[ SHOWGSD-L ] MA<> Lobby Days Information

From: stormy435 <stormy435@xxxxxxx>
To: "showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:22:54 -0700
It appears that there are two Lobby Days coming up in MA. One is this 
Thursday, April 8 and the other is next Tuesday, April 14.
The April 8 event is organized by The Massachusetts Federation of Dog 
Clubs and Responsible Dog Owners and starts at 9am. The April 14 event is 
organized by the MSPCA and HSU and officially starts at 10am, but it is 
recommended that participants arrive before 9:30.

Both events will begin in Nurses Hall on the second floor of the State 
House in Boston.

I don't care that HSUS is the organizer for one of the days - go anyway. 
HSUS simply does not have enough people in New England to be much of a 
force. There are more of "us" than there are of "them"

Having two animal-centric lobby days so close together affords owners, 
breeders and concerned citizens with marvelous opportunities to meet with 
their State legislators and lobby their concerns.

It is recommended that you make an appointment with your legislators in 
advance to ensure that you have the opportunity to meet them and state 
your position.

Nurses Hall has a finite capacity, so if you haven't made a reservation 
with the organizing parties, please do not be discouraged if you can not 
get into the preliminary kick off meeting.

Note that on Tuesday, April 14, the House will be in session. The good 
news is that the Representatives will be there, the bad news is that
getting time with them may be difficult.

A note to all, while these Lobby Days are a great opportunity to interact 
with your legislators, there will be more opportunities to make your
voices heard.

Massachusetts operates on a two year legislative cycyle. We are just
starting the 2009-2010 cycle. Approximately 6,000 pieces of legislation in 
total have been filed so far. An additional 2,000 pieces may be filed 
late. Your team on Beacon Hill is going to be very busy, so use your
contacts with them wisely - be brief and to the point. Take every 
opportunity to meet them, whether in their district offices or at 
fundraisers, etc. Do not get discouraged if you reach an aide. That aide 
may very well be the person who is doing the legwork for the bill that you 
are interested in.

Every bill has to have at least one public hearing. Announcement of the 
hearings may be given with little advance warning, so stay sharp!

One good summary of legislation is on the Mass Fed website:
http://www.massfeddogs.org

Another summary is at: http://www.mspca.org

CFA has a table of MA legislation in its legislative section, but the 
bills are listed by docket number. Test for all of the bills can be found 
at http://www.mass.gov/legis Note, you will need the bill number to 
access bill text. I have not found a good cross reference of bill number 
to docket number.

More as things develop.
Diana
--
Stormy Hope
www.carpoc.org
AKC Legislative Liaison, GSDCA
Sunshine Squad <showgsd.org/sunshine.html)
GSDs and more

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[ SHOWGSD-L ] MA<> Lobby Days Information

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