The email below is just in from Annex Theatre artistic director Bret Fetzer.

The issue is pretty simple—there’s a lodging tax that basically funds 4Culture, due to expire in 2012. A bill currently in the state legislature, waiting to get on the House floor for a vote, would extend the tax.

The tax is important—it is the primary source of funding for 4Culture and is listed on the donor wall of the Seattle Rep, up there with Eve Alvord and the Benaroyas, as if “hotel/motel tax” were a generous person.

And, well, take it away Bret:

SB 6638 has passed through the Senate; it’s made it through a committee in the House; now it needs to get on to the floor of the House for a vote, and there’s STILL resistance. The only way to overcome that resistance is by speaking up.

You don’t need to say much. You don’t need to be eloquent. What will matter is numbers. We need to make it clear that there are a lot of voters in King County who care about this issue. All you have to say is “Support SB 6638. Support funding for the arts.” Anything you want to say about yourself is valuable, but not as valuable as that simple statement: “Support SB 6638.”

If you’ve written e-mails or made phone calls before, please do it again. Don’t come this far, then let this falter on the brink of success. Voice your support for SB 6638 and make it happen.

Write to Speaker of the House Frank Chopp: chopp.frank@leg.wa.gov

Write to your legislators. To find out who they are and how to reach them, go to www.artsandheritage.weebly.com, where there will be links and information that will help you.

Thank you, Bret