and going forward with our national campaign to save small businesses. There is a new petition that you can sign and send a letter to Congress. To see the petition, go to: http://www.change.org/ideas/4203/view_action/tell_congress_to_save_small_business. Our blog posts have also begun. View these at: http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia .Thank you again for your support. Our grassroots campaign would never have gotten as far as it has without the support of people like you.
http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/

This blog has a lot of helpful links about some of the recent events: http://overlawyered.com/2009/02/cpsia-chronicles-february-5/.