It looks like Texas is trying to stop NAIS too. Hope they have better luck than South Dakota did with HB 1224.
How many other states have legislation pending or have passed legislation to keep NAIS voluntary, do any of you know?
Bill Filed in Texas House to Stop Mandatory NAIS
March 15, 2009
Representative Kleinschmidt has filed HB 3322 to stop the Texas Animal Health Commission from making NAIS mandatory! HB 3322 is identical to SB 682, filed earlier this session by Senator Eltife.
Under the current law, the TAHC has the authority to make NAIS mandatory whenever it wishes. HB 3322/ SB 682 remove that authority and the civil and criminal penalties for noncompliance. The bills also contain several key protections to prevent coercive or misleading tactics from being used to implement NAIS, including the misuse of existing disease control programs. HB 3322/ SB 682 does include a provision that allows the TAHC to mandate the NAIS if and only if the USDA adopts a final rule under the Administrative Procedures Act mandating NAIS. This "federal trigger" is not ideal, but it has been carefully limited.
Ultimately, we must fight NAIS at BOTH the state and the federal level. By passing this bill in Texas, we not only provide important protections for Texans, but we send a signal to Congress that Texans are opposed to the NAIS, helping us at the federal level.
Neither bill has been set for a committee hearing yet, and we anticipate significant opposition to getting the bills out of committee. So it is critical that more legislators step forward to co-sponsor these bills, to provide the impetus to move them forward!!
Please call your State Senator and Representative this week to urge him or her to co-sponsor SB 682 and HB 3322!
You can read the bill and follow its progress at http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=81R&Bill=HB3322