Just to update all of you, the Ferret Bill (House Bill 295) has FINALLY made
it out of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. YEAH!!!!  It is now in the
Committee on Steering and Policy.  We are as of this writing, checking into
what strategy should be done to get out of this committee.
 
Here is a breakdown on what this Committee does, I received this information
from the Office of the Massachusetts Secretary of State "Lawmaking in
Massachusetts":
 
The Committee on Steering and Poicy was established in 1986 to advise the
Senate on the order of priorities of the matters referred to it, on the
urgency for consideration of such matters, and on alternative methods of
responding to such matters.  The committee is required to report on the
Senate floor on the bills referred to it no later than 45 days after
receiving them, and before the last formal sitting of the legislative
session.
 
The first reading of a favorably-reported bill is automatic and occurs when
the committee's report appears in the Journal of the House or Senate Clerk.
Matters not requiring reference to another joint House or Senate committee
are, following the first reading, referred without debate to the Committee
on Steering and Policy in the Senate, or placed in the Orders of the Day
(the Calendar) without debate, for a second reading in the House.
 
Again, as soon as we get the word from Rep. Jones on what needs to be done,
I'll let you all know.  Thanks so much for all that everyone's done so far!
 
Sharon Burbine,
Mass Friends of The Domestic Ferret Group
[Posted in FML issue 1374]