Honadel, vice chairperson
Representatives
M. Williams, Ballweg,
Mursau, Sheridan, Fields, and Hebl
From:
Dedicated Memorial Parents
Group
Phil
Ellenbecker, Director
RE:
Senate Bill SB-251
Public Hearing on Bill SB-251
Testimony of Phil
Ellenbecker:
Before I begin I would like
to thank the assembly committee members for giving me the opportunity to speak
on behalf of Senate Bill SB-251 this morning.
I would also like to thank
Senator Erpenbach, and his staff along with all of the other Senators who have
helped to bring this very important legislation to your attention today.
And last I would like to
thank the Department of Workforce and Development, The Department of Justice,
and the Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection for their
support of this bill and for their ongoing work with this most serious problem.
I would like the
representatives to keep in mind that the SB-251 bill is structured to protect
Wisconsin children, young adults, and homeowners from the brutal violence that
has plagued the traveling door to door sales industry both her in Wisconsin and
across the country. The bill is a matter of public safety and as such requires
that the needs of the many must outweigh the needs of the few. I would also
like to point out that there are no traveling door to
door magazine or cleaner companies that our organization is aware of that
originate from the state of
I
can tell you from the depth of my soul that every waking minute of every day
Malinda is in my heart. She was a beautiful child with a wonderful future. She
was loved by many and had so very many dreams.
Now all we have are memories of a time that is gone forever. Her life and part of mine ended that night. I buried Malinda not more than five blocks from where she lived and I drive by the cemetery taking my son Dustin to his friend's house almost every day. And still to this day we become so very quiet as we pass by her in the car. I think that if you have children then you know what I am trying to say but it is not something that can be put into words and it is not something that you can experience unless you have
lost a child.
The
death of my daughter affected my son severely. One of the hardest things that I
have ever had to do in my life was to tell my eight-year-old son Dustin that
his sister Malinda was dead and in heaven with the angels.
It
will be seven years this coming March 25 since the horrible van crash that took
my daughter's life and the lives of six other children. Since
Just as recent as
The
traveling door-to-door sales industry is totally out of control. There are currently
no federal or state laws regulating the industry.
In
the past 15 months we have logged three murders, one unsolved murder, four rape cases, five sexual assault cases,
four burglary cases, two fraud cases, and two abandonment cases not to mention the
3 – 5 kids per week that our organizations help get out of the crews. In total
since the Dedicated Memorial Parents Group started monitoring these crimes in
2002 we have logged over 200 criminal felony cases. The crimes are almost all
against homeowners and range from burglary and felony assault to sexual
assault, rape and murder.
After
the
Since
my daughter Malinda and the other six kids were killed on
The traveling door to door
sales industry has become a silent killer of youths in
Many labor officials,
critics, and even our own former Attorney General Jim Doyle have coined these
groups: "teen sweat shops of the streets." Many of the crews are on a
daily basis are breaking child labor and state solicitation laws.
Kids who have the misfortune
of being recruited into these crews are lured in and lied to. Many are
abandoned, physically and mentally abused, introduced to drugs, and cut off
from their families and friends. Girls are forced to have sex with the managers
and are told that if they do not comply they will be abandoned without any
money sometimes thousands of miles from their homes.
One magazine sales crew out
of
Those that can get out before
it is too late survive, but with horror stories that
haunt them for life.
Many of these kids never come
home.
The dirty business of child
exploitation is alive and well in the door to door sales industry. Children and
young adults across this country are at risk of being falsely lured into this
brutal and immoral business.
But Children and young adults
are not the only victims of this out of control and unregulated industry. Our
research has uncovered an alarming trend in violent crimes being carried out
against anyone unfortunate enough to open their door to a traveling sales crew
member. Many of the individuals hired by the unscrupulous fly-by-night sales
crew recruiters have criminal backgrounds. Our records show that these
individuals have committed some of the most heinous crimes imaginable. Crimes that have destroyed lives and devastated families across the
country.
Since November of 2005 there
have been two murders, two rapes, and one kidnapping at gun point.
But the real villains of this
national tragedy are the clearinghouses and publishers that on a daily basis
continue the dirty business of sales by exploitation without legal
entanglement.
The clearinghouses and
publishers maintain their distance from any legal entanglements by insisting
that the kids working on the sales crews are independent contractors when in
reality the passage of money flows directly from the crew subscriptions, to the
clearing house and then on to the publishers. This arrangement is not by
accident. It has been thought out and planned this way in order to minimize any
legal and liable connection between the kids selling products door to door and
the clearinghouses and publishers. This arrangement also virtually eliminates
any rights that the kids would have if they were considered employee’s of the
sales crews. By manipulating the grey area of law the clearinghouses and
publishers can literally get away with murder. The children have no rights, no
minimum wage, no insurance, and no benefits and are treated as indentured
servants and slaves.
The
Two
years ago I worked with the Wisconsin Department of Education and together with
the 12 CESA's in
The
magazine and cleaner crews come into our state, recruit our kids, rip off our
consumers and commit crimes against both the kids and homeowners. They fraud
our consumers by marking up the price of a subscription as high as 300% over
the actual cost and they lie to the homeowner, telling them they are from the
local high school and working toward a scholarship.
This
is not a republican or a democratic issue, it is not a big business issue, this is about protecting our children and homeowners from
exploitation and crime.
Senator
Erpenbach has created a piece of legislation (SB-251) that we believe would be
a very good bill for the State of
I
am asking you for my daughter Malinda and for the other six kids that died on
March 25, 1999 and I am asking you for all of the thousands of children and
families that have been victimized by this most violent and immoral industry.
Thank you for your time.
And thank you for your
consideration in this most important matter.
Sincerely,
Phil
Ellenbecker
Director
The
Dedicated Memorial Parents Group
Contacts:
Dedicated memorial Parents
Group
Phil Ellenbecker
Home Phone: 608-845-1711
Email: phil@dedicatedmemorial.org
Websites:
For further information on
door to door sales crews:
Parent Watch: