Virginia Hunting Dog Alliance
News Briefs
Powhatan, Virginia
Thursday, February 28, 2008
2008 General Assembly
The session is almost over. On balance, the session produced some good pro-Sportsmen legislation without any really bad bills passing, yet! Your phone calls and emails have made a substantial difference! We hope to increase that contact next year! We have updated the web site so that you can see who voted with and against us on all of the bills we were working. Some highlights and some comments:
SB538, sponsored by Delegate Robert D. Orrock, Sr., (R) - House District 54, is still alive, but amended to lessen its potential impact and looking for funding in a tight budget year. Call your Senator and ask him or her vote no to any budget that contains funding for HB538!
HB 1352 sponsored by Delegate R. Lee Ware, (R) - Powhatan was defeated in the House (47-52), but it sent a serious message that the Sportsmen are tired of the DGIF Board of Directors ignoring their interests only to service the will of wealthy elitists who selfishly abolish or severely limit centuries of Virginia Heritage! Please take the time to thank the delegates that supported this effort. Delegates Hogan and Saxman worked hard for passage when our bill reached the floor! Of course, Delegate Ware was instrumental in all of our efforts in the House this year. A special thanks goes out to Delegate Johnny S. Joannou (D) - House District 79 – Portsmouth for courageously standing with us on this bill. He is a longtime friend of Virginia’s Sportsmen and of the Second Amendment!
SB 263 sponsored by R. Creigh Deeds (D) - Senate District 25, after passing the Senate 38-1 with amendments, it was killed in House Agriculture Committee by a voice vote. The sponsor complained that the Senate had reduced the penalty from a class four misdemeanor to a class two, but retains the revocation of the hunting license and forfeiture of firearm or bow involved. In the House, the sponsor argued that the class four misdemeanor provisions be reinstated. It is worth noting that Senator Deeds is an announced candidate for Governor in 2009!
A complete list of bills that the Alliance followed and our positions can be found on the web site
http://www.vahda.org/legislation.htm .
The Board of Directors in accordance with the By-laws has approved these positions. We encourage our members to contact the Directors with questions about the positions taken. This is your Alliance! Because of the long days at the Legislature, we do not have the time to explain to everyone that is not an Alliance member why we spoke for, worked in favor of or opposed a certain bills. As the organization develops a more extensive process will be used to develop and debate policy, but due to the fast moving nature of the legislature the Board must often decide on a course of action on short notice and the folks on site must be able to act.
Sunday Hunting
The VHDA opposes Sunday hunting as one of the quickest ways to turn the non-hunting public, landowners and all who keep at Sabbath against Hound Hunting. James Hazel, Chairman of DGIF Board from Fairfax Co., representing himself and not the DGIF Board, in an unprecedented move, spoke in favor of Sunday hunting, as did an NRA’s representative Joel Partridge and an individual from Tidewater. Senator Stolle tried to put the camel’s nose (and body) under the tent with his urban archery bill SB708, but was soundly defeated by a vote in House Agriculture Committee. Speaking against Sunday Hunting were the Virginia Farm Bureau, the Virginia Agribusiness Council, and the VHDA! We have received some complaints about our position from a few Sportsmen who still-hunt and are NOT members of our organization. Many were used to hunting on Sunday where they came from. There are no plans to seek any modification of existing law to end any Sunday exemptions that currently exist, such as the 2:00 AM Sunday provision to allow for retrieval of dogs.
Making DGIF Hunter Friendly!
House Joint Resolution by Delegate Chris Saxman (R) - Staunton: HJ 231 Game and Inland Fisheries, Board of; Board & Department to provide for citizen input in regulations; urges the DGIF Board to return to the two-year regulatory cycle and local meetings by Board members and staff to explain proposals for new regulations. It was made clear that the use of the Internet alone was not a practice favored by legislators. The staff was receptive to this request. We continue to hope that the Board will take the Resolution to heart! The Senate rules committee amended the Bill to require a report by DGIF on their efforts to implement this resolution. At the January 22, 2008, Board meeting, we were left somewhat cynical about their willingness to abandon the Internet as a method of receiving comments! They have decided to use the internet for another survey on Hound Hunting. To date the survey is neither on the web site nor in the mail! Mailing all hunters or a large sample would insure input more representative of the Hunting community.
The Hunting Dog Study!
The advisory committee members have been named. Letters have been prepared and will be mailed soon. In spite of public assurances by Mr. Duncan at a number of meetings, NO VHDA BOARD Members have been named to this committee! The VHDA is the largest hunting organization in the state and is dedicated to hunting with dogs! DGIF still has a lot to learn and a long way to go before we will ever trust them again! Please notify us immediately if you are asked to serve on the committee! Delegate Watkins Abbitt, (I) – Appomattox, one of us and one of the best friends hunters that use dogs will ever have, was asked to be on the committee, but declined.
OUR FRIENDS
Members of the House and Senate including Speaker Howell and Majority Leader Griffin of the House constantly helped us. Some folks, hope we didn’t miss too many of our loyal friends, that stand out because they dealt daily with many of our bills and were stalwart defenders of your rights are listed below:
Delegates: Morgan, Ware, R.L., Wright, Saxman, Hogan, Scott, E.T., Marshall, D.W., Lohr, Poindexter, Abbitt and Senator Ruff.
Please remember to give them special thanks!
Some thoughts:
1.Every hunter needs to be registered to vote! Many are not currently registered. If you know someone, friend or families, please get them registered to vote. Make sure they vote in every election. It does matter!
2.Your phone calls and letters made a major difference.
3.Governor Kaine has promised that next year will be the year of the environment! With the completion of the Hound study we know they will be bring legislation to take away your rights! Mr. Hazel, DGIF Chairman, told the VHDA that NO legislation will be recommended by the study! Presumably he intends to bring regulatory changes. We must be ready; they will come after us this year with new regulation or next year in the legislature!
4.Resolutions by the County Boards of Supervisors that say they oppose the study are the best way to answer to anti-dog study recommendations! The Boards of Supervisors know better than a couple of VT professors!
5.The strength that comes from large numbers of members and their families give us a voice in the Virginia General Assembly and with the Boards of Supervisors. Please get everyone that you know to join the Virginia Hunting Dog Alliance. When you join on line it shows you which legislative district you are in.
Our next News Brief will deal with where we go from here. The VHDA is an organization on the move. Watch the web site
http://www.vahda.org/ for news and updates. We are growing everyday!
Remember this is your organization! If you don’t want it to be like those “other” hunting organizations that let you down, you must get involved! GET IN THE FIGHT OR LOSE YOUR RIGHTS!
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