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We have gotten HB5776 passed through the Ag Committee, and it is scheduled to move to the Senate for a second reading tomorrow morning (May 15). Unfortunately, the amendment removing the prohibitions against the Governor and the IDOA making rules contrary to the bill was not withdrawn. All indications are that the bill will pass the Senate with flying colors.

We need to contact all of our represenatives, and urge them to put aside their differences with the Senate in order to pass this bill through the house. Please also contact Speaker Madigan's office directly, and urge support of this bill - even with the Senate amendment included. If you get the chance, also send off a post card or letter to everyone you call. Multiple contacts with these folks from each of us would NOT be a bad thing!

If you have friends, neighbors or business associates - anyone who might at all be interested, please urge them also to contact their reps.

Several legislators from both houses have intimated that this is going to be a hard sell in the House, but please remember to be polite and stick to the point that we need this bill passed and sent to the Governor's desk. We can be sympathetic to their position while remaining firm on the idea of getting this bill passed into law.

We also need to contact the Governor, and ask him to please sign the bill into law should it arrive on his desk.

This legislative session ends Thursday, May 29 - for better or worse. We need each of these represenatives to know there are a lot of people who are very much in favor of this bill!

Now, I know it isn't all we had hoped for. But we do need something, and this is as close as we are going to get this year. IDOA can have a bill ready and waiting for the next session, possibly even sooner, which would make our job infinitely more difficult next time.