House Agriculture Committee

MONDAY, MARCH 30
HF 253 was heard by the House Agriculture Committee on Friday, March 27. After testimony and debate, the bill was "laid on the table," which means the bill did not receive a vote.

Since all bills must pass through all policy committees in one body (House or Senate) by the first committee deadline of March 27, this means SF 7/HF 253 will not move ahead in the legislative process this year.
 
However, because both SF 7 and HF 253 were laid on the table, these bills can be brought up again in 2010 for discussion and a vote. They are each sitting in the respective House Agriculture Committee and Senate Agriculture Committee.

The testifiers at the House Agriculture Committee hearing who spoke in opposition to the bill were the NRA, sportsmen/hunting groups, small breeders who don't fall under the definition of a "commercial breeder", and one veterinarian who is also a breeder who doesn't fall under the bill's definition. It's disheartening when breeders who state they are "good" breeders only care about their own animals or their own situation—and don't want something done for the animals suffering and dying each day at the hands of irresponsible and unscrupulous breeders.

NOTE: "Laid on the table" is a process to temporarily set aside a bill for possible further discussion and vote at a later time. Once a bill is "laid on the table", it requires a majority vote to get it off the table. It was apparent HF 253 did not have enough votes for it to pass out of the House Agriculture Committee so having it laid on the table kept it alive—even though it needs a majority vote to call it back. The good news is, as indicated above, the bill is still alive. And, next year we will not have to start all over again in the other committees—it can pick up where it left off in the process.

Posted with permission of Animal Folks Minnesota.