I just go in and found this email in my inbox. Sounds VERY promising. Some of us my need to send apologies to Matt and Rep Isset. If the promised amendment is submitted, we should all send our thanks. This may be a chance to create an ally out of someone we thought was an enemy.
Mr. Eby,
As you know, HB2414 will be heard on the House floor on Monday. This is because the House did not reach that point on the calendar on Friday, however, we were going to postpone until Monday regardless. The reason is because we have been working on amendments with other members.
The purpose of this email is to inform you of what will occur, or at least as far as our plans are concerned. This past Friday morning I tried to reach an individual associated with the group by phone, but there was no answer and my message was not returned. I hope you will copy and paste this message into the message board which the community has been using to discuss this bill so that others can be in the know.
Our office has worked with several other offices, whom I know the herpetological community has worked with themselves this session, in order to craft amendments to mollify the concerns of those interested. Recently we approached a member about their concerns and have worked on and agreed to an exemption for reptile collection which they will offer . This amendment will be added to the bill as acceptable to the author on Monday. I do not know what else will be offered on Monday, but rest assured that we will be looking at them with interest in how they affect your community.
Contrary to popular belief among herpers this bill was not directed specifically at them. Rep. Isett works closely with game wardens and in a conversation with a warden he asked what they needed. They told him that they would like more authority with regard to people hunting on the right-of-way. Therefore, we investigated the possibility of this bill. In Mr. Sontag's article, he unfairly and incorrectly characterizes this as a "special interest thrust". I am unsure whether this was intentional or just a misuse of the phrase. But either way, the mischaracterization of my statement has done no favors to the perception of anyone's involvement in this bill.
Whether you trust my word or not, there were no special interests involved in this bill aside from our conversations with members and staff here in the Capitol and TPWD. These are not typically entities that are considered "special interests". If they were, then we would also have to include any family of Rep. Isett, such as his son, who is a herp enthusiast himself.
Without further discussion of the issues that this bill does address, herp exclusion or not, the community should understand that Rep. Isett has worked with many individuals in attempting to address the herpers' concerns. To be 100% frank, this bill has never been near the top half of our priority list. In fact, we were content to let it die before it was set for the floor calendar on Friday.
But, due to the extensive involvement in the process from the community we began working on options with other members offices. Indeed much of the speculation and comments about emails from other offices is a result of my visiting with them in person in an effort to develop a compromise.
What has made this process more difficult than it should have been is repeated harassment, name calling, and negative communication directed as this office by individuals in the community. Without naming names I know that the community can identify these individuals because the community itself has noted the problem. We have worked hard to address the concerns of individuals such as yourself and many others who I could name that presented themselves to us with sincerity and respect. The vast majority of phone calls and letters/emails we received were gentlemanly. However there were many that were not. Interestingly, most of those individuals reside in other states.
One source of this negative communication is the assertion that we intentionally did not speak with the herpers. This is patently untrue. We appreciate the involvement of the community in this policy initiative over the last few weeks. The falconers were in the same situation as you were. They then came to us to protest the language and ask for an amendment. Originally they were met with the very same policy decision which was that we had no intent to change the bill. Our discussion with them led us to passing the language with the exemption. Subsequently, your community was made aware and became involved.
In our discussion with the man who was at the public hearing he affirmed to us that he had only become aware of that bill roughly 10 minutes prior. Thus, any opportunity to be involved up to that point was non-existent because we had received no communication from the community or its representatives in regard to this issue. While I realize that the language change is what prompted the discussion, it is important to understand that people come through Rep. Isett's door daily to tell me they don't think they are affected by our bill, but they want to make sure. This is helpful in avoiding any problems.
It is my recommendation for the future that the individual representing the community make this sort of action a priority. This will relieve much of the heartache and financial considerations that I understand this issue has given your group. Understand that your group may hire a representative for a specific reason; to communicate with legislative offices on your behalf. There is little chance we will know about the ramifications on your hobby if your representative does not come to see us about a bill.
I hope this lengthy, yet important, explanation has somewhat cleared the air for you and your colleagues. The majority of the speculation on this issue has been entirely inaccurate and so after my unreturned phone call I felt it my duty to contact you (in light of your previous email) with this discussion. If you have questions about Monday's procedures then I invite you to call me in the office at the number listed below. I would be glad to speak with you.
Sincerely,
Matt Creel
Legislative Director
Representative Carl Isett - District 84
(512) 463-0676
