Action Alert
March 26, 2007
Contact the members of the House Water and Agriculture Committee!
Many thanks to everyone who contacted Representative Mason to ask for a hearing on SB 1428! She listened, and the bill will be heard!!!
WHEN: Thursday, March 29, 10 am.
WHERE: Room HHR1
ACTION: Come to the hearing! SB 1428 is the only bill on the agenda, so the Committee will be focused solely on the NAIS issue. Below are talking points to help you testify. Pick one or two of the points that are the most important to you, and focus on those. Explain what NAIS will mean to you personally. Plan to talk for about 3 minutes. You can also bring written testimony. If you do that, it's best to bring 12 copies (one for each member of the Committee and for the Clerk). Be polite and concise.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION: If you can't make it to the Committee hearing in person, please call, fax, or email every member of the committee. Contact information for the Committee members is at the end of this alert, after the talking points. Just as with testimony, be polite and concise in all your communications.
MESSAGE: Whether you testify in person or contact the Committee members ahead of time, it's important that you give them a clear message about what you want them to do. Ask them to support SB 1428. AND ask them to add an amendment to SB 1428 to would bar coercion. NAIS is not voluntary if people are required to register in order to be in 4-H, buy feed, go to sales barns, etc. Briefly explain this issue, and ask that they add an amendment to SB 1428 to bar the agency from using coercive methods to force people into the program.
BACKGROUND: In 2006, the Arizona Legislature adopted SB 1103,
which authorized the Department of Agriculture to implement NAIS. So
we are not starting from a blank slate. This year, Senator Johnson
introduced SB 1428. The original version of SB 1428 would have barred
any NAIS in Arizona, whether voluntary or mandatory. But the Senate
Committee would not approve a complete bar, and the bill was amended
to bar a mandatory NAIS. SB 1428 also provides a right to withdraw
from the program. This version of the bill was passed by the Senate.
You can find more information about the bill at:
www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=SB1428
As always, if you have questions or concerns, you can reach us at noah@libertyark.net.
Talking points for testimony or calls:
NAIS will hurt Arizona's economy:
- There has been no cost analysis
- Costs of the program include the cost of the tags, hardware, software, time and labor
- Many small farmer and ranchers cannot afford these costs
- Service providers (veterinarians, feed stores, auction houses, meat processors, etc.) will be harmed when the farmers and ranchers go out of business.
- Remaining farmers will pass the costs on to consumers, lowering demand for local foods
- NAIS will fuel inflation by creating unnecessary costs. Inflation is a burden on the entire economy.
Neither the USDA nor the state agency has scientific proof that NAIS will improve disease control:
- It does not address the cause, treatment, or transmission of disease, in domestic or wild animals.
- It does not significantly improve on current methods for identification and tracking of disease.
NAIS is not necessary for the market. Age- and source-verification is already available through the USDA's Process Verified Program
NAIS will not improve food safety:
- USDA itself has stated that this is not a food safety program
- Contamination of food with e. coli and other bacteria occurs at the slaughterhouse or afterwards, while NAIS will stop before that point.
NAIS will not protect against terrorism.
- The microchips chosen by the state can be cloned, destroyed, or infected with computer viruses, and reprogrammed. Any terrorist or thief can use this.
- The database of information held by the government and private industry will provide a target for hackers.
NAIS unfairly burdens small farmers, homesteaders, and pet owners, for the financial benefit of large corporations.
NAIS infringes on people's constitutional rights, including due process, privacy, and religious freedom.
USDA states that NAIS is voluntary at the federal level, so there is no "federal mandate" requiring Arizona to implement this program.
Contact information for the House Water and Agriculture Committee:
Lucy Mason, Chairman: Phone: (602) 926-5874, Fax: (602)
417-3001
lmason@azleg.gov
John Kavanagh, Vice-Chairman: Phone: (602) 926-5170, Fax: (602)
417-3108
jkavanagh@azleg.gov
Manuel V. Alvarez: Phone: (602) 926-5895, Fax: (602) 417-3025
malvarez@azleg.gov
Jack A. Brown: Phone: (602) 926-4129, Fax: (602) 417-3010
jbrown@azleg.gov
Jennifer J. Burns: Phone: (602) 926-5836, Fax: (602) 417-3125
jburns@azleg.gov
Doug Clark: Phone: (602) 926-3018, Fax: (602) 417-3006
dclark@azleg.gov
Trish Groe: Phone: (602) 926-5408, Fax: (602) 417-3103
tgroe@azleg.gov
Lynne Pancrazi: Phone: (602) 926-3004, Fax: (602) 417-3179
lpancrazi@azleg.gov
Bob Stump: Phone: (602) 926-5413, Fax: (602) 417-3109
bstump@azleg.gov
Albert Tom: Phone: (602) 926-5862, Fax: (602) 417-3102
atom@azleg.gov