Action Alert
April 10, 2007
CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE ASAP
ARIZONA SB 1428 TO RID ARIZONA OF A MANDATORY NAIS, was approved by the House Water and Agriculture Committee, and will be heard by the HOUSE Rules Committee on Tuesday. We expect that it will go to a vote of the full Arizona House on Wednesday or Thursday.
UNFORTUNATELY, THE DAUGHTER OF Senator Johnson, WHO SPONSORED SB 1428, was killed in a car accident on Sunday. Please email your condolences to her at kjohnson@azleg.gov. Obviously, Senator Johnson will not be attending legislative sessions this week and won't be able to speak for her bill. So it is even more critical than usual that everyone contact their Representative to support the bill.
This is the home stretch. If we win in the House, then all that is left is the Governor. Please take action now!
ACTION: Call your Representative immediately. Calls are the best method for telling your Representative that you want him or her to vote yes on SB 1428. Alternatively, email or fax a message with "Vote yes on SB 1428" in the subject line. SB 1428 could come to a vote as early as Wednesday, so time is of the essence.
If you don't know who your legislator is, go to: www.azleg.gov/alisStaticPages/HowToContactMember.asp. Or call the House Information Desk at (602) 926-4221 (or 1-800-352-8404) and ask them for assistance.
BACKGROUND: In 2006, the Arizona Legislature adopted SB
1103, which authorized the Department of Agriculture to implement
NAIS, which would include a mandatory program. This year, Senator
Johnson introduced SB 1428 to bar any NAIS in Arizona, whether
voluntary or mandatory. The Senate Committee would not approve a
complete bar, so the bill was amended to bar a mandatory NAIS and
provide the right to withdraw from the program. This version of the
bill was passed by the Senate. The bill does not bar coercion, because
we were unable to get an amendment introduced to deal with that
issue. But it is an important first step to rolling back NAIS in
Arizona, and we can work to get additional protections in the next
session. You can find more information about the bill at:
www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=SB1428.
As always, if you have questions or concerns, you can reach us at:
noah@libertyark.net.
TALKING POINTS FOR CALLS:
"Vote YES on SB 1428"
NAIS will hurt Arizona's economy:
- There has been no cost analysis
- Costs of the program include the cost of the tags, hardware, software, time and labor
- Many small farmer and ranchers cannot afford these costs
- Service providers (veterinarians, feed stores, auction houses, meat processors, etc.) will be harmed when the farmers and ranchers go out of business.
- Remaining farmers will pass the costs on to consumers, lowering demand for local foods
- NAIS will fuel inflation by creating unnecessary costs. Inflation is a burden on the entire economy.
Neither the USDA nor the state agency has scientific proof that NAIS will improve disease control:
- It does not address the cause, treatment, or transmission of disease, in domestic or wild animals.
- It does not significantly improve on current methods for identification and tracking of disease.
NAIS is not necessary for the market. Age- and source-verification is already available through the USDA's Process Verified Program
NAIS will not improve food safety
- USDA itself has stated that this is not a food safety program
- Contamination of food with e. coli and other bacteria occurs at the slaughterhouse or afterwards, while NAIS will stop before that point.
NAIS will not protect against terrorism.
- The microchips chosen by the state can be cloned, destroyed, or infected with computer viruses, and reprogrammed. Any terrorist or thief can use this.
- The database of information held by the government and private industry will provide a target for hackers.
NAIS unfairly burdens small farmers, homesteaders, and pet owners, for the financial benefit of large corporations.
NAIS infringes on people's constitutional rights, including due process, privacy, and religious freedom.
USDA states that NAIS is voluntary at the federal level, so there is no "federal mandate" requiring Arizona to implement this program.