VETOED by the governor. A lot of behind the scenes work went into this.

More later, we are leaving in a few minutes for Lunga Luswishi.

Good news! Jen the archer posted a copy of the letter from the governors office on her Instagram earlier. He cited that it was legal to import these species under the endangered species act and was “unenforceable” as the reason he vetoed it even though he “sympathized with the author of the bill”.
Looks like he has a shred of common sense left in him.

Just a tad. We figured we have a slim chance of getting him to veto it, but we’re tesigned to the likelihood of him signing the bill. The bad side is, if Gavin Newsom gets elected, they’ll run the bill again and he WILL sign it.

We need John Cox to win very badly.

https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-cont.../09/SB-1487-veto.pdf

Link to Governor Brown's veto letter.

Not much to hang your hat on there only that it is unenforceable.

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana Bunduki:
Not much to hang your hat on there only that it is unenforceable.

Very true but at this point I will take whatever I can get. This was a big deal for me as a Californian...…….as I was going to have to some imports sent to a third party until I could smuggle them in by vehicle.

great news

Really good news. As DLS said, if Grewsome gets elected, the Dems will run the bill again, and he will sign it. The positive thing is that we have 15 more months before it could happen. Brown's veto letter said that this bill would place a civil penalty on activities that are authorized by the Endangered Species Act. This is another way of saying that the federal government already occupies the legal field, thereby eliminating the State of California's legal right to add further bans or restrictions.

Good job Dan. I know you worked hard on this.

Conservation Force became seriously involved in this when the sponsoring senator ignored our warnings about our New Jersey federal court win that had been based upon federal law preemption and the ESA and his bill passed through the Senate in total disregard of that case law and our warning. The New Jersey case had stopped the “Cecil Campaign” in its tracks (an anti-hunting campaign to stop imports at every port of entry). Second, the bill concerned much more than just California interests and no doubt would be cited as a model in other states. Third, if we were to litigate it as we did in New Jersey, then it was best to wade in to know all the facts intimately. (In New Jersey the state’s Attorney General preposterously denied the purpose of the law was to stop the import of ESA trophies so we had to scramble to prove the intent of the legislation.) Fourth, our relatively new peer-reviewed Benefits Fact Sheets provided an opportunity to educate all 80 State Assembly Members in hope, win or loose, it may start to open their eyes for future fights. We followed those new tools with direct letters from four hunting countries and Namibia’s renown community association. Most of what we did is unprecedented. The story is too long to repeat here but by the time the bill reached the Governor, it was just a shell so full of exemptions and conditions that it could only serve to carry the anti-hunting sentiment but little more.

We sent the Governor a tactful notice to sue if he signed the bill and had the African wildlife authorities redirect their original letters to the committees to the Governor personally (with Zimbabwe’s hand delivered the last day). Still the governor said he shared the feelings of the anti-hunters, but he understood it was illegal. There could be no doubt in his mind why we were there and that we meant business. He has saved the state taxpayers a senseless battle defending a bill too full of exemptions to be more than a symbolic shell and, admit it or not, he has to recognize some of the merits of all he has seen in the exchange. We have the most convincing and authoritative educational material ever assembled that is continually being revised and updated. We monitor all the states to keep the Cecil Campaign against trophy imports in check and in this case FWS had expressed their concern to me about its potential to spread to other states. I am sure the weight of the California Coalition, and the SCI chapters, the taxidermists, all hunting organizations that weighted in like the RMEF, WSF, even DU and experts had an impression on the Governor, but he cited the illegality because, of course, the whole purpose was illegal even if only a shell remained.

Sincerely,

John J. Jackson
Conservation Force

Gosh guys, a good Democrat? What's this world coming to?

Thanks John!

quote:

Originally posted by R. Gunn:
Gosh guys, a good Democrat? What's this world coming to?

He's not a good Democrat, he is a democrat that saw he was beaten!

.

quote:

Originally posted by JTEX:

quote:

Originally posted by R. Gunn:
Gosh guys, a good Democrat? What's this world coming to?

He's not a good Democrat, he is a democrat that saw he was beaten!

.

Exactly!