Just a note to be sure to go to the final Premises ID hearings being held today, Thursday, August 17th, 2006 by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture in Randolph from 9:30 to 11:30 am at the VTC-Langevin Building Room 103 and in Montpelier from 1 to 3 pm at the Pavilion Auditorium at 109 State Street.
Note that there will not be any evening hearings. This is the last pair of hearings.
Public comment can be sent by email to animal.health@agr.state.vt.us or by sending your comment to:
Vermont Agency of Agriculture
attn. Premises Registration
116 State Street
Drawer 20
Montpelier, VT 05620
You can get a copy of the Premises ID Registration Proposal from the AoA web site.
While Agriculture Secretary Steve Kerr has put Premises ID Registration on hold for now do not let up the pressure, do not become complacent, do not lose sight of the fact that he still wants to setup Premises Registration. Get your comments in - Be heard!
This bit from the Brattleboro Reformer really bothers me.
“He (Kerr) said he wants to sever the link with the USDA, and create a separate Vermont database. At the end of the week the Agency of Agriculture will ask the USDA for a block of animal registration numbers so as not to mess up the countrywide standardized numbering system that ensures none are repeated, and speeds up the response time between states in the event of an outbreak.”
A block of animal registration numbers?
I have written to the reporter to ask her to clarify that statement. She may have just used the wrong word, or, on the other hand, she may not have.
Hope to see 500 people in Montpelier today. Rise up, Vermont! Rise up!
Comment Henwhisperer — August 17, 2006 @ 5:10 am
From the Caledonian Record:
“Bosma said the decision to put the process on hold has nothing to do with the level of opposition that has been the tenor of all the hearings. He said those within the agency were expecting such opposition, though some of them were a little surprised by the personal attacks that came at the beginning of the hearings session.”
I love to start my day off with a laugh.
[Perhaps they need to stop attacking our basic Constitutional rights and privacy. When they threaten people, people fight back. They are the face of a unpleasant, agressive government. I feel personally attacked by them as do a lot of other people. -WJ]
Comment Henwhisperer — August 17, 2006 @ 5:32 am
Even if it were block of premises registration numbers from the feds instead of Vermont using its own numbering system - it would simply mean that the Vermont data could be seamlessly incorporated into the federal database at any time. You don’t suppose that would ever happen do you?
All they are doing is separating this implementation plan into smaller and smaller pieces. Their goal remains the same.
Comment Paul Horton — August 17, 2006 @ 5:53 am
Basically, a block of numbers means they are deceptively complying, hoping not to feel the heat.
Go NoNAIS Vermont, ensure your voice is heard!
Comment Celeste — August 17, 2006 @ 8:28 am
Our car has broken down so I will not be able to make the hearing. I’ll be submitting written comments. If you go, please let me know how it went. -WalterJ
Comment walterj — August 17, 2006 @ 10:15 am
I just realized that I am leaving on Monday, not Tuesday, for Kansas City, so I better write this tonight or it will not get done.
Bread and Puppet did a super anti-NAIS presentation outside of the State House for about half an hour. Apparently they have been doing that presentation before each of their recent shows.
There were about 100 people at the hearing. Himself, Steve Kerr, showed up a little late. His contempt of us shows in everything he says and does. He gave a rundown about the current situation using a very fake “I’m trying to be friendly” tone at first. When the fracas began, though, you could tell he was getting peed off. If he had a heart, I bet his blood pressure would have been sky high.
He tried to convince us that he is so concerned about the private data that he just couldn’t go forward with the program. I talked to Karin of Liberty Ark this afternoon and she said that there is no way that the data can be kept confidential because they can’t just keep the data in the repository without accessing it frequently to test the system.
Lots of questions, lots of passion by the people. Much clapping and Carl Cushing dared not stop it or give his “let’s be respectful” speech.
Steve Kerr denied that he had said the premises registration was on hold. I had a copy of the press release Mark Bosma sent out, I got it from Jedd at the Courier, that had the words “on hold” in the headline.
There were explanations from the lawyer of the Attorney Generals office about the process now that premises id is on hold. He is the one who said if the Agency doesn’t take it up again and nothing is done, in 8 months the rule making process would expire. I read in one post that Steve Kerr said he was going to let it expire, but that is not what he said, rather it came from the Attorney General guy.
The answer to the question about the fine, again from the lawyer, was that the fine is a once and done thing. If you do not comply they will ask you to comply and then the fine for non-compliance is $1,000, one time, now and forever (or until they made some amendment to the statutes). He was asked directly, “So, if you don’t want to comply you pay the fine and you don’t have to comply after that? In essence, buy out of the program.” and the answer was Yes. People were heard saying that they wished they had brought their checkbooks.
The presentation, for those of you who saw it before, was much abbreviated. They took out many of the slides.
When it came time for the public testimony, the first couple of people who sat down had to sit directly across from Steve Kerr. back to the audience. Our Sally asked that the chair for the testimony be moved to the end of the table, so from that point on, Steve was sitting to the left and the person giving the testimony at the head of the table. Steve stared at each person. I returned his glare and said, “I will not comply”. Another woman asked the crowd who is against NAIS. More clapping and hooting. Then she asked who is for it. One lone guy, a veterinarian, stood up. Later, when he gave his testimony he didn’t even sit down at the table but stood at a podium and spoke directly at us about disease control, yada yada yada.
So, in conclusion, score a big one for our side. For now.
Hope other people will fill in the blanks for points I missed.
link
Check out the NIAA’s ID Expo. I’ll be paying serious attention to _Legal Authority, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)-Dr. George Teagarden, Kansas Animal Health Department._
I’ll be taking my laptop with me, so look for updates on the event. The Granny Warriors will be there along with a multitude of protesters. I’ve never been arrested, I’d like to keep it that way.
Sharon
Comment Henwhisperer — August 19, 2006 @ 7:14 pm
I just remembered one other thing I wanted to mention. When asked why the Agency wasn’t going to still hold three night hearings, Carl Cushing said they would have cost taxpayer money and they’d rather not waste the money.
Sharon
Comment Henwhisperer — August 19, 2006 @ 7:17 pm