Post by Viper on Mar 21, 2007 16:48:46 GMT -6
Well, yesterday we went to the hearing to discuss House Bill 1309; the proposed legislation to require each and every citizen of Texas to pay for and acquire a permit in order to keep any snake not native to North America. About 25 people were able to make it to the hearing on such short notice. This proposal was being sneaked though and might have passed unnoticed had it not been for the watchful eyes that caught it on the agenda and began rallying eleventh-hour support.
David Barker was unofficially "elected" to be our primary spokesperson at the hearing. He wrote an excellent paper addressing the issue of the bill. You can find info on David at www.vpi.com/david_tracy_barker
Just before things were to get underway a representative came out and asked for Mr Barker. They went away to talk. It seems that the committee was quite shocked at the response they got to this bill.
This, alone, shows the amount of impact that the letters, and in-person support in Austin that day, had on the committee. Had we not acted they would, likely, have proceeded as planned. The showing we did have was enough to set them on their heels so that they stopped the whole thing and tabled it for a rethink and rewrite. It was completely pulled form the scedule before the hearing even started!
Anyway, the end result was that it would be tabled for the time being, and that Dave was invited onto the committee (along with anyone he wished to bring) as a technical advisor. The goal is for the bill to be worded the way we want, with guarantees that it won't be revised or escalated, and that the fees will be set and not increase. It appears that they are already looking at limiting permitting to keepers of venomous snakes, or constrictors above 100 pounds.
The alternative is trying to fight it and get them to drop it, only to have one of the other two bodies looking at the issue to introduce more legislation, and cause us to have to fight again...and maybe lose. Of course, the legitimacy of their claim that two other councils are looking to introduce legislation on this matter is being investigated.
Or we can work with this committee and get one we can live with. Basically the lesser of two evils.
If there are issues or suggestions that you would like to see addressed in this legislation, please email David Barker at vpi@beecreek.net . Please DO NOT send emails to him about how unhappy you are with it, or how unfair you think it is. He already knows that. Send those to your politicians. Send David valid suggestions on the proposed legislation.
Additionally, David will be driving many miles, and spending many hours on this project. You might consider visting his site at www.vpi.com and purchasing one of his books or DVDs to say thanks for the work he will be putting forth. If you did not appear at the hearing or write a letter to show your support for the cause, this is your chance to say thank you to someone who will be continuing to work hard on this on your behalf.
* Opinionated Footnote
Shame on each and every one of you who were told about this, but did not take the five minutes necessary to write a quick letter to express your discontent with this proposal. Instead a handful of folks like David Barker, Tim and Deb Cole, and Randall and Bonnie Barry picked up the slack and prevented this from going through, with the help of regular folks like Pam and I, and the rest of the folks who showed up and/or wrote letters. Pam and I were up with Tim until around 3;30am Monday night compiling the letters and faxes into booklets for each committee member. The fact that these booklets were well over one-hundred pages thick was staggering to the committee members.
There were about 25 people in Austin for this. Some were business people like David, Tim, Randall, Eric from Pets A Plenty here in Houston, and others…and some were just hobbyists like Pam and I. But we were there. Many of you who couldn't be there on such short notice wrote letters. Awesome!
And many of the thousands of reptile keepers in Texas just sat at home or went about their lives and let the attendees and the letter writers defend their rights. Had 200 keepers (not even 5% of the estimated number of reptile keepers in Texas) would have shown up it would likely have been tabled indefinitely. Instead we face a toned-down version.
That being said, you folks with ball pythons and small bodies boas and other non-native snakes now will, likely, get to keep your pets with no fees and no paperwork. You're welcome. Glad we could go fight your fight while you sat in your comfy chair.
David Barker was unofficially "elected" to be our primary spokesperson at the hearing. He wrote an excellent paper addressing the issue of the bill. You can find info on David at www.vpi.com/david_tracy_barker
Just before things were to get underway a representative came out and asked for Mr Barker. They went away to talk. It seems that the committee was quite shocked at the response they got to this bill.
This, alone, shows the amount of impact that the letters, and in-person support in Austin that day, had on the committee. Had we not acted they would, likely, have proceeded as planned. The showing we did have was enough to set them on their heels so that they stopped the whole thing and tabled it for a rethink and rewrite. It was completely pulled form the scedule before the hearing even started!
Anyway, the end result was that it would be tabled for the time being, and that Dave was invited onto the committee (along with anyone he wished to bring) as a technical advisor. The goal is for the bill to be worded the way we want, with guarantees that it won't be revised or escalated, and that the fees will be set and not increase. It appears that they are already looking at limiting permitting to keepers of venomous snakes, or constrictors above 100 pounds.
The alternative is trying to fight it and get them to drop it, only to have one of the other two bodies looking at the issue to introduce more legislation, and cause us to have to fight again...and maybe lose. Of course, the legitimacy of their claim that two other councils are looking to introduce legislation on this matter is being investigated.
Or we can work with this committee and get one we can live with. Basically the lesser of two evils.
If there are issues or suggestions that you would like to see addressed in this legislation, please email David Barker at vpi@beecreek.net . Please DO NOT send emails to him about how unhappy you are with it, or how unfair you think it is. He already knows that. Send those to your politicians. Send David valid suggestions on the proposed legislation.
Additionally, David will be driving many miles, and spending many hours on this project. You might consider visting his site at www.vpi.com and purchasing one of his books or DVDs to say thanks for the work he will be putting forth. If you did not appear at the hearing or write a letter to show your support for the cause, this is your chance to say thank you to someone who will be continuing to work hard on this on your behalf.
* Opinionated Footnote
Shame on each and every one of you who were told about this, but did not take the five minutes necessary to write a quick letter to express your discontent with this proposal. Instead a handful of folks like David Barker, Tim and Deb Cole, and Randall and Bonnie Barry picked up the slack and prevented this from going through, with the help of regular folks like Pam and I, and the rest of the folks who showed up and/or wrote letters. Pam and I were up with Tim until around 3;30am Monday night compiling the letters and faxes into booklets for each committee member. The fact that these booklets were well over one-hundred pages thick was staggering to the committee members.
There were about 25 people in Austin for this. Some were business people like David, Tim, Randall, Eric from Pets A Plenty here in Houston, and others…and some were just hobbyists like Pam and I. But we were there. Many of you who couldn't be there on such short notice wrote letters. Awesome!
And many of the thousands of reptile keepers in Texas just sat at home or went about their lives and let the attendees and the letter writers defend their rights. Had 200 keepers (not even 5% of the estimated number of reptile keepers in Texas) would have shown up it would likely have been tabled indefinitely. Instead we face a toned-down version.
That being said, you folks with ball pythons and small bodies boas and other non-native snakes now will, likely, get to keep your pets with no fees and no paperwork. You're welcome. Glad we could go fight your fight while you sat in your comfy chair.
