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Posted 10 November 2006
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You have probably heard by now about the Congressional election results, but did you know that 44 states also held elections for governors or state legislative seats on November 7th? After the dust settles, Democrats control 28 governorships, Republicans 21, and one is undecided at press time, a net pick up of six seats for the Democrats.
In the state legislatures, Democrats control both houses of the legislature in 23 states; Republicans in 15 and ten are split. At press time, Pennsylvania is undecided. The Republicans control the Senate, but the House is still in limbo. This adds up to 49 states because Nebraska's legislature is nonpartisan.
Before the election, Republicans controlled 20 state legislatures; Democrats 19 and 10 were split.
Democrats picked up close to 320 more state legislative seats, adding up to new majorities in at least nine chambers: the Iowa House and Senate, the Indiana House, the Minnesota House, the Michigan House, the New Hampshire House and Senate, the Oregon House and the Wisconsin Senate. (The Iowa Senate was previously tied.)
The Montana House is the only new chamber Republicans won.
In other election results, the Arizona ballot initiative to ban intensive confinement of gestating pigs and calves raised for veal was approved with 62% of the vote. It requires that the animals have sufficient space to turn around, lie down and fully extend their limbs, when tethered, or confined in crates, cages or other enclosures, effective 2013. There is an exception for veterinary purposes. The passing of this precedent-setting humane proposition makes Arizona the first state in the nation to enact such a measure to ban veal crates and the second state to ban gestation crates for pregnant pigs. The gestation crate for breeding pigs was outlawed through a citizen initiative in Florida in 2002. Although relatively few hogs are raised in Arizona, pork producers are concerned that such measures could spread to other states and be considered in Congress.
Congratulations are in order to several veterinarians who won their campaigns for state legislative office. According to unofficial results which may be incomplete at this time, we have been able to confirm that the following veterinarians successfully defended their seats: Dr. Steve Johnson (CO-Sen. Dist. 15-Rep.), Dr. Joe Seng (IA-Sen. Dist. 43-Dem.), Dr. Eugene Maddox (GA-House Dist. 172-Rep.), Dr. Steve Dille (MN-Sen. Dist. 18-Rep.), Dr. Phil Richardson (OK-House Dist. 56-Rep.), Dr. Lee Denney (OK-House Dist. 33-Rep.), Dr. Kurt Schrader (OR-Sen. Dist. 20-Dem), Dr. Bob Bastian (PA-House Dist. 69-Rep.), Dr. Charles "Doc" Anderson (TX-House Dist. 56-Rep.), Dr. Kathy Haigh (WA-House Dist. 35-Dem., and Dr. Jake Hines (WI-House Dist. 42-Rep.).
Non-incumbent veterinarians Dr. Jimmie Don Aycock (TX-Dist. 54-Rep.), Dr. Cap Dierks (NE-Dist. 40), Dr. Louis Pinkerton (ND-Dist. 5-Dem.) and Dr. Brian Renegar (OK-Dist. 17-Dem.) also won their races. On the other hand, veterinarians Dr. Chip Beckett and Dr. Don Woerner came up short in their bids to win Senate seats in the Connecticut and Montana respectively. Incumbent Dr. Charles Dake (MO-House Dist. 132-Dem.) lost his race for re-election.
The results increase the number of veterinarians serving in the state legislatures from 20 to 23, with 16 Republicans, 6 Democrats, and one non-partisan member in Nebraska.
While legislators were busy campaigning, there were some regulatory developments. The Illinois State VMA and the state's Department of Revenue reached an agreement on a proposed rule change that will clarify the applicability of sales tax to products sold in veterinary practices. The Delaware Board of Veterinary Medicine adopted rule changes pertaining to veterinary supervision of unlicensed personnel and veterinary technicians and qualifications for veterinary examination applicants. And in Utah, new regulations for animal acupuncture licensure require specified training including 50 hours of on-the-job training under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian.
In other news, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell appointed assistant district attorney Jeffrey Paladina as the state's first special prosecutor for dog-law enforcement. Mr. Paladina will be prosecuting animal cruelty cases according to Jessie Smith, named to the newly created post of special deputy secretary for dog law enforcement. Gov. Rendell has also created a special enforcement team with four kennel compliance specialists. These appointments are part of what the governor earlier called "proposed sweeping changes to the state's dog law and related state regulations to improve the conditions under which dogs are bred and sold in Pennsylvania." The state has been criticized for allowing the operation of puppy mills which raise hundreds of puppies per year in kennels, not in homes of breeders.
The AVMA State Public Policy Symposium is coming up on Dec. 2-3, 2006, at the Chicago Marriott O'Hare. If you intend to attend but forgot to register, please do so ASAP at: http://www.avma.org/meetings/pubpolsymposium/default.asp.
We look forward to seeing many of you at the symposium and the AVMA Leadership Conference in January. Thank you for your continuing support!
The following link takes you to the latest significant bills and regulations from around the country.
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