08/02/2023
LACEY ACT UPDATE: Rep. Luna’s HR4922 has 5 cosponsors: Rep. Gus Bilirakis [R-FL-12], Rep. Byron Donalds [R-FL-19], Rep. Neal Dunn [R-FL-2] Rep. Troy Nehls [R-TX-22], Rep. Jerry Carl [R-AL-1]
We are working with USARK to respond to these bills. If you are a Florida resident, or a constituent of any of the representatives above, the time has come for action!
Go to https://usark.org/23lacey/
for a sample letter and contact links to these representatives and Senator Rubio.
Also, sign the petition at dontblacklistpets.com
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced his ‘‘Lacey Act Amendments of 2023’’ earlier this session. This is the same bill we saw from Rubio as S626 in 2021 and the same language that was covertly slipped into the nearly 3,000-page House COMPETES Act in 2022. This bill, S1614, would reverse the USARK federal lawsuit victory by reinstating the ban on interstate transportation of species listed as injurious under the Lacey Act, among other things.
Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL-13) has introduced a companion bill to Rubio's S1614, also titled "Lacey Act Amendments of 2023." Luna's bill is HR4922.
Without informing on the full story, unintended consequences, or blatant overreach, Luna's office claims the bill will fix "loopholes in the Lacey Act."
Luna's office has reported Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) as an outside group supporting this legislation.
