MO Senate Action Alert

[Danoinark]

Has ANYONE gotten a response from their elected officials on this?

As you suggested I sent my letter to the Senator representing Taney Co.

and I have not recieved any acknowledgement or response.

[SilverMallard]

Looks like we're gonna have to make phone calls and do some digging for residential and cell #s. I'm gonna call Norma Champion's offices in Jeff and Springfield tomorrow and see if I can actually get any meaningful dialogue started. I'll also call JRBP. I get great responses from Congressman Blunt and my two US Senators from MO when I email them. But I haven't talked to ANYONE who has heard "boo" from their state legislators. And Holly not getting back to me is verging on unforgiveable unless she's been out of pocket for some reason.

[SilverMallard]

Norma Champion (Springfield) is opposed and 99% committed to voting no. Her direct email is normachampion@senate.mo.gov They have not received ANY email on this bill from the STATE SENATE website...mine, yours, or anyone else's. CALL YOUR SENATOR'S OFFICE IN JEFF CITY AND ASK THEM FOR A DIRECT EMAIL ADDRESS!!!! The state senate webmaster is either not doing their job, or screening SB 364 emails for the Farm Bureau!

I spoke to the ExDir of Table Rock Lake Water Quality, Inc. just now. He's in Baltimore, MD, this week at a water quality conference. But I am emailing him the links to the Senate summary and supplemental summary so he can forward those to his Trustees. They will reach a concensus and get back to me this week.

The bill is set for final reading, debate, and a vote later this month. Senator Champion's staff thinks there will be strong opposition and vigorous debate on the floor of the Mo Senate. She is generally opposed on principle to more state control and less local control on MOST issues, but especially so on public health and environmenal regulatory issues.

I have repeatedly contacted Holly at JRBP and OpsDir at The Watershed Committee of the Ozarks and gotten ZERO response from them. The OpsDir @ the Watershed Committee left me on hold and wouldn't even pick up the phone. I have left voicemail and email for Holly at JRBP and never even gotten a live person on the phone. I have now sent emails asking BOTH to go on the record with a position statement THIS WEEK.

You see, gang, none of these orgs want to torque off the Mo Farm Bureau. Neither do the state Senators, Reps, or Governor. So we are going to have to give them something to seriously consider if we want this bill defeated. They are going to have to clearly see it: sportsmen and environmentalists vs. ag...choose your poison. And most of them are probably quite ignorant as to how many of their constituent supporters and voters are sportsmen and environmentally conscious. WE HAVE TO EDUCATE THEM ON THAT POINT.

[SilverMallard]

P.S. I left out the Upper White River Basin guys. They are also working up a position starting today. And they will email a statement to me later this week. And the ExDir there knows the score. I was impressed with him.

[Wayne SW/MO]

You see, gang, none of these orgs want to torque off the Mo Farm Bureau.

I don't think most people realize that the Missouri Farm Bureau is not Grandpa's Farm Bureau. It is now a very large insurance company who takes on the job of supporting the corporate farms, or the equivalent. Don't let anyone tell you different, look at where there income originates and the biography of their directors.

[SilverMallard]

Mo Farm Bureau is more than a big insurance company. It is THE agri-business lobby in MO. Behind the Dem and Rep Party apparatus, Mo Farm Bureau is the most powerful organization in state politics.

[SilverMallard]

Hey, I just reread this stuff and realized that I kind of short-shrifted the Ops Director at Watershed Committee of the Ozarks. He actually emailed me shortly after I posted that update on what was going on Monday. We had a good conversation and he told me he would take this to the Executive Director.

Another source from that organization informed me tonight that they discussed SB 364 at their board meeting this week, and that the board is looking into what position or response they may take. And that is good news.

But I still haven't heard any more from Holly other than an email that said my phone was disconnected...which it is not...to which I replied with my phone number again. Every time I call there during normal business hours, I get her voicemail.

[drbewley]

Let us know when us Arkansas folks are back in the loop. You burned a bridge or two there.

[SilverMallard]

Let us know when us Arkansas folks are back in the loop. You burned a bridge or two there.

Yep. Did that on purpose. And it probably ain't over yet. I'll probably need to go remove the pilings at some point in the not so distant future. Those rubes burn in effigy anyone who tries to do a thing about water quality issues down there other than Wilson's beloved D.O....which I'm not too sure he even understands that well. Remember the reception Fox Statler got last year? I'm sick of their ignorant BS. And folks who keep bringing this AR vs. MO thing up on threads about water quality issues we should all naturally agree on aren't working their way up my buddy lists, either. If you want to trash talk me, why don't you go do it on Wilson's forum. That's what it's there for apparently. But this is CONSERVATION forum and this thread is about a piece of very dangerous legislation we're trying to stop up here. Being an Arkansan who owns lake property and who fishes mostly in the Branson area, I'd think you would see through the distractions and focus on the issue. Oh well.

[SilverMallard]

OK, as of this morning, this is what I know:

Senator Champion is opposed.

Watershed Committee of the Ozarks is opposed and working with Springfield and Greene County officials who work with the legislature to lobby against the bill.

I have no new info from the Upper White River Basin org or from Table Rock Lake Water Quality, Inc. But they both expressed concern and interest in the issue on Monday. It's only Wednesday.

I still have not heard from James River Basin Partnership.

And, as you can see, the gang in Arkansas is more worried about nobody saying a potentially negative word than they are in preventing a major step backwards in terms of water quality. Doubt we can count on any assistance from Friends of the White River...which is sort of ironic given their name I think.

On the subject of people's misplaced concerns, I got an email last night from the Ops Director at Watershed Committee of the Ozarks, who is a member of this forum, and a call from the ExDir of the same organization first thing this morning. While I was very encouraged by their reaction to the bill and how quickly they have been able to take appropriate action, the main thing they were concerned about was the fact that I am giving this running update on what is going on regarding SB 364 and my communications...or lack thereof...with the various non-profits that focus on water quality in our region. They were very distressed that I mentioned in a previous post that I had sat on hold for about 10 minutes before having to hang up to take another call...from my state senator. Things were said like "slander" and "attack" and "if you want to make friends and get people to help you." Of course, I politely recommended they talk to their attorney about slander so that they don't misuse the term in the future and pointed out that slander...or any issue of defamation...has to first and foremost be UNTRUE. I also explained to them that I am, first and foremost, an outdoor journalist. And that trying to intimidate me for reporting facts in the public forum is probably not in the best interests of their organization or their personal professional reputations. (readers please note I am NOT calling these guys out by name) It certainly wasn't MY fault that I sat on hold for 10 minutes Or than Senator Champion's chief of staff returned my call at precisely that moment. From the conversations, I got the impression that they were deeply distressed that folks might perceive that they do not respond to communications from the general public. Well, I've made it clear in the past couple of posts on this thread that they DO and that they are moving aggressively in the right direction. Has anyone here NEVER been left on hold for an irritating amount of time or had to hang up to take another call while on hold? I know it happens almost every time I call my bank, Mediacom, City Utilities, the phone company, and most state and federal government agencies. So I fail to see why anyone would be so hyper-sensitive to someone reporting that it happened when someone called THEM. But more importantly, can't we all focus on the REAL ISSUE: SB 364? Cleaner water. You know, that sort of thing.

I make mistakes. And I'm usually the first one to admit that fact when it happens. Everyone performs in less than the ideal way from time to time. This is a fundamental fact of life. It amazes me that so many well-educated adults cannot seem to accept this reality, and spend so much time and effort trying to cover them up instead of fixing them. If we all spent all that negative energy on positive things (like cleaner air and water), just think of how much good we could accomplish! And threatening journalists is NEVER a good professional move.