Tag Archives: legislation

Ontario, Canada: Bill 16 committee testimony from April 18 hearing

Posted on April 19, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Bill 16, which would repeal the Ontario breed ban, had a public hearing in committee on April 18.

Testimony was unanimously in favor of Bill 16 and breed ban repeal. Several excellent speakers made smart arguments.

If you would like to read the hearing transcript: http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/committee-proceedings/committee_transcripts_details.do?locale=en&Date=2012-04-18&ParlCommID=8962&BillID=2552&Business&DocumentID=26206

If you would like to watch the hearing video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BkkKPt5WbLA

The next committee hearing on Bill 16 will take place on April 25.

All alerts for Ontario Bill 16: http://stopbsl.com/?s=%22Bill+16%22

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Ontario, Canada: Committee public hearing on Bill 16, April 18 & 25

Posted on April 16, 2012 by | 2 Comments

The Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills will hold public hearings on Ontario Bill 16 (to repeal the province-wide “pit bull” ban) on April 18 at 8:00 AM in Room 1 and again on April 25. More information about attending committee hearings.

If you wish to make a written submission in support of Bill 16, please read the below information.

Bill 16, An Act to amend the Animals for Research Act and the Dog Owners’ Liability Act with respect to pit bulls

The Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills will meet to consider Bill 16, An Act to amend the Animals for Research Act and the Dog Owners’ Liability Act with respect to pit bulls.

The Committee intends to hold public hearings in Toronto on Wednesday, April 18 and Wednesday, April 25, 2012.

Interested people who wish to be considered to make an oral presentation on Bill 16 should contact the Clerk of the Committee by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 12, 2012. [Testimony sign-up date already passed.]

Those who do not wish to make an oral presentation but wish to comment on the Bill may send written submissions to the Clerk of the Committee at the address below by 12:00 noon on Wednesday, April 25, 2012.

An electronic version of the Bill is available on the Legislative Assembly website at: www.ontla.on.ca

Room 1405, Whitney Block/Bureau 1405, édifice Whitney
Queen’s Park, Toronto, ON  M7A 1A2
Telephone/Téléphone: (416) 325-3506
Facsimile/Télécopieur: (416) 325-3505
TTY/ATS: (416) 325-3538
E-mail/Courriel: tamara_pomanski@ontla.ola.org

Read More About Bill 16

Previous alerts for Bill 16: http://stopbsl.com/?s=%22Bill+16%22

You may read the text of Bill 16 here: http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/bills/bills_detail.do?locale=en&Intranet&BillID=2552

Local groups working for Bill 16: http://supporthersheysbill.com/http://www.bringbackthebulls.com/

Facebook pages/groups: http://www.facebook.com/groups/168292380876/ http://www.facebook.com/Supporting.Hersheys.Bill

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Posted in Canada, Proposal to Repeal

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Nevada: Assemblyman plans to introduce bill to make BSL illegal

Posted on March 12, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Nevada’s 2013 legislative session will be an exciting one!

Assemblyman John Hambrick plans to introduce a bill in 2013 that would prohibit Nevada municipalities from passing BSL. If the bill passes, Nevada would become the 13th state in the U.S. to prohibit its municipalities from passing BSL.

This isn’t Hambrick’s first attempt to “ban BSL” in Nevada. In 2011, he sponsored Assembly Bill 324. Unfortunately, the bill didn’t get far before bogging down in committee and missing a critical deadline.

Although we have a while before the 2013 legislative session, supporters of the new bill are already organizing. Let’s help Nevada make BSL illegal in 2013!

You can help Nevada become BSL-free.

Sign the online petition to make breed discrimination illegal in Nevada: http://www.change.org/petitions/nevada-legislature-revise-nrs-202500-to-make-breed-discrimination-illegal-in-nevada

Nevada residents, contact your assembly members and senators and tell them you want to make breed discrimination illegal in Nevada.
Legislator Finder: http://mapserve.leg.state.nv.us/website/lcb/viewer.htm

Up for a bigger challenge? Hambrick could use some additional sponsors for his bill (more sponsors means a better chance of survival). Ask your assembly members to sign on to Hambrick’s bill.

Join up with other supporters.
Las Vegas-based Incred-a-Bull is on top of the initiative.
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/IncredABull.org

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Posted in Nevada, Non-BSL Proposed

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Florida legislative session over, HB 997 / SB 1322 dead

Posted on March 10, 2012 by | 9 Comments

The Florida legislature wrapped up on March 9. HB 997 / SB 1322, which would have repealed Miami-Dade’s breed ban, did not make it. HB 997 was waiting on a second hearing, and SB 1322 was stuck in a subcommittee.

However, hope is not lost for Miami-Dade. Florida residents, and Miami-Dade residents in particular, can continue to work for repeal of the county’s breed ban in several ways.

Ask Miami-Dade county commissioners to repeal the breed ban. Of course, people have already asked the commissioners to repeal the breed ban, and they’ve flatly refused (which is why HB 997 came to be in the first place). But commissioners have recently suggested putting the breed ban to a public vote. Also, election times give residents the opportunity to remove pro-ban commissioners and vote repeal-oriented commissioners in.

Miami-Dade County Commissioner email block
district1@miamidade.gov; district2@miamidade.gov; district3@miamidade.gov; district4@miamidade.gov; district5@miamidade.gov; district6@miamidade.gov; district7@miamidade.gov; district8@miamidade.gov; district9@miamidade.gov; district10@miamidade.gov; district11@miamidade.gov; district12@miamidade.gov; district13@miamidade.gov;

Ask your Florida legislator to re-file or co-sponsor HB 997 / SB 1322 in the next legislative session. Sometimes it takes a couple of tries to get a law passed. (Just ask Ohio!)

Contact your State Representative and Senator
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/representatives/myrepresentative.aspx

Join the Miami Coalition Against Breed-Specific Legislation to keep up with efforts to repeal Miami-Dade’s BSL: http://www.mcabsl.wildapricot.org/

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Posted in Florida, Proposal to Repeal

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Florida HB 997 scheduled for second reading, March 5

Posted on March 5, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Update 3/6/12: The bill is still on the second reading calendar, but has not been read yet. We do not know if or when the House will take it up.

HB 997, which would repeal the breed ban in Miami-Dade (thereby treating all Florida municipalities and citizens equally), was postponed at second reading on March 2. It has been rescheduled for second reading on March 5. This could potentially set it up for a full House vote on March 6—barring any further delays.

Unfortunately, the legislative session ends on March 9, and the bill still has to go to the Senate side even if it passes the House. The continued delays have made the bill unlikely to pass without heroic measures.

However, Floridians, please continue to fight for HB 997 and push it as far in the process as it will go in the remaining time. The further it goes and the more successful it is, the more likely that the bill will be refiled next session. Some of you may remember Ohio HB 79. In 2009, HB 79 passed the Ohio House, but ran out of time and died in the Senate. Seeing that HB 79 had done well, even though it didn’t pass, Rep. Sears refiled the bill last year as HB 14. And of course, we all know what happened with HB 14! Sometimes it takes a few tries.

Florida residents, please contact your House Representatives and urge them to support HB 997.
If you do not know your House Rep, you can use the Legislator Finder:
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/representatives/myrepresentative.aspx

SB 1322, the companion bill on the Senate side, is still stuck in a subcommittee. Florida residents, please contact your Senator and ask him or her to intervene on behalf of SB 1322. The bill needs to be removed from the subcommittee and put back in motion.
Find your Senator here: http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/Find

Status page for HB 997: http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=48233

Status page for SB 1322: http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2012/1322

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Florida HB 997 will have second reading, March 2

Posted on March 1, 2012 by | Leave a comment

We are down to the wire in Florida, with the legislative session ending on March 9. Nevertheless, some good news—HB 997, which would repeal the breed ban in Miami-Dade (thereby treating all Florida municipalities and citizens equally), is still moving forward.

HB 997 has been scheduled on the Special Order Calendar for a second reading on March 2. This could potentially mean a third reading and House vote early next week!

Florida residents, please contact your House Representatives and urge them to support HB 997.
If you do not know your House Rep, you can use the Legislator Finder:
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/representatives/myrepresentative.aspx

Unfortunately, SB 1322, the companion bill on the Senate side, is still stuck in a subcommittee, voted against 5-2. Unless SB 1322 gets out of the subcommittee, it will be difficult if not impossible to get HB 997 passed by the deadline. The consideration of companion bills allows both the House and the Senate to consider a bill at the same time, which speeds up the process; without a companion bill, an approved House bill then has to go through the Senate process.

Florida residents, please contact your Senator and ask him or her to intervene on behalf of SB 1322. The bill needs to be removed from the subcommittee and put back in motion.
Find your Senator here: http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/Find

Status page for HB 997: http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=48233

Status page for SB 1322: http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2012/1322

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Florida SB 1322 stopped in committee

Posted on February 28, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Edit 2/29/12: After some reading, we are now fairly sure the “temporarily postponed” status is a euphemism for “did not pass.” SB 1322 is stuck in committee. The legislative session ends on March 9, so there is very little time left to salvage the effort. SB 1322 needs to be pulled from the committee and voted on by the full Senate. Please write your Senator today and ask him or her to help get SB 1322 out of the committee and onto the floor: http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/representatives/myrepresentative.aspx
HB 997 also needs a full House vote by March 9. Please use the link above to also contact your House Representatives as well, and push them to vote on HB 997.
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Florida Senate Bill 1322, which would repeal the breed ban in Miami-Dade County, may not have passed subcommittee today. According to its status, it was “temporarily postponed” in the Budget Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations.

“Temporarily postponed” suggests it will be taken up again. However, I listened to today’s committee podcast, which tells a very different story.

Committee member Senator Christopher Smith at first did not appear to understand what the bill did: “So what is it, you’re exempting an ordinance that pre- what does this do, period? … This bill, now Miami-Dade wouldn’t be able to ban pit bulls?”

Despite being unclear about the bill, during the brief committee debate, Smith gave an impassioned speech against SB 1322: ”In many areas in my district, there are kids getting mauled by pit bulls and ‘rockweilers.’ You can’t walk down the street in my neighborhood without seeing guys walking around with big Rottweilers and pit bulls on ropes. . . . Please allow local governments to deal with local issues and not take away everybody’s rights. If you want dogs other places and if you have hunting dogs or Greyhounds or whatever you got other places, that might be great for those places, but allow local communities to deal with public safety concerns in their local communities and vote down this very, very bad bill.” (Apparently Senator Smith is unaware that state law already prohibits all other municipalities from passing BSL.)

A vote followed:
Senator Bennett: No
Senator Evers: Yes
Senator Smith: No
Senator Storms: No
Senator Thrasher: No
Senator Joyner: No
Chair Bogdanoff: Yes
As a result, the bill has failed to pass the subcommittee.

I do not know at this time where this leaves SB 1322 or what its next step will be, but it does not look good.

In the event that SB 1322 is indeed truly “temporarily postponed” (not just a euphemism for “killed”), and is taken up by the subcommittee again, please contact the following members and explain to them why it is important to pass SB 1322: bogdanoff.ellyn.web@flsenate.gov; joyner.arthenia.web@flsenate.gov; bennett.mike.web@flsenate.gov; evers.greg.web@flsenate.gov; smith.chris.web@flsenate.gov; storms.ronda.web@flsenate.gov; thrasher.john.web@flsenate.gov

Status page for SB 1322: http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2012/1322

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