MAY 29, 2019

SCIL IS WORKING WITH PETA, CHRB, AND STRONACH GROUP TO REFORM HORSERACING IN CALIFORNIA!

As most of you know, there has been a string of deaths at Santa Anita Race Track. SCIL jumped into action with our partner Kathy Guillermo, Senior VP of PETA, whose investigators have traveled the world for years documenting the cruelty in the horse racing industry, to help.

Since the beginning of the year we had multiple meetings with the Governor's staff, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), and met with Belinda Stronach, the owner of Santa Anita Race Track (and many more tracks), and her team to discuss the necessary changes to get the industry to zero fatalities.

Here is the most recent piece from the LA Times Editorial Board and also a piece just out from the New York Times where SCIL is also mentioned. And in case you missed it, I was interviewed on Al Jazeera TV, showcasing that these California horse racing tragedies are worldwide news.

Additionally,  HBO Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel  just came out with an expose on the American horse racing industry. Patrick Battuello founder and president of HorseRacing Wrongs, a group dedicated to ending horse racing in the United States and exposing the industry, was featured in the special. Today, Mr. Battuello sent us these horrendous numbers and gave the following quote:
 
"Through our unprecedented FOIA reporting, Horseracing Wrongs has documented over 5,000 confirmed deaths on U.S. tracks since 2014 - names, dates, locations. We estimate that over 2,000 horses are killed racing or training across America every year. But, that number, 2,000 - staggering though it is, tells only a part of the story. Each year, hundreds more die in their stalls from things like colic, laminitis, or are simply "found dead" in the morning, said Battuello ."
Recently there was a Senate/Assembly Governmental Organization Joint Informational Hearing held on the deaths at Santa Anita. Below is an excerpt from the hearing.
Below is my statement that I read at the hearing:

"Good afternoon, I am Judie Mancuso founder and president of Social Compassion in Legislation. As most of you know, we advocate on behalf of the voiceless in California.

Thank you for having this hearing today. Animal lovers such as myself and our supporters want to know that all the horses that have died, have not died in vain. We need to change the culture of horse racing, and the time is now. No more delays, and no more excuses. 

Personally, I would love to see the track owners find another way to make money and maintain or grow jobs. Such as turning their venues into other money-making facilities, or into housings that is sorely needed in our state, or the many other opportunities that exist for them. Each of these potential transformations can create jobs, even the potential for many more jobs. 

We would love to see animals used in entertainment go by the wayside. These animals cannot speak for themselves on when they are in pain, and not up to running around the track at unnatural speeds. They should not be treated as a disposable commodity to be abused, forsaken and thrown away.

However, if the time is not right, then we must raise our standards to be the highest in the world and not one more horse should die. There are preventative measures that can be taken to ensure this. California should not be behind Hong Kong and Dubai. We need not only to match their standards but exceed them.

My group is working alongside PETA and their Senior VP, Kathy Guillermo, who is the leading expert on horse racing for the animal rights community. We are also working with the Stronach Group, Belinda and her team who are open and willing partners for change, and the CHRB who has not had as many willing participants in the past to see through groundbreaking standards for their industry. We have met multiple times with the Governor’s staff and many others in the legislature to begin creating legislation to address the major changes that must be implemented. 

Again, thank you for your time and support in the upcoming months as we move legislation through the process with a sense of urgency for all those affected, and of course, most of all, for the majestic horses that needlessly died. Thank you."
Status of SCIL's Legislative Package for 2019

We started the year with 11 sponsored bills. Today, we have eight still going strong, one turned into a two-year bill, and two that did not get out of committee. Below is a brief run down. See how your state Senator or Assemblymember voted:

SCIL Bills that got out of originating house:

Senate Floor Vote 37-0-1

Ayes :   Allen, Atkins, Bates, Beall, Borgeas, Bradford, Caballero, Chang, Dodd, Durazo, Galgiani, Glazer, Grove, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Hurtado, Jackson, Jones, Leyva, McGuire, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Morrell, Nielsen, Pan, Portantino, Roth, Rubio, Skinner, Stern, Stone, Umberg, Wieckowski, Wiener, Wilk 

Noes:  

No Votes Recorded:   Archuleta 
_______________________________________

Senate Floor Vote 38-0-0

Ayes : Allen, Archuleta, Atkins, Bates, Beall, Borgeas, Bradford, Caballero, Chang, Dodd, Durazo, Galgiani, Glazer, Grove, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Hurtado, Jackson, Jones, Leyva, McGuire, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Morrell, Nielsen, Pan, Portantino, Roth, Rubio, Skinner, Stern, Stone, Umberg, Wieckowski, Wiener, Wilk

Noes:  

No Votes Recorded:
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Senate Floor Vote 34-0-1

Ayes : Allen, Archuleta, Atkins, Bates, Beall, Bradford, Caballero, Chang, Dodd, Durazo, Galgiani, Glazer, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Hurtado, Jackson, Jones, Leyva, McGuire, Mitchell, Monning, Nielsen, Pan, Portantino, Roth, Rubio, Skinner, Stern, Stone, Umberg, Wieckowski, Wiener, Wilk

Noes:

No Votes Recorded: Borgeas, Grove, Moorlach, Morrell
_______________________________________

Assembly Floor Vote 51-19-10

Ayes : Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Burke, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Diep, Friedman, Gabriel, Cristina Garcia, Gloria, Gonzalez, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Ting, Weber, Wicks, Wood, Rendon

Noes: Bigelow, Brough, Choi, Cooley, Cooper, Cunningham, Dahle, Eggman, Flora, Frazier, Gallagher, Kiley, Lackey, Mathis, Melendez, Obernolte, Patterson, Voepel, Waldron

No Votes Recorded: Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Chen, Daly, Fong, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Gray, Grayson, Mayes
_____________________________________________

Assembly Floor Vote 63-12-5

Ayes: Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Burke, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooper, Daly, Diep, Eggman, Frazier, Friedman, Gabriel, Cristina Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Gray, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Ting, Voepel, Waldron, Weber, Wicks, Wood, Rendon

Noes: Bigelow, Brough, Chen, Cunningham, Dahle, Flora, Fong, Gallagher, Mathis, Melendez, Obernolte, Patterson

No Votes Recorded: Choi, Cooley, Eduardo Garcia, Kiley, Mayes
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Assembly Floor Vote 58-17-5

Ayes: Arambula, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Burke, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooper, Daly, Eggman, Frazier, Friedman, Gabriel, Cristina Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Ting, Waldron, Weber, Wicks, Wood, Rendon

Noes: Bigelow, Brough, Chen, Choi, Cunningham, Dahle, Flora, Fong, Gallagher, Kiley, Lackey, Mathis, Mayes, Melendez, Obernolte, Patterson, Voepel

No Votes Recorded: Aguiar-Curry, Cooley, Diep, Eduardo Garcia, Gray
__________________________________

Assembly Floor Vote 76-0-4

Ayes: Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bigelow, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Burke, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chen, Chiu, Choi, Chu, Cooper, Cunningham, Dahle, Daly, Diep, Eggman, Flora, Fong, Friedman, Gabriel, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Gray, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Kiley, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Patterson, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Ting, Voepel, Waldron, Weber, Wicks, Wood, Rendon

Noes:

No Votes Recorded: Brough, Cooley, Frazier, Eduardo Garcia
_____________________________________

Assembly Floor Vote 61-12-5

Ayes: Arambula, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Burke, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chen, Chiu, Chu, Cooper, Cunningham, Daly, Diep, Eggman, Frazier, Friedman, Gabriel, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Ting, Waldron, Weber, Wicks, Wood, Rendon

Noes: Bigelow, Brough, Choi, Dahle, Flora, Fong, Kiley, Mathis, Melendez, Obernolte, Patterson, Voepel

No Votes Recorded: Aguiar-Curry, Cooley, Eduardo Garcia, Gray, Mayes

Note: Many people ask me why there are so many "No Votes Recorded". Members were either physically not there, or did not feel strongly enough to vote one way or another. Also, there are times when a legislator will feel pressure from both sides and decide to "stay off" the bill. By "staying off the bill" they feel it won't get them in as much trouble as if they decided to vote yes or no.


Another Note: All bills will now be assigned to the first policy committee in the second house, then if passed, on to the Appropriations Committee, then if passed, on to the Governor's desk for signature into law (or veto). We will alert you in the upcoming weeks when we need your help.
SCIL sponsored bills that had other outcomes:


AB 889 (Maienschein) Animal Testing Reporting – After deciding not to bring up the bill for a vote in committee, in consultation with the author and our co-sponsors at PCRM, we decided to turn AB 889 into a two-year bill.

A two-year bill can be brought back next year if it is not brought up for a vote this year, because we are in the first year of a two-year session. Essentially, we are pushing the pause button on the bill this year. While many legislators were ready to support AB 889, some still had questions. Instead of risking the bill being voted down in committee, which would've killed the bill for good, we will work to better educate legislators on what AB 889 does, why it's needed, and again help navigate it through the legislature in 2020 starting from exactly where we left off this year, ready to go to the Assembly Health Committee.


Assembly Education Committee Vote 3-2-1
-Dead; Needed 4 votes to pass and it only received 3.

Ayes: Kalra, Smith, Weber

Noes: Kiley, O'Donnell

No Votes Recorded: McCarty
____________________________

– Dead; held in Appropriations Committee (suspense file), even though there were no costs to the state. This was heartbreaking to us, since so many animals died or were lost and never reunited with their owners in last years fires. While this bill is dead, SCIL will continue to work for statewide evacuation plan requirements for those that have kennel permits.
Thank you for making the calls and signing up for our support letters. In order to get legislation successfully passed requires many components:

  • Daily animal advocacy work on the ground in Sacramento.
  • Making sure we all vote for animal-friendly legislators.
  • Your grassroots support when we call you to action.
  • Public Relations, Social Media, and other Web presence.
  • Donations to keep it all going. This work is extremely expensive.

Together we are changing the world in animal welfare, protection, and rights. Please make a donation today to help us keep going. We are only half way through the legislative process for 2019.

Gratefully yours, Judie

Judie Mancuso
Founder/CEO/President
Social Compassion in Legislation
Social Compassion in Legislation
www.socialcompassioninlegislation.org