ASCA LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE MISSION STATEMENT
The Legislative Committee will serve the membership of ASCA by providing education, up to date information regarding legislation affecting pet ownership, and foster communication with the public as well as global, national, state, and local decision-makers in such matters. The Committee advocates responsible animal ownership and will inform the membership of any threat to our animal ownership rights.
Current Committee Members
Legislative Committee
Liaison: Jean Roberts – jeanroberts.asca@gmail.com
Chair: Susan Beals (2023) – bealsie2@gmail.com
Region 1:
Region 2:
Region 3: Darcy Gardiner (2023)
Region 4:
Region 5: Jay Kiper (2023)
Region 6:
Region 7:
Email the committee to alert them of pending legislation in their areas that we need to be looking at. Chair: Susan Beals – bealsie2@gmail.com
Familiar with or wanting to learn about the animal rights agenda that threatens the right to own animals including pets, service animals and domestic livestock. The Legislative Committee is in need of members. To be fully staffed, ideally we would have two members from each region, plus the committee chair. These members should be:
- Willing to keep up to date on the progress of problematic legislation at the Federal level and in their respective states
- Immediately available when critical legislative initiatives surface and be able to respond and work with the other committee members so the committee is able to meet time-sensitive deadlines
The Process: Typically, the committee will become informed of some legislative initiative that has the potential to negatively impact our ownership of our dogs or other domestic animals. Committee members need to read the proposed legislation, often onerous with vague definitions, and respond by a certain deadline, usually with very little time. Members then need to draft ASCA’s comments or position statements. Since we only communicate by e-mail, this can be a fast and furious process of data gathering, researching the comments of fellow organizations, possible communication with the legislative or deciding body and drafting our response – all with constant re-writes and editing. Once we feel we have the final draft, it must be vetted by the BOD and legal counsel, which can entail more time and editing. Meeting the comment deadlines for pending legislation and getting information to our membership so they can also comment is critical.
If you are willing to serve the very valuable work of this ASCA committee, please send resumes to executive.secretary@asca.org.