Hello all,
 
Sadly our bill died in the legislature yesterday due to a procedural
attempt by our author to keep it alive without prior approval by the
Senate leadership.  It had nothing to do with the bill (the Senate
leadership is NOT against this issue) but everything to do with not
following procedures that would have put our bill in a more favorable
light.
 
Our lobbyist is still trying to see if there is anything that can be done
at any level to salvage this year's efforts but keep in mind that failure
at the legislative level NEVER precludes another bill, NEVER shuts the
door on subsequent bills or authors.  What WILL close the door for years
to come on ALL avenues (including efforts at the level of the Governor's
office) is a FAILED INITIATIVE.
 
If a ferret legalization ballot initiative qualifies, make no mistake,
it WILL FAIL.  And it will fail for several reasons:
 
1) The issue DOES NOT AFFECT THE MAJORITY OF CA VOTERS.
 
2) We have NO advertising budget which is KEY to success as anyone
   knows with initiatives.
 
3) Without any kind of environmental study, we will have multiple groups
in opposition who dropped their opposition to our bill when a study was
included (Sierra Club, CA Waterfowl, Audubon Society, Governor's Office,
Planning and Conservation League).  All of these organizations have $$
to spend in political ads against a ferret initiative.
 
No legislator will introduce a ferret legalization bill on the heels of
a failed initiative.  No Governor will legalize ferrets after the people
of California have spoken and said they do not want ferrets legalized
in California.  Our opponents would be delighted to see a ferret
legalization initiative on the ballot because they know it will fail
and it will be the end of the issue for quite some time.  The initiative
plays right into their hands.
 
A very small percentage of the bills introduced each year reach the
Governor's Office.  If our author had made our bill more of a priority
and received prior approval for his procedural efforts with the Senate
leadership, we would have again reached the Governor's desk and this was
a bill he could sign.  My objective in this issue has been to move the
ball forward AND TO DO NO HARM to the issue.  A FAILED INITIATIVE DOES
SERIOUS HARM TO FERRET LEGALIZATION EFFORTS.
 
I'm sorry about the bill's demise and want to thank all of you who wrote
to your Senators and Assemblymembers.  You've done a fine job.  We owe a
huge debt of gratitude to our lobbyist Bob Naylor and to our author Paul
Koretz.  It's quite a bit of work to carry a bill and Mr. Koretz did a
fantastic job of presenting our bill in committee and clearly cared about
it but with so many bills to carry, it just came up short sadly.
 
Another ferret bill will eventually succeed.  In any case, we close
no doors with this failure.  But make no mistake, a failed initiative
CLOSES ALL DOORS TO LEGALIZATION FOR DECADES.
 
Jeanne Carley
--
Jeanne Carley's 2007 edition, Ferret Fun is here!  To enjoy some amazing
ferret photography visit http://www.ferretcompany.com
 
NEW!  Custom prints of Jeanne's terrific ferret photos!  Is there
a ferret picture that you've always loved?  You can now order your
favorite ferret photo by Jeanne Carley.  Click on Collections to choose.
[Posted in FML issue 5345]