2015 Legislative Session - Current Step
February 28
Unhappily the discussion of some other bills on the House Health and Human Resources Committee ran long and SB 30 was pulled from the agenda. I am assured it will be back on the agenda next Thursday. Sunday is the day all bills are due out of committee in the house of origin. So starting next week, committees can ONLY consider bills from the opposite chamber. The Legislature web site shows only 4 senate bills in the hands of the house health committee. So I am sure it will be on their agenda next week. I'll post here as soon as they have a posted agenda. God is a God of last minute rescues, so we're not done yet! There's still time you call or email the members of the House Health and Human Resources Committee if you haven't already done so and politely ask them to vote in favor of SB 30.
February 25
SB 30 is on the agenda of the House Health and Human Resources Committee tomorrow (Feb. 26) at 3pm!! This is huge! Please take time to contact every member of the committee asking them to vote yes on SB 30! Remember, politeness counts so ask, nicely. :)
February 20
SB 30 - Herd Shares PASSED the ENTIRE SENATE CHAMBER today!! It was supposed to be voted on Monday, but there was a motion not to wait and it was voted on today. It passed by a narrow margin - 18 to 16. The bill was sent to the House where it was sent to the House Health and Human Resources Committee. I'm still waiting for someone else to confirm this, but it was not double indexed in the House, meaning it doesn't have to face the House Ag Committee. If we can get it through the Health Committee, it goes to the House Chamber. Pass it there, and it becomes law! We are so close!! Time is still short and we need to get on calling and emailing the House Health and Human Resources Committee asking them to put SB 30 on the agenda and vote in favor of it!!!
February 17
SB 30 - Herd Shares PASSED the Senate Health Committee today!! It was a split vote and I couldn't tell who voted how, but it now goes to the entire Senate for a vote. I don't have a date on when that will happen yet, but will post as soon as I know. We now need to reach out to the entire Senate informing them that SB 30 will be coming up for a vote, and asking them to vote YES!
Just to note, there were 2 amendments added on to the bill. One stated that herd shares must register with the Department of Agriculture. This didn't add any regulations, and as I understood it wasn't some kind of permit requirement. It was just so the Department of Agriculture would have a list of herd shares operating in the state. The second addition was mandatory reporting to the local health department by doctors of any illness outbreaks suspected to be caused by raw milk. I have no personal issue with either amendment and continue to pray that this bill moves forward. The new text of the bill can be found here.
Once it's on the floor, this is what happens: "The bill will then be read three times - first to familiarize the rest of the Senate with the bill; second reading to discuss amendments - if any; and the third time for the vote. This will take place over the span of three days."
On the House side, word is that they have abandoned their bills due to the broad wording and instead are waiting for SB 30 to pass the Senate and arrive at the House.
February 14
Lots of things going on behind the scenes! While no new agendas are up for next week, all reports are saying there is A LOT of support for the herd shares bill! Raw milk is off the table for this year, but herd shares is alive and well! Keep calling the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee asking them to substitue the wording of SB 30 - Herd Shares for HB - 2448 Raw Milk Sales. Also keep calling the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee asking them to put SB 30 on the agenda and vote in favor of it. We CAN get herd shares passed this year, but time is running out so let's keep the pressure on!
February 10
The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee did discuss HB 2448 - Raw Milk Sales. I wasn't able to write down notes, but the short summary is that there were many questions, the main concern being the broadness of the wording of the bill. They ran out of time before the bill could be voted on. It will be discussed again at the next meeting. In light of the fact that the raw milk bill in the senate was substituted with a herd shares bill, I think we need to be calling the members of the House Ag Committee and request that they drop the raw milk bill this year and instead focus on HB 2449 - Herd Shares. And it would be doubly great if they could use the same wording as the senate bill (SB 30) since it has already been researched and written in a more specific way. With the very short time we have left, we need to focus on the avenue to raw milk sales more likely to pass, and at this time that appears to be herd shares. We are making great progress and still have a chance to get something passed this year. Please everyone keep calling and push our representatives to keep this moving!
February 9
A GREAT start to this week. SB 30 was changed from raw milk sales to herd shares. As a herd shares bill, it then UNANIMOUSLY passed the Senate Ag Committee. I listened to the meeting via live stream, and a summary can be found here. It now needs to be placed on the agenda of the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee so it can be voted upon there. The main person to call is Ryan Ferns - (304) 357-7918. He is the chair of the committee and is the one who controls the agenda. Ask him to place the bill on the Health Committee agenda, and remember to state your support as well. We already have 3 allies on the Health Committee - Robert Karnes and Charles Trump are both sponsors of SB 30 and are on the Health Committee as well as the Ag Committee. Senator Laird is on both committees and voted yes to the bill as part of the ag committee. The clock is ticking - let's keep this bill moving!
On the House side, Raw Milk Sales (HB 2448) has been placed on the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee for tomorrow, February 10. Herd Shares (HB 2449) is not on the agenda this week. Still, this is the time to call or email the members of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and state your support for raw milk sales!
February 2
Nothing new going on this week. In the senate, we are waiting for SB 30 to return to the full committee from the sub committee it is now in. Ernie tried to get a hold of Senators Hall (the bill's lead sponsor and the chair of the ag committee) and Williams (a co-sponsor of the bill). He could not reach either, but left messages for both. Senator Williams' secretary said she doesn't have much information, but did know the bill was still being worked on behind the scenes. Senator Daniel Hall - (304) 357-7807 remains the person to call in the senate. He is the lead sponsor of the bill and the chair of the ag committee.
*Update: Senator Williams called back. He said the bill should be out of sub-committee in a few days. The big issues they're working on are regulations. Williams would personally like to see just herd shares pass, and then in a few years tackle raw milk again. He said the liability once you go from herd shares to raw milk increases dramatically, as do the regulations: what kind of facilities you need, how often you must be inspected, that kind of thing.
In the house, we would like the bills placed on the agenda of the ag committee for the first time. Ernie was able to get hold of Delegate Evans (the chair of the ag committee) for a few minutes. He was in a meeting so couldn't talk much then, but is supposed to call back when he has a few moments. We did at least learn he IS in favor of raw milk! Delegate Allen Evans - (304) 340-3399 remains the current point of contact in the house. He is the chair of the ag committee and would be the one to place the bills on the agenda.
*Update: Delegate Evans called back. He was raised on raw milk and is in "FULL FAVOR" of it. He would actually like to see raw milk go straight through and not even worry about herd shares. He said the committee meeting this week is to tie up some loose ends of other legislation, and then they can start working on some of these other bills like raw milk. No specific news of when the bills will be on the agenda, but overall good news I think!
January 28
Awesome news! Bills have been introduced in the house for both Raw Milk Sales (HB 2448) and Herd Shares (HB 2449) (see full links below). Both bills have been referred to the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. In order for these bills to move forward, they must be placed on the agenda of the committee. To that end, we need to contact committee chair Delegate Allen Evans - (304) 340-3399. State your support for both these bills and ask that they be placed on the agenda of the next meeting.
While getting it on the agenda is the next major step, other prep work would include contacting the members of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. We need to find out where they all stand, and they need to know people (a lot of people!) support these bills. There are 24 members of the committee. Delegate Folk is a sponsor of the herd shares bill, Delegate Miller is a sponsor of both. Delegates Williams, Campbell, and Smith were supporters last year (Smith was re-confirmed this year via phone). Delegate Cadle's support was confirmed via e-mail (not by me). I have no information on the support status of the other committee members.
January 26
Unfortunately SB 30 was not listed on the ag committee meeting agenda today. Hopefully next week. I'll post any new info as I get it. But so far the news I'm reading is positive. I can't seem to get reports of exactly what senators have been talked to, but people are reporting that they have yet to talk to any senators who are not in favor of raw milk sales. So I remain optimistic thus far.
January 19
SB 30 was assigned to a 3 member sub-committee. Unfortunately I don't know which 3 members are on the sub-committee. The goal of the sub-committee is to refine the bill to answer questions such as: are raw milk sales on farm only or retail as well? what about herd shares? should it also cover goat milk? Another raw milk supporter received an email from Senator Hall stating: "It's actually in a subcommittee right now. Hoping to pass it in the next meeting if it's ready. I think it's moving well in our committee. Once it passes Ag...you'll need to lobby for it in the Health committee." I will continue to try and find out the stance of the rest of the ag committee and will post if I can find any who are against raw milk. If you haven't done so, you can still contact the members of the ag committee (contact info here) and state your support. If you have already done so, I think at this point all we can do is wait till the next Ag committee meeting which hasn't been scheduled yet. So not the immediate pass I was hoping for, but it bodes well that Senator Hall is optimistic.
January 16
Things are moving quickly this year! A raw milk bill has been introduced in the senate (see links below). It is being voted on by the Senate Agriculture and Rural Development Committee on Monday, January 19 so PLEASE get on the ball and call or e-mail the members of the senate ag committee telling them you support SB 30! The members of the committee can be found here and the links on that page will take you to each member's information (including e-mail and phone numbers). Keep in mind Hall, Trump, Blair, Williams, and Karnes are all sponsors of the bill. If you call any of them, please remember to thank them for their support!