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Legislative Report, WSSC Update, West Nile and more... Legislative Update
from the Maryland Horse Council Vice President, Jane Seigler
At midnight on April 9, 2012, the Mary- land General Assembly ended its 2012 session - without enacting an apparent compromise that would have balanced the budget through both spending cuts and revenue increases. T is means that the so-called “Doomsday Budget,” which is balanced through deep cuts in expen- ditures, will go into eff ect on July 1, unless a special session of the General Assembly is con- vened to try again. A Special Session is a vir- tual certainty, but as of this writing, when it will convene and whether it will be confi ned to just budget issues is still up in the air. In any event, the legislature did manage to
dispose of a number of legislative issues of interest to the Maryland equine community. Here’s a summary of the outcomes of several proposed pieces of legislation that we have been following. For a more complete description of these bills, see the Maryland Horse Council’s legislative Blogpost of March 6 (which you can access through T e Equiery’s homepage on
equiery.com, lower right hand corner under the archives for legislation). SB 108 (making clarifying changes to the stable license law) and HB 680 (requiring the state to incorporate education about sustainable ag into science curricula) passed both houses of the General Assembly. In addition, Sunday hunting bills in Dorchester and Caroline (SB 105/HB 114 & SB 390/HB 129), Harford (SB 346/HB 321), Cecil(HB 877), and Calvert,
and St. Take the National Equine Industry Survey
All horse people are encouraged to participate in the 2012 AHP Equine Industry Survey. T e survey opened March 5 and closes May 15, 2012. T e survey is being conducted by the American Horse Publications Associa- tion, of which T e Equiery is a member. Survey participants will provide feedback on trends in the U.S. equine
industry and other information regarding the most important issues facing our industry. T e AHP Equine Industry Survey is sponsored by Kentucky Equine Research, Merck Animal Health, and Pfi zer Animal Health. T is survey was fi rst conducted in 2009 with the participation of 11,171 horse people, and was largest-ever equine industry survey of hands-on horse industry participants in the United States. With the advances of web publishing and social media, we expect participation to exceed the 2009 level, providing an even more accurate picture of the horse industry in the United States. As in the previous survey, the purpose of the 2012 survey is threefold • to obtain information regarding past, present, and expected future partici- pation in the equine industry. • to identify which issues currently facing the equine industry are perceived as being most critical to those who own, or manage horses • to analyze issues pertaining to horse health. In addition to questions on vaccines and deworming, the 2012 survey
includes questions relating to nutrition, feed, and nutritional supplements. T is survey is anonymous. No one, not even members of the research
team, will be able to associate information with responses. When the sur- vey results are tallied, only aggregated results will be presented. To learn more about the survey, to review the 1009 data, or to participate in the survey, visit
equiery.com and look for this article on our homepage.
Charles Mary’s
counties(HB 1431) passed. Only the PG County bill (HB 809) failed to move. On the racing
side, SB 49 (making certain changes to the Maryland-Bred Race Fund) and SB 794/HB947 (elimi- nating the restriction on the use of Purse Dedication Account funds for operating expenses at Ocean Downs and Rose- croft through 2015) were passed by both houses.
Bills that failed to emerge successfully include HB 912 (changing “owner” to “guardian” in cer- tain laws applying to dogs); SB 445/ HB 336 and SB 203/HB 484 (giv- ing courts the pow-
Read these stories on
equiery.com:
• Feds Final New H-2B Visa Rules • Ag in Anne Arundel County: Building Permits & Assessment Fees • Arab Racing now Legal in Maryland
• Van To Fair Hill Flips, 1 Horse Euthanized • New Protocols for MD Race Horse Drug Testing
• Will there be a coup at the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association? • Maryland’s First Lady of Racing, Georganne Hale, Accorded Her Due
er to order transfer of ownership of confi scated animals, and requiring original owners to pay costs in removing and caring for confi scated animals after conviction of certain crimes of abuse, neglect or cruelty; HB 376 (redirecting slots revenue away from racing industry and to school construction); SB 15 (requiring a study of the mission and operations of the Show Place Arena at the PG Equestrian Center); SB 301/HB 1020 (establishment of a registry of convicted animal abusers). A number of changes to the Maryland Agri- cultural Land Preservation program (MALPF) - SB 129 (easements), SB 148 (lot releases), SB 112 (appraisals) were enacted. A number of bills related to manure man- agement regulations and the Chesapeake Bay watershed restoration were unsuccessful: SB 330 (prohibited new regulations to mandate action on farms until other watershed states equal Maryland’s performance so far); SB 594 (prohibiting winter application of animal ma- nure and biosolids); SB 822/HB 487 (prohib- iting watershed implementation mandates on local jurisdictions unless funding from state or federal sources would support); SB 823/ HB 486 (requiring the state to develop and rank a list of best management practices for watershed implementation). However, SB 118 (allowing the state to add sediment to its existing nutrient credit pro- gram) passed both houses. Of general interest: the Governor’s Sustain- able Growth and Agricultural Preservation
continued...
IF YOU HAVE NEWS, VIEWS OR UPDATES TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE SEND THEM TO Editor at The Equiery, P.O. Box 610, Lisbon, MD 21765 • FAX: 410-489-7828 • email
editor@equiery.com.
Be sure to include your full name, phone number and address. All submissions become the property of The Equiery.
www.equiery.com | 800-244-9580 MAY 2012 | THE EQUIERY | 9
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