Hello All, Some have implied that our ferret legalization efforts with Assemblyman Paul Koretz' bill, AB 647, are dead. That's frankly not the case. When our bill went to the Senate Appropriations Committee, the chair, Senator Migden, told our author, Paul Koretz, that he had a two year bill, not a dead bill. And Assembly member Koretz is very, very committed to beginning the process of correc ting the injustice that criminalizes ferret owners in California. Assemblymember Koretz wants to send AB 647 to the Governor's desk for his signature. Should this bill pass, it would begin the path to legalization, a path which does include a study but it's a study that even our best friends in the legislature (such as Senator Kuehl, co-author) believe is necessary in order to not damage CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act. CEQA was also mentioned by the Governor in his veto message when he vetoed SB 55. So, much as I oppose the waste of time and money for a study of this issue, it is clearly part of the political landscape necessary to allow our issue to move ahead. The instance upon a CEQA process, by friends and foes alike, is also one of the many reasons why the initiative process is not appropriate for this issue. Should the ferret initiative make the ballot, the press, when interviewing Senator Kuehl or the Governor about this issue, would report her concerns that the ferret initiative would circumvent CEQA thereby damaging a celebrated California Environmental Protection Act. The initiative would then be seen by th e public as a threat to CEQA (we would be seen as trying to go around CEQA) rather than as an attempt to simply remove a domesticated animal from a list of wildlife. One thing I've learned about the press is that they are very, very lazy on the ferret issue. They simply interview Fish and Game or other opponents and then ferret folks but never take the time to really look at the facts (such as Fish and Game's own very revealing study showing no feral ferrets, the United States Department of Agriculture's classification of the ferret as domesticated). In the absence of more investigative reporting what comes across is simply our word against the authorities, the experts. It's a sad but true fact of life and would easily color the outcome of any vote. And since ferret proponents have no advertising budget we could not counter any misinformation or disinformation about ferrets and the environment. There's a lot of money spent in the initiative process for issues that touch, and are known by, the majority of households such as taxes, redistricting, insurance etc. These are the kinds of issues that have a lot of money and people behind them and lend themselves to the initiative process. Ferret legalization is simply not one of them. Both of the lobbyists most active on this issue in Sacramento, ours and the pet industry's have told me that a failed ferret initiative will stop legalization dead in it's tracks for quite some time. Both legislators and judges confronted with this issue could point to a vote by the people of California against ferret legalization as a reason to not address the issue should it come before them. None of the professionals sees the initiative process as an intelligent option, especially since we don't know in advance the answer to the question, "Would most Californians support ferret legalization?" Backers of the ferret initiative should have spent the money (around $2,000.00 I understand) to poll Californians on this issue in advance of undertaking something that, if it fails, could slam the door shut for quite some time, perhaps forever. As any good attorney will tell you, you don't ask a question unless you know the answer. This is what proponents of the initiative process are doing, asking the question before they know the answer. And what if the answer is no? If it is, that's all the proponents will have to do is point to a no vote and say "the people of California have spoken." I also have to remind folks that about $300 million was spent in advertising for the last round of initiatives. Even if the issue qualified for the ballot (the possibility is so remote it's the only reason I'm not losing too much sleep over this), legalization proponents would have no $$ to combat any lies told or misinformation that would sway public opinion about an animal that is known only to a small percentage of the population. So, with all of this said, I encourage you to do two things: 1) See this bill out. Let's finish what we started. We're more than half way to the Governor's desk, having passed four of the six hurdles. AB 647 has passed the Assembly Policy Committee vote, the Assembly Appropriations Committee vote, the Assembly Floor vote and the Senate Policy Committee Vote. It has two more hurdles before the Governor's desk, the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Senate Floor. Now is the time to write to your State Senator and ask him/her to support AB 647. I can't tell you how many people ask me when ferrets will be legalized but when I ask if they've written to their representative they tell me they have not. This will not happen just because you want it to. Your legislator is not a mind reader. You must contact them and tell them to support Mr. Koretz' bill, AB 647. Write even if you have written last year, write again, now please. You can find out who represents you by visiting our web site and clicking on Legislators-- Know your Local Representative. http://www.ferretnews.org/legislators.html 2) Help us finish the bill out with the representation in Sacramento it needs by supporting our lobbyist Bob Naylor. Bob was Republican Assembly Whip and is now one of the most respected lobbyists in Sacramento. It's a plus that he's with a Republican lobbying firm because he has direct communication with members of the Governors staff and we want to pass a bill the Governor can sign. Limited funds last year meant we could not use Bob's help when we needed it most and I believe had we been able to afford more of his help we might have seen the Governor's veto coming. This will be my last year working in Sacramento on this issue and Bob has given this issue a discount because he knows my family so I doubt we'll have representation of his caliber in the future. I strongly urge you to help now. Please take a moment to make out a check to: Nielsen Merksamer But please mail the check to me so I can forward them in a batch and the firm knows what they are for. Mail your donation to: Jeanne Carley 410 Mountain Home Road Woodside, CA 94062 Also, if you have any more signatures to contribute, please go ahead and send those in now. Thanks, Jeanne P.S. I will be at the Ferrets Anonymous Roundup on March 25th in Pasadena if any of you are interested in attending. Details are on the Ferrets Anonymous web site, http://www.ferretsanonymous.com [Posted in FML issue 5172]