Saturday, March 10, 2007

Take Action to Get Anti-NAIS Bills Passed

There are two Anti-NAIS Bills in the Texas House of Representative.
Representative Rose filed HB 3573 which will repeal HB 1361. This is a great development in the fight against NAIS!!! More information is available on the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance website: http://farmandranchfreedom.org
You can read the bill on the State of Texas website at: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=80R&Bill=HB3573.
There is a very long road between getting a bill introduced and getting it made into law. Right now, the law in Texas allows the TAHC to make NAIS mandatory at any time. So we must get a bill through the House, Senate, and past the Governor's veto that changes the current law.

The committee substitute of HB 461 and HB 637 would be a big step forward by barring a mandatory program and preventing coercion from being used to force people into it. HB 3573 goes further by repealing the statute that specifically gave TAHC authority for NAIS. But even then, the NAIS issue would not be over because the bill does not stop all the problems with NAIS. In several states, agencies have implemented NAIS through their general powers to protect animal health, and used coercive methods to force people into the program. We must make sure that does not happen in Texas. Please urge your legislators to support all the anti-NAIS bills: HB 461, 637, and 3573.

There is a very long road between getting a bill introduced and getting it made into law. Right now, the law in Texas allows the TAHC to make NAIS mandatory at any time. So we must get a bill through the House, Senate, and past the Governor's veto that changes the current law.

The committee substitute of HB 461 and HB 637 would be a big step forward by barring a mandatory program and preventing coercion from being used to force people into it. HB 3573 goes further by repealing the statute that specifically gave TAHC authority for NAIS. But even then, the NAIS issue would not be over because the bill does not stop all the problems with NAIS. In several states, agencies have implemented NAIS through their general powers to protect animal health, and used coercive methods to force people into the program. We must make sure that does not happen in Texas. Please urge your legislators to support all the anti-NAIS bills: HB 461, 637, and 3573.
Take Action

1) Look at the list of legislators at the end of this alert. If the Representative is a co-author of HB 461, send an email saying thank you. Be sure to put "Thank you for supporting HB 461" in the subject line of the email. And tell your Representative about the new HB 3573.

2) If your Representative is not yet a co-author, call, email, or write, asking that he or she sign on to HB 461, 637, and 3573.

3) Call, write, or email you Senator. Tell him or her that you want a commitment to support HB 461, 637, and 3573 if they come to the Senate.

Tell your friends and relatives to do the same!

TIPS:
Always be polite. Explain your views to the staff person or legislator concisely, and ask them for their opinion in return. Engage them in a dialogue and try to respond to the issues they raise. Offer to follow-up with more information, which we can provide. We gain nothing by antagonizing people or being rude, so remember that you can disagree politely!

In-person visits, calls, and faxed or mailed letters are the most effective methods. If you e-mail your legislator, put what you want in the subject line ("Thank you for supporting HB 461" for example). Legislators get many, many emails every day!

CONTACT INFORMATION:
The tables below include the phone number for each legislator. If you don't know who your legislator is, go to http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/ Contact your State Representative and Senator about HB 461, 637, and 3573.

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