| Bernard -- Tonight, from 5:30PM to 7:30PM, the Senate Committee on Natural Resources & Energy will be holding an ersatz "Public" Hearing. This hearing is for the purpose of taking testimony on three bills: S.129; S.201 and S.281. We stand against all three. You can watch this show at this link. As we understand the format, this will run for 2 hours, and is supposed to alternate between people who are "for" and people who are "against"; each person will be given a whopping 2 minutes to speak; a mere 40 seconds for each bill.
We will provide further updates as they develop, and will alert you to any needed activity. Just as an aside: In the history of "real" Public Hearings, there are three notable ones. Certainly issues with firearms bring out a large crowd and are generally considered as the 3rd largest turnout. The issue of same sex marriage brought out the 2nd largest; but the issue that brought the most people out was an earlier attempt to Ban trapping in the 90s. This "public hearing" is a sham and serves nothing but to check a box that a hearing was held. It is known that not all Vermonters have high-speed internet. It is known that many sportspeople are older, and may not be comfortable with a computer, email or live-streaming. OUR people WILL take time, and invest the money for gas, to go to the statehouse and stand with others who feel similarly, showing our legislators, by strength of numbers, that Vermonters feel differently than a vocal minority. Without the ability for the public to stand and be seen, this "public" hearing is purposefully preventing any number of Vermonters from having even a modicum of input. Please consider giving written testimony, and send that to:
jnewman@leg.state.vt.us Thank You Donate to defend your rights: Vermont Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs
http://www.vtfsc.com/ | 
