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OFFICIAL MHS STATEWIDE LEGISLATIVE ALERT NETWORK E-ALERT - 1/18/06

FROM: MHS Lobbyist Eileen Liska

TO: ALL E-ALERT NETWORK PARTICIPANTS

Historically Important Legislation For Animals Introduced - Call to Action Now!

The Michigan Humane Society's (MHS) legislation to create a voluntary state income tax donation mechanism that

could significantly improve animal welfare in our state (jointly introduced in the Michigan State Senate in Lansing by

Senators Valde Garcia (R-Howell) and Bob Emerson (D-Flint) in December) will soon begin moving through the

Senate when they go back into session NEXT WEEK on 1/24/06.

BACKGROUND & INFO. TO USE IN YOUR LETTERS:

SENATE BILLS 951 & 952, are "tie-barred" since they are both needed to make the necessary changes

required to create the proposed new law (i.e., one cannot be implemented without the other). When passed, they

would allow state income tax payers to either designate a portion of their state income tax refund, or

make a voluntary donation, to a new interest-bearing "Companion Animal Welfare Fund" in the state Treasury.

The Treasury Dept. would invest these funds and annually transfer money from this fund to the Michigan Dept. of

Agriculture (MDA), which would then make monetary grants to MDA-licensed humane society shelters and public

animal control shelters, or to state-registered non-profits involved in pet sterilization and adoption. The grants would

be used by shelters to increase the number of pets who are sterilized and adopted in our state, or to improve

enforcement of local and state animal anti-cruelty laws. Registered non-profits would receive grants to increase the

number of pets who are sterilized and adopted. THE BILLS DO NOT COST THE STATE ANY MONEY, and allow

the MDA to rely upon its already existing Animal Welfare Advisory Committee to advise and assist it with the review of

requests for grant funds. This Committee, which consists of experienced animal welfare professionals who serve on

a voluntary basis (including the MHS and the Michigan Association of Animal Control Officers), has been working

within the MDA for over 20 years and is well qualified to help determine which requests should be granted.

SBs951/952 have the potential to greatly increase the number of pets that are sterilized and adopted in our state;

thereby, reducing the tragedy of unwanted and lost pets and needless euthanasia----which cost millions of public and

private dollars annually. Moreover, shelters could acquire grant funds to improve enforcement of animal anti-cruelty

laws: badly needed in our state where we have tough laws but not enough people to go out and enforce them.

Even though these bills should be relatively non-controversial, and already have the support of a majority of

Senators, we cannot take anything for granted. There are extremely conservative members of the legislature who will

not regard the bills' goals to reduce unnecessary killing and to improve anti-cruelty law enforcement as important.

Some may even paranoidly regard the bills as the first step in some larger radical animal liberation movement

agenda. If you encounter that sort of thinking as you communicate with your own state legislators, remind them that

the bills can only do what is printed on the paper; no more no less, and that the MDA, MHS, and MAACO who have

worked on these bills together are NOT radicals. To such legislators you can point out that millions of public and

private dollars are wasted on animal control and welfare services and euthanasia annually, so they should at least be

concerned about that.

Finally, explain to your legislators that we have some of the best anti-cruelty laws in the U.S. in

our state, but that they often go unenforced not because of a lack of concern but because of a lack of sufficient funds

at the local governmental level to have enough investigators to do this important work. Studies have shown that

people who are violent toward animals are also a danger to humans. Thus, those who don't care about cruelty to

animals should at least realize that such crimes are an early warning system to be taken seriously.

THE MHS CANNOT STRESS STRONGLY ENOUGH HOW IMPORTANT THESE BILLS ARE TO US, TO

SHELTERS AND NON-PROFITS AROUND OUR STATE, AND MOST CRUCIALLY, TO THE ANIMALS

THEMSELVES! The MHS regards this as some of the most significant animal protection legislation we have ever

initiated in all the decades we have worked in the State Capitol. If we can all work hard together to get these bills

quickly passed into law, and then work equally hard to publicize their existence to everyone in our state who cares

about the welfare of animals, we can generate sums of donation dollars significant enough to really make a tangible,

quantifiable reduction in the number of adoptable animals being euthanized, as well as the number of cruelty cases

investigated. We would like to get these bills passed in time to meet the Treasury Dept.'s printing deadline for the

2005 state income tax forms that come out in the spring. But without your help, this will not happen.

THUS, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE FORTUNATE TO HAVE EMAIL, PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO

SHARE THIS ALERT WITH OTHERS YOU KNOW WHO CANNOT RECEIVE IT FROM US VIA EMAIL. PLEASE

PHONE OTHERS OR MAIL OTHERS COPIES OF THIS ALERT SO THEY WILL BE ABLE TO ALSO BE A

POLITICAL VOICE FOR ANIMALS!

HOW YOU CAN HELP

As soon as you receive this ALERT:

1) Contact (whether by mail, fax or email) the Chair and Members of the Senate Finance Committee

where SBs951/952 are under consideration. (We do not advise phoning legislators unless there is a time constraint

and we suggest it, or if that is the only way you are willing to make contact. Letters sent by mail, fax or email are more

effective and more welcome by overworked staffers.) Refer to my arguments in favor of the bills above, and ask

the Chair and members of this committee to please quickly and favorably vote the bills out of committee to the full

Senate for a vote. (One of the bills' sponsors, Senator Garcia, is also on this committee but there is obviously no

need to ask for his support.)

Senator Nancy Cassis (R-Novi), Chairperson, Senate Finance Committee, 305 Farnum Bldg., Lansing, MI 48909;

Fax: 517-373-0938; email: senncassis@senate.mi.gov

Senator Michelle McManus (R-Lake Leelanau), 905 Farnum Bldg., Lansing, MI 48909; Fax: 517-373-0741;

Senator Samuel "Buzz" Thomas (D-Detroit), 610 Farnum Bldg., Lansing, MI 48909; Fax: 517-373-5227;

Senator Liz Brater (D-AnnArbor), 510 Farnum Bldg., Lansing, MI 48909; Fax" 517-373-5679;

2) Send a letter by mail, fax or email to your State Senator to explain the important of these bills and to ask him

or her to vote in support of them when they come before them on the Senate floor.

3) Send a letter by mail, fax, or email to your State Representative and again explain the bills to him or her and

seek support.

(Feel free to share any feedback you receive from your Senator and Representative with MHS Lobbyist, Eileen

Liska, or to ask her questions, at: eliska01@comcast.net.)

We will keep you updated as we proceed through the legislative process w/SBs 951/952. Regular updates will

be posted on the MHS's website, as well as sent out via the Statewide Legislative Alert Network. You can read

and/or download a copy of SBs 951/952 for yourself by going to: www.michiganlegislature.org. You will have to

put the bill numbers in the search box one at a time, and ask for the "text" versions. Also, if you do not know the

names of your State Senator or State Rep. or how to reach them, you can email Eileen to get it or you can phone

your local City Clerk or County Clerk's office, give them your address, and they can tell you also.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH; TOGETHER WE CAN DO THIS AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE.