Action Alert
April 25, 2007
HB 461 passed the House!
The Texas House voted to approve HB 461 last night by a vote of 88 to 51!!!!!
Technically, the bill has to go through a "third reading" and vote today, but that is mostly a formality. We've overcome major hurdles to make it to this moment! Established agriculture groups, including the Texas Farm Bureau, opposed HB 461. But the Texas Representatives listened to the grassroots and passed the bill!
This vote is a wonderful step forward. But we can't stop now - we still have to win in the Senate and convince the Governor not to veto the bill before it actually becomes law. And we know that the Big Ag groups will continue their efforts to stop us. So we need people to keep educating their friends and neighbors about NAIS, and contacting their state legislators.
But before we move in, here's the view from the gallery last night: Representative Miller set out the bill and argued why Texas needed to change the law. He and Representative Anderson talked about the existing means for tracking animals, the pushback by the public across the country, and other points. Representative Phillips made an excellent point about how the agency can make the program mandatory at any time. And Representative Gallego offered an amendment to provide the additional protections needed to make sure that voluntary means voluntary: full disclosure, right to withdraw, and no coercion. (The text of the adopted version of the bill should be available online shortly).
On the other side, Representative Hardcastle spoke at length about why the law should not be changed, including making incorrect statements, such as stating that we need NAIS for food safety and that 6 states have made NAIS mandatory. Representative Geren expressed concern that "all of the major ag groups" are opposed to the bill - ignoring the fact that several of those groups, including Texas Farm Bureau and Texas Cattle Feeders, have never polled their members for their opinions and that they claim to support a voluntary program! But Representative Miller did a great job responding to the questions and arguments. And then it came down to the voting.
Special thanks go to Representatives Sid Miller, Bryan Hughes, Lois
Kolkhorst, Doc Anderson, and Robby Cook for being the primary authors
on HB 461. You can see how your Representative voted by clicking on
"record vote" at this site:
www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=80R&Bill=HB461
Several of the Representatives who had co-authored HB 461 ended up
voting against us, but we still carried the day.
NEXT STEP - CONTACT YOUR SENATOR AND THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
HB 461 will now be sent to the Senate. It will be assigned to a Senate Committee, most likely the Senate Natural Resources Committee, where it will await a hearing.
When HB 461 is assigned to a Committee, we will send out the list
of Senators who sit on that Committee. But please don't wait - call
or write YOUR Senator now! Ask him or her to support HB 461. Below is
a list of all of the Senators, their phone and fax numbers, and the
counties each represents. You can mail a letter to your Senator at:
The Honorable (full name)
Texas Senate
P.O. Box 12068
Austin,
TX 78711-2068
And the email address is:
firstname.lastname@senate.state.tx.us.
If you don't know who your legislator is, go to:
www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/
or call the Capitol Information line at 512-463-4630.
ALSO call or write Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst:
Capitol Station,
P.O. Box 12068,
Austin, Texas 78711;
512-463-0001 (phone);
512-463-0677 (fax).
Name, Austin Phone No. (512), Fax No. (512). Counties Represented:
Kip Averitt
463-0122 (p)
475-3729 (f)
Bosque, Coryell, Ellis,
Falls, Hill, Hood, Johnson, McLennan, Navarro, Somervell counties.
Kenneth Brimer
463-0110 (p)
475-3745 (f)
Fort Worth (part).
John Carona
463-0116 (p)
463-3135 (f)
Dallas (part).
Robert Deuell
463-0102 (p)
463-7202 (f)
Dallas (part), Delta,
Fannin, Hopkins, Hunt, Kaufman, Rains, Rockwall, Smith (part), and Van
Zandt counties.
Robert Duncan
463-0128 (p)
463-2424 (f)
Armstrong, Borden,
Briscoe, Carson, Castro, Childress, Coke, Collingsworth, Concho,
Cottle, Crosby, Dawson, Dickens, Donley, Fisher, Floyd, Foard, Garza,
Gray, Hale, Hall, Hardeman, Haskell, Hockley, Irion, Jones, Kent,
King, Knox, Lamb, Lubbock, Lynn, Micthell, Motley, Nolan, Reagan,
Runnels, Schleicher, Scurry, Sterling, Stonewall, Swisher, Terry, Tom
Green, Upton, and Wheeler counties.
Rodney Ellis
463-0113 (p)
463-0006 (f)
Fort Bend (part) and
Harris (part) counties.
Kevin Eltife
463-0101 (p)
475-3751 (f)
Bowie, Camp,
Cass, Franklin, Gregg, Harrison, Lamar, Marion, Morris, Panola, Red
River, Rusk, Smith (part), Titus, Upshur, and Wood counties.
Craig Estes
463-0130 (p)
463-8874 (f)
Archer, Baylor, Clay,
Collin (part), Cooker, Denton (part), Grayson, Jack, Montague, Palo
Pinto, Parker, Shackelford, Stephens, Throckmorton, Wichita,
Wilbarger, Wise, and Young counties.
Troy Fraser
463-0124 (p)
475-3732 (f)
Bell, Blanco, Brown,
Burnet, Callahan, Coleman, Comanche, Eastland, Erath, Gillespie,
Hamilton, Kerr, Kimble, Lampasas, Llano, McCulloch, Mason, Menard,
Mills, San Saba, and Taylor counties.
Mario Gallegos
463-0106 (p)
463-0346 (f)
Harris (part).
Chris Harris
463-0109 (p)
463-7003 (f)
Dallas (part),
Denton (part), and Tarrant (part) counties.
Glenn Hegar
463-0118 (p)
475-3736 (f)
Aransas, Austin, Bastrop,
Caldwell, Calhoun, Colorado, DeWitt, Fayette, Fort Bend (part),
Goliad, Gonzeles, Jackson, Lavaca, Matagorda, Refugio, Victoria,
Waller, Washington, and Wharton counties
Juan Hinojosa
463-0120 (p)
463-0229 (f)
Brooks, Hidalgo (part),
Jim Wells, and Nueces counties.
Mike Jackson
463-0111 (p)
475-3727 (f)
Brazoria (part),
Galveston (part), and Harris (part) counties.
Kyle Janek
463-0117 (p)
463-0639 (f)
Brazoria (part), Chambers
(part), Fort Bend (part), Galveston (part), Harris (part), and
Jefferson (part) counties.
Eddie Lucio
463-0127 (p)
463-0061 (f)
Cameron, Hidalgo (part),
Kenedy, Kleburg, and Willacy counties.
Jane Nelson
463-0112 (p)
463-0923 (f)
Denton (part) and Tarrant
(part) counties.
Robert Nichols
463-0103 (p)
463-1526 (f)
Anderson, Angelina,
Cherokee, Hardin, Henderson, Jasper, Montgomery (part), Nacogdoches,
Newton, Polk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby, Smith
(part), and Tyler counties.
Steve Ogden
463-0105 (p)
463-5713 (f)
Brazos, Burleson,
Freestone, Grimes, Houston, Lee, Leon, Limestone, Madison, Milam,
Robertson, Trinity, Walker, and Williamson counties.
Dan Patrick
463-0107 (p)
Harris (part).
Kel Seliger
463-0131 (p)
475-3733 (f)
Andrews, Bailey, Cochran,
Crane, Dallam, Deaf Smith, Ector, Gaines, Glasscock, Hansford,
Hartley, Hemphill, Howard, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Martin, Midland,
Moore, Ochiltree, Oldham, Parmer, Potter, Randall, Roberts, Sherman,
and Yoakum counties.
Florence Shapiro
463-0108 (p)
463-7579 (f)
Collin (part) and
Dallas (part).
Eliot Shapleigh
463-0129 (p)
463-0218 (f)
El Paso (part).
Carlos Uresti
463-0119 (p)
463-1017 (f)
Bandera, Bexar (part),
Brewster, Crockett, Culberson, Edwards, El Paso (part), Hudspeth, Jeff
Davis, Kinney, Loving, Maverick, Medina, Pecos, Presidio, Real,
Reeves, Sutton, Terrell, Uvalde, Val Verde, Ward, and Winkler counties.
Leticia Van De Putte
463-0126 (p)
463-2114 (f)
Bexar (part).
Kirk Watson
463-0114 (p)
463-5949 (f)
Travis (part).
Jeff Wentworth
463-0125 (p)
463-7794 (f)
Bexar (north), Comal,
Guadalupe, Hays, Kendall, and Travis (south) counties.
Royce West
463-0123 (p)
463-0299 (f)
Dallas (part).
John Whitmire
463-0115 (p)
475-3737 (f)
Harris
(part).
Tommy Williams
463-0104 (p)
463-6373 (f)
Chambers, Harris
(part), Jefferson (part), Liberty, Montgomery (part), and Orange
counties.
Judith Zaffirini
463-0121 (p)
475-3738 (f)
Atasco, Bee, Bexar
(part), Dimmit, Duval, Frio, Jim Hoggs, Karnes, LaSalle, Live Oak,
McMullen, San Patricio, Starr, Webb, Wilson, Zapata, and Zavala
counties.
TALKING POINTS FOR MEETINGS OR CALLS
NAIS is a major issue for me. It's not just one issue among many, it's an election issue.
NAIS will hurt Texas' economy:
- There has been no cost analysis by USDA or Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC)
- 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, fueling inflations
Neither the USDA nor the TAHC has scientific proof show 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.
- TAHC already has enough powers to address disease and disease outbreaks, it does not need NAIS.
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.
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 Texas to implement this program.
Other states are also rejecting or limiting NAIS, so Texas will not be disadvantaged by refusing to participate. The Arizona House and Senate have both passed a bill that would limit NAIS to a voluntary program only, and the Missouri Senate just approved a bill to bar NAIS completely.
SAMPLE LETTER OR EMAIL
PERSONALIZE the letter for the greatest effect. Legislators do not pay much attention to form letters - it's important to let them know what YOU think of the issue.
Dear Senator_______:
I am a _________ (small farmer, consumer of local foods, horse owner, taxpayer. Tell them a little bit about yourself and why you care about this issue). I ask that you support HB 461, which would limit the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) to a truly voluntary program in Texas, including preventing people from being misled or coerced into a so-called voluntary program.
I am opposed to NAIS because it will impose heavy burdens on our rights and our economy, without providing any real benefits. NAIS is an unprecedented expansion of the government bureaucracy into people's private lives and infringes on our property rights. Neither the US Department of Agriculture nor the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) has provided any scientific basis for the claims of improved disease control. Neither agency has done a cost-benefit analysis of the program, either. There are many more effective, less expensive, and less intrusive methods for improving animal health and addressing animal disease.
NAIS will drive many small and medium-size farmers and ranchers out of business and discourage people from owning horses and other livestock as pets, resulting in far-reaching effects on our economy. The only winners in this program are the microchip manufacturers, the associations that will manage the databases, and the government employees. If the federal government ultimately decides to implement NAIS, it can do so - our state should not.
Please support HB 461. This bill is critical to protecting the rights of Texans, the health of our animals, and the health of our economy.
I look forward to your response. Thank you for your attention to this issue.
Name
Street Address
City, State, Zip
Email, if you have it
Many, many thanks to all the people who have taken the time to call or write their legislators. This has been an example of how our system SHOULD work! Keep up the good work!!
Sincerely,
Judith McGeary
Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance
www.farmandranchfreedom.org