Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I called a friend of mine who lives in FT. Davis, who knows Mr. Gallego personally, he is going to get in touch with him, his advice was to flood Mr Gallego's office with letters, E-Mail is good, letters seem to carry a little more weight. Clark

We do not need to convince Mr. Gallego he is already strongly opposed to the legislation. We need to direct more effort to where it is needed, save the toughest nuts to crack for last like the committee members. Anybody that has no opinion or is undecided we need to start with them.

1 - Show them the contributions we make to the overall understanding of Native Texas Wildlife.
2 - How as families we enjoy the recreation that is part of herping.
3 - Inform other interested groups and individuals of what this legislation could mean to them.
4 - That there are already other well thought out measures on the books to address safety and conservation.

I think those are the four broad points that should stay at the core of our opposition.

Can anyone give a percentage of the Senators and Reps that have been contacted? We should keep contacting the Reps from West Texas districts, they are the ones that stand to lose the most in terms of revenue dollars. Clark

If we have a thousand tiny voices we can get together and be heard.
We need people across the state contacting their reps personally as constituents to voice reasonable opposition. You need to call your rep and get somebody on the phone that is familiar with HB 2414 and explain to them the loss to Texas if this passes. If they are not familiar already then find the right person to bring up to speed. As far a mass contacting of all reps, send letters, Faxes and/or Emails. Any rep you know of on the fence or undecided, call them. If they hear from of people presenting reasonable opposition they will likely listen.

1 in support from Carl Isett's office
2 Opposed Pete Gallego and Joe Pickett

For the most part nobody has committed to one side or the other that I am aware of