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I spoke with our potential lobbyist and here is the deal.

1. Send a delegate(s) to meet with Rep. Hilderbran.

2. Support HB 1309

3. $40,000

He said he can kill it. He says he needs to know by Sunday night so he can go to the Local and Consent Calendar Committee chairman on Monday and get it kicked to General Calendar.

His name is Jim Short and he will also be working with Gary Calfee. They have to double team Hilderbran. Check them out at the Texas Ethics Commission website. He said that HB 2414 is really Hilderbran's bill but he gave it to Isett because he has to much going on. I am going out of town but I can be reached by cell at 352-256-4000.

Mike Welker
El Paso, TX

PS: You can also call my wife at 915-595-8831 if you can't get me. I will call, Jim on Sunday either way so let me know. He doesn't need the money by Sunday but he needs to know if we have a deal. Hilderbran really wants HB 1309 but the python breeders are the rich guys. Divide and conquer! I have a call into Hilderbran.

Please clarify - are those points all required?

I can support HB 1309 and visit with Hildebran, I'm not certain that we could come up with $40K

Troy

I'll go $1000 if we can get 39 others.

BTW,
I can also

1) Hit a couple friends up for some coin, who knows but at least another 2K hopefully.

2) I'm in San Antonio, if I have to be the money man I'm fine with that. I'll be reliable and accountable, and deliver it in person.
We do have constituents in Austin already though.

I can go $250 now and another $250 in a couple of weeks if he can guarantee he can kill 2414 DEAD! Clark

I wish I had 1000 to give but with a new child and all that is savings for him. I want him to be able to see wildlife when he is older but the problem is that this will happen next year and the next year. The real challenge is to change the minds of voters. 40000 is big bucks for a one time fix. My fear is that we will have to come up with it again next year.. and the next year...

Still open to other ideas...

Thanks,

Steven

next year we work WITH TP&W to find a resonable solution to the problem. we can work with new laws if there are allowances made.

Whatever we decide to do, we need to do it now, this comes up for hearing next week, the more progress this thing makes , the worse it is for us all. Clark

I'm with you Steve. I can fork out some bucks but I do not like feeling as if I am hostage to this absurdity! It always boils down to money doesn't it? If I'm going to pay my hard earned money, for something I have the right to do anyway, it needs to disappear permanently.

Wayne

I could probably come up with $1000 if need be over a short period of time if we have to. It seems quite steep to me but what do I know. Some folks that I've been talkingto in Austin (who may not know what they're talking about) spoke in terms of 3K to 9K to just fight one bill. I'll start calling a few people on the below list tomarrow to get an idea. If 40K is the going rate, then so be it but I'd like to know we aren't getting the big chorrizo. I personally think that we'd have a hell of a time raising that though as most of us snake nuts barely have enough money to pay attention. Snake hunting is getting expensive!
Lobby List

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Snakes of Hudspeth County, Texas

Jason, you hit the nail squarely on the head, so to speak. Clark

I hate to see us part with soooo much cash just to kill a baseless bill. Imagine the habitat we could buy and preserve with that same cash!

I'll contribute my part, but it just feels like extortion (from the legislators, not necessarily the lobbyist).

I think we could kill this w/o outside help if we had more time. However, we are quickly running out of time and every delay for exploring our options means that we are running out of time on other options.

I could cough up a bit (probably $100 right now) but I have massive commitments to my current savings (as in already booked, paid the deposit vacation and repairing hail damage on my vehicle which is already in the shop and almost completed).

Troy

Didn't a bunch of herpers, incl. Jeff Barringer and Dave Barker already voice opposition to HB 1309?

I hate to part with that kind of cash, but what is it worth to all of us to be able to continue our hobby , we may haft to fight this thing next year but we can be more organized and better informed , this almost slipped by most of us with out us really knowing about the real intent of the bill. Clark

I can support 1 and 2. Send Troy. We'll pay his expenses. It's a tit for tat. That's politics. But, I can't support $40,000 - it feels like extortion. What's to prevent another politician from introducing another bill next month that must be K$$$ED, if this bill doesn't go down on principle?

R

I want to know more about HB 1309. Isn't this the bill that restricts exotic, venomous and lerge herps?
Many of us here couldn't care less about the rights of commercial collecters. Mike you have spoken as pro commercial collecting and I am sure you would want our support when they try to enact more and more restrictions on commercial collecting so it suprises me that you seem to be proposing turning our backs on exotic keepers. I personally do not keep exotics, large or venomous herps, nor do I commercial collect but I am concerned about turning our backs on our brothers, so to speak. Don't we want sensible legislation for all herpers?
I unfortunately don't have a better solution but I still think we should think about what we are selling out and at $40,000 plus the division this could cause among herpers it seems a pretty high price.
So what is going on with HB 1309? Has it been amended to be more herper friendly? What might the ones (Jeff Baringer & Dave Barker, etc.) who have been fighting against HB 1309 have to say about this?

that just left them everything?

I am not in a good position to contribute a whole lot right now myself, but I will do what I can...

What I see a red flag on is any lobbyist making an absolute promise like that, if it gets out of the House do we get our money back?

If this guy would get down to the $10K range I think it could be done with our short notice resources, we are not retaining him and his partner for year... there are only a few weeks left in this session anyway.

We do not need either piece of legislation... They are both based on the same kind of facts and data after all. You know the ars end stuff....

This is just political back scratching, I can smell it. It sounds like somebody wants to divide the herp community to run an agenda.

There is some part of this we have not put together yet in my opinion, does not "feel right" somehow, but I cannot put my finger on it.

I am thinking more and more that a full effort on the Senate to kill this thing is needed. We need a group of like minded, well presented people to gather together down there and speak to our Senate Members in person, get a feel for things... Positive, Negative, Brushed off, something, find out what we are facing in the Senate if this thing gets railroaded through the house.

Lance

can someone please explain exactly the connection between a bill getting shot down and handing over $ 40,000? would this be buying the bill away? if this bill is so important, how can it be bought out from them? who gets the money? why do they get the money? what makes them intitled to the money? would this be paying a politician off? sounds real fishy to me...

It reminds me of Quint dragging his fingernails across the chalkboard...
And Brody wound up getting the fish when it was all said and done.

The important thing is that the bill goes bye bye.

Having said that I'm all for other options, and even less expensive options. I wonder if Mike tried to negotiate that rate?

We need to have the money and a Lobbyist in reserve because to me what doesn't smell right is the way we are falling on deaf ears in the House and the Calendar committee. Someone is hand holding this bill, I guarantee it.

We need to keep hitting hard.

Oh and WestTexas, that's how things get done in Austin, nothing out of the ordinary about lobbying and money changing hands.

The thing that bothers me is how easy they want to roll over on HB 1309. I don't think they're necessarily trying to divide us-let's face it, we're not that large of a community-but this does bill does seem to be the main objective for them. Has anyone spoken to Ken Magnusson- since he was on the witness list, he may have some valuable feedback on this- what he said, how they responded, etc. They obviously had some sort of response in committee, otherwise it wouldn't have been changed in favor of the falconers. Dave Barker probably has some good feedback as well, has anyone spoken with him? Like others have said, this seems to me to be an issue that will rear its head again, so I don't know if a one-shot, $40K fix is what is needed.

This came at absolutely the wrong time as far as I'm concerned. I just moved to Texas from New York in March, and the move more than tapped us out financially! If it were hatching season I'd be more than willing to pledge my 1000!

Especially since I strongly suspect that, if we don't kill it now, we've probably lost.

Brad Chambers

I may not have a grand to slap down now, but I would sell what stock I have for the cause IF I can still hunt. I will have some eggs this year finally, all w.c. stock, and can and will throw that in the mix. My .02 was put in, I will try for more, guess May trip could go down the crapper. Still gonna get a bunch of Boy Scouts and leaders to write the Senators, like to see them tell them they can't pick up a herp from a hike along the right of way. "No, Johnny, we can't even get close to it for fear of pursuing it!"
Todd Hughes