| Legislative Issues |
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UPDATE FROM ZAA LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE Legislative and Regulatory Action There is a tremendous amount of legislative action happening across our country that will have an impact on responsible animal ownership. ZAA will try its best to keep track of legislation, ordinances, and rules as they progress, however, our resources are certainly limited. Our organization does not have the resources or ability to track every piece of legislation or bureaucratic rule across the country. Therefore, it is incumbent upon our membership to get engaged in their particular communities. We are asking that you contact us for assistance if laws are being written in your community that will impact animal ownership. We will do our best to provide you with advice and support with the limited resources that we have at our disposal, but it is imperative that you get involved. So what can you do? 1) Keep track of rules or legislation that is going through the process. How can you do this? Your state usually has a website to track legislation and bureaucratic rules for its citizens. Take a look at these sites and get informed. Your local government may not necessarily have a website to track legislation, but a phone call, email, or letter asking your elected official to keep you in the loop if anything arises will often help. Another method is to take a look at what the opposition is pushing, which will usually be harmful to all of us. 2) Contact us! My email is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and my cell number is (810) 599-2957. 3) Get involved! It is essential to contact your elected and appointed officials. There is usually an opportunity to voice your concerns about potential laws and make certain to do that. You must pick up a phone, send an email, or write a letter. All of the officials work for you in the end and that is important to remember. Make your voices be heard, elected officials are especially responsive to their voters. 4) Be pro-active! Invite your elected and appointed policymakers to your place and get to know them or even stop in at their office hours. Good relationships are key in the policy making process. I hate to repeat myself over and over, but we must communicate with our decision-makers.
Current status: We are providing a bit of assistance to many of you across the country. We wish that we could afford more to assist in battles in every part of the country, but that's simply not in the cards. We have been in contact with members in many jurisdictions and would like you to feel free to contact us. The legislation at the federal level right now will have the most significant impact on virtually all members of our association. H.R. 669 will impact many and will devastatingly impact many, many, many people across the country. As Chairman Jim Fouts mentioned, we have retained representation in Washington, D.C. at a very cheap rate to help get our word out about the impact of this legislation. S. 373, also in D.C., will impact the ownership of pythons and even if you do not work in the snake area, this is a slippery slope and only the beginning of trampling all over your rights. Please call your elected officials in Washington, D.C. to let them know how these issues will impact you. Joe Hune ZAA Legislative Task Force Chairman (810) 599-2957 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |