Senate Bill 250 has been sent to the Assembly Appropriations Suspense File because staff expects the bill to cost the state more than $150,000 a year to enforce. The committee will schedule a Suspense File hearing prior to the August 28th fiscal deadline. Once the date of that hearing is known, we will post an update on our website.
AKC wishes to thank our federations, clubs, fanciers and responsible dog owners and breeders who worked hard to educate their legislators about the problems with this bill. The legislators are scheduled to be on recess from July 17th to August 17th (although this may change due to the fiscal crisis), meaning legislators will be back in their districts. This is a great opportunity to schedule a personal meeting with your Assemblymember and make sure that he or she is fully educated about the potential negative consequences of SB 250.
To find out who represents you in the California State Assembly, please click here.
CA SB 250 Moves to Assembly Appropriations Committee: Opposition Needed!!
Yesterday, CA Senate Bill 250 passed the Assembly Business and Professions Committee by a vote of 6 to 4. The bill will next be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on July 15th. The American Kennel Club did fax a letter of opposition to the Business and Professions Committee, but our name failed to appear on the analysis. The committee staff has informed the AKC Government Relations Department that they were inundated with letters and were unable to process them all. The Appropriations Committee analysis will not list support and opposition; however, we still encourage clubs and individuals to contact the committee members regarding their opposition.
Additionally, amendments that Senator Florez indicated in the Senate that he would accept have not been adopted. He indicated to the committee that he had them in mock-up form, but the committee declined to take them up. Although we anticipate that Senator Florez will present those amendments prior to the Appropriations Committee hearing, we cannot evaluate them until they are in print.
The American Kennel Club opposes Senate Bill 250 as it continues to use sterilization as a punishment for any violation of the animal control ordinance and for failure to license. Strict limit laws and unreasonably high license fees contribute significantly to people’s failure to license their animals and these issues should be examined when addressing animal control issues.
Finally, existing state law already requires that owners of intact animals pay a license fee that is at least double that to license a sterilized animal (Food and Agriculture Code Section 30804.5) and provides for enhanced and graduated fines for owners whose intact dogs are impounded (Food and Agriculture Code Section 30804.7). These statutes are sufficient to incentivize owners to sterilize their animals and to address animal control concerns with specific intact animals who are impounded repeatedly.
This legislation will not improve the lives of cats and dogs, but it will negatively impact responsible owners and breeders. Additionally, by placing additional burdens on owners of intact animals, this measuremay lead to an increase of animals in shelters.Concentrating animal control efforts on dogs whose behavior demonstrates that they are a problem for the community, regardless of their reproductive status, would be a much better use of taxpayer funds.
What You Can Do:
- Attend the Assembly Appropriations Committee hearing on July 15th. Although only limited testimony is likely to be allowed, a show of opposition is still important.
Assembly Appropriations Committee Hearing
July 15th, 2009 at 9 a.m.
California State Capitol
Room 4202 - Contact the Members of the Assembly Appropriations Committee and ask them to oppose SB 250. For a sample letter to personalize, please click here.
- Encourage your club to send a letter. For a sample letter to personalize, please click here.
Mailing Address for All Assemblymembers:
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
Appropriations Committee Members
Assemblymember Kevin de Leon – Chair
Assemblymember.deLeon@assembly.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 319-2045
Fax: (916) 319-2145
Assemblymember Jim Nielsen – Vice Chair
Assemblymember.Nielsen@assembly.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 319-2002
Fax: (916) 319-2102
Assemblymember Tom Ammiano
Assemblymember.Ammiano@assembly.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 319-2013
Fax: (916) 319-2113
Assemblymember Charles M. Calderon
Assemblymember.Calderon@assembly.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 319-2058
Fax: (916) 319-2158
Assemblymember Joe Coto
Assemblymember.coto@assembly.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 319-2023
Fax: (916) 319-2123
Assemblymember Mike Davis
Assemblymember.Davis@assembly.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 319-2048
Fax: (916) 319-2148
Assemblymember Michael D. Duvall
Assemblymember.Duvall@assembly.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 319-2072
Fax: (916) 319-2172
Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes
Assemblymember.fuentes@assembly.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 319-2039
Fax: (916) 319-2139
Assemblymember Isadore Hall III
Assemblymember.Hall@assembly.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 319-2052
Fax: (916) 319-2152
Assemblymember Diane L. Harkey
Assemblymember.Harkey@assembly.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 319-2073
Fax: (916) 319-2173
Assemblymember Jeff Miller
Assemblymember.Miller@assembly.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 319-2071
Fax: (916) 319-2171
Assemblymember John A. Pérez
Assemblymember.John.Perez@assembly.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 319-2046
Fax: (916) 319-2146
Assemblymember Nancy Skinner
Assemblymember.Skinner@assembly.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 319-2014
Fax: (916) 319-2114
Assemblymember Jose Solorio
Assemblymember.solorio@assembly.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 319-2069
Fax: (916) 319-2169
Assemblymember Audra Strickland
Assemblymember.strickland@assembly.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 319-2037
Fax: (916) 319-2137
Assemblymember Tom Torlakson
Assemblymember.Torlakson@assembly.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 319-2011
Fax: (916) 319-2111
Senate Bill 250 has been sent to the Assembly Appropriations Suspense File because staff expects…