Ginger Cleary,Rome, GA ww.rihadin.com Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it. ~Thomas Paine Member GSDCA Member Sawnee Mtn Kennel Club GA Director Responsible Dog Owners of the Eastern States. -----Original Message----- UPDATES FROM THE ANIMAL COUNCIL June 8, 2007 (Last publication date 6/6/07 Appropriate forwarding encouraged.) Preserving Our Right To Own And Breed Animals Is Your Responsibility IN THIS ISSUE: * CA AB 1634 (LEVINE/NAVA/PADILLA/SOLARIO) PARTISAN WEDGE STRATEGY * "CA HEALTHY PETS ACT" EGREGIOUS WEB SITE ERROR ON CA SALES TAX VOTE NOW IN MSNBC POLL at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19113211 Scroll down in the article to find the poll link and vote for "No way. This should be a decision left to pet owners." Results have been running very close. THE ANIMAL COUNCIL'S web site at http://www.theanimalcouncil.com is updated frequently supplementing advocacy information through these Updates with new and expanded features. 2007 California bill information for each bill we track with links to key documents, contact information for legislators and more. The other surviving bills are progressing to policy committees in their second house. See http://www.theanimalcouncil.com/CA2007.html ***** CA AB 1634 (LEVINE, NAVA, SOLARIO; SEN. PADILLA), the "California Healthy Pets Act" passed the Assembly Floor with the bare minimum 41 affirmative votes and 38 noes on Wednesday, June 6 after weeks of hectic lobbying efforts ranging from retained professionals to green grassroots. In the end, all 32 Republican votes held and 6 Democrats crossed over. Democrat Nell Soto was absent and probably would have been an extra affirmative vote. The 40 member Senate has a similar ratio with only 15 Republicans, 25 Democrats and only 21 affirmative votes needed to pass a bill on the Senate Floor. Democrats also have majorities in all committees. Very few California legislative districts are competitive by party, making the primary process critically important as legislators rotate through term limits of 3 terms in the Assembly and 2 in the Senate. Current Senators all have known past voting records and Democrat Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-9) of Oakland has been bullying moderates this year. AB 1634 would mandate creation of a new, permanent bureaucracy for California's 536 local jurisdictions to enact and implement an intact permit to keep unaltered dogs and cats over 4 months of age subject to eligibility requirements and restrictions, which have been and will be further amended in the Senate as promised by author Levine in response to Democrats objecting on the Assembly Floor as well as other interest groups. So far, there are no provisions for assessment of results over time, sunset date or accountability standards for local agencies. AB 1634 awaits assignment to a Senate policy committee. When a bill is amended in the second house, it must return to the house of origin for concurrence in the later amendments before being sent to the Governor who must actually veto a bill to prevent it from becoming law. CALIFORNIA HEALTHY PETS ACT web site at http://www.cahealthypets.com now features several text boxes at the top of the home page, accessible by clicking past Bob Barker's letter that now opens the web site. While we could take issue with each of these topics, our readers have specifically asked that we respond to the following topic that concludes with a false statement: ***""Hobby Breeders" and "Amateur Breeders" are subject to the same rules as the larger breeders. The titles hobby breeder and amateur breeder have been coined by "low volume" breeders in an effort to make themselves seem innocuous, but the terms do not reflect any legal standing. According to a 2001 analysis by the State Board of Equalization, "any breeder making more than two sales of puppies or kittens during any 12-month period is required to obtain a seller's permit and report the tax on those sales". In other words, anyone in California who sells two or more animals per year is already required by law to obtain a permit and pay taxes on the income. The vast majority of current breeders in California do not follow this requirement.*** We agree that the term "hobby" breeder is not a legal term of art in California law (it often is elsewhere), and "amateur" and "low volume" are meaningless nonsense. But none of these terms apply to whom must have a "California Seller's Permit" ? the term of art used by the California Board of Equalization for those sellers required to collect and remit sales tax. The threshold for sellers who are not engaged in business is "occasional sales" covered in Regulation 1595, essentially "Generally, a person who makes three or more sales for substantial amounts in a period of 12 months is required to hold a seller's permit regardless of whether the sales are at retail or are for resale." The BOE position is that this does not mean sales of individual pet animals sold by those not otherwise engaged in selling pets as a business, so that "sales" would generally include all members of a litter in the same way that the exemption for 2 garage sales covers sale of ALL items at each of two garage sales ? a garage sale being an occasional event different from a regular flea market vendor. The CAHPA web site conclusion claims that only one pet animal could be sold without a Seller's Permit which is totally incorrect. Further, sales tax is not a tax on income but a tax on the amount of the sale, paid by the buyer and collected and remitted by the seller. It is NOT a tax on the seller's income! Of course, the "vast majority" of California breeders do not have Seller's Permits, because they do not need them and SHOULD NOT have them. Seller's Permits are intended for people making sales in the course of business, and very few California breeders are actually engaged in breeding as a business. Another common allegation is that breeders are pocketing "tax free" income from sales, whereas proper accounting for all legitimate deductions (either as hobby or Schedule C filers) rarely results in significant taxable income. This misrepresentation of fact ? whether made by intentional malice or reckless failure to check and cite basic facts is inexcusable when linked to the elected legislators and primary sponsors of AB 1634. Unfortunately, this approach permeates the entire bill and its concept of further reducing shelter entry by placing an ongoing burden on the relatively small proportion of owners of intact dogs and cats. For more information about California sales tax, see http://www.boe.ca.gov Or speak with a representative at 800-400-7115 ***** *a service of THE ANIMAL COUNCIL, P.O. BOX 168, MILLBRAE CA 94030 Contact us at <TheAnimalCouncil@xxxxxxx> URL <http://www.theanimalcouncil.com> Incorporated 1991, tax exempt under IRC Section 501(c)(4) Online news updates published sporadically since 1997. Legislative tracking subject to change. Find your own CA legislators http://192.234.213.69/lmapsearch/framepage.asp __._,_.___ No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. 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