After a few suggestions and valuable input from a respected source, here is my letter to the Governor:
To: Gov. Rick Perry
Mr. Perry,
It has come to my attention that there is a very serious issue on your table in the form of HB12. HB12 for all intent and purposes was created with good intentions, but has since become a tool for some underhanded tactics and dirty politics from Mr. Hilderbran to achieve his own personal agenda.
HB12 had two riders attached section 41 (which is a revised addition of HB1309) and 44 (which is an unamended version of HB2414). Both House bills 1309 and 2414 where lobbied against until some re-wording of the bills were made to make them acceptable to the people of this great state. Well, unfortunately too much time passed and then died before they could be passed and signed.
Well, it appears that Sen. Hilderbran has decide that he wanted them to pass badly enough, that he ignored what the people wanted and attached them as riders to HB12 (in the unamended versions of HB2412 and revised HB1309) to suite his own personal wants. This should not be tolerated! These two bills were re-written originally with amendments that pleased everyone, not just a few.
Now, aside from the all dirtiness involved there is so much more at stake here. As reptile hobbyist, we spend lots of money in the pursuit of our past time. And 90% of that money is spent in far out of the way towns where tourist dollars like ours, are the life blood of these small communities. To give you an idea, I myself in just one evening of driving out looking for reptiles can spend roughly $150-$200.
To break it down, it generally costs $50-$60 for a tank of gas and that is just to get to my destination, then there is food, drinks, etc. and that generally adds up to $150-$200 a night. Now, if I take a weekend or say a week and go out looking, I can easily spend $1000 + in food gas and lodging. All this money is spent in small out of the way towns. To put the dollar amount in perspective, I am just one of thousands of people from in and out of state that spend that kind of money to pursue this hobby. Also, I have not included the cost of annual licenses and permits in these figures either.
To sum it up, I am asking you to please veto HB12 and show the people of this state that you care about our voice and our wants and set a precedence for others that dirty politics will not be tolerated! It will also show that the revenue that is generated from our pastime is valuable to the small communities we spend it in and it shouldn't be taken from them. Thank your for your time and consideration in this matter!
.................................................................
We still have a few days, don't give up people! lets keep fighting! We can still win this!
VK
