Last Thursday, AB44 passed the Committee on Appropriations' vote UNAMENDED. This is good news and means that the bill will go to the full Assembly WITHOUT ANY RABBIT EXCLUSION!

I am convinced this outcome is the result of our joined efforts. Thank you for signing and sharing the petition, and for all your phone calls and emails.

The bill still has ways to go before ending up on the Governor's desk, and unfortunately there is still the possibility for an amendment. While being somewhat optimistic that no revisions will occur in the Senate, we cannot let our guard down and must continue to advocate not only for the passage of the bill, but to make sure ALL RABBITS REMAIN PROTECTED!

So, what’s next? The California State Assembly has 80 Members. I am asking you to contact your District Representative if you live in California. Please be polite, inquire about their official position on the bill, and ask them to SUPPORT AB44 WITHOUT ANY RABBIT EXCLUSION. You can do this by phone or by email.

Here is a link to the full list with contact information for each, as well as a search option that allows you to find your Legislator by your address: https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers

We also need people to focus on social media. You don’t have to live in California to tweet, message, or Facebook post any or all of the 80 Assemblymembers. On each Members home page (see link above) you can find their social media accounts. Again, be polite and ask them to support AB44 without any rabbit exclusion. You can also include a link to the petition: https://www.change.org/p/laura-friedman-california-statewide-fur-ban-protect-rabbits-too

Here is the link to the bill where you can check on status, history, previous votes and sign up to track the bill: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB44

The following Members have previously voted NO on the bill in the Committees on Water, Parks and Wildlife, Judiciary and Appropriations: Bigelow (R), Choi (R), Dahle (R), Gallagher (R), Obernolte (R), Brough (R), Diep (R) and Fong (R).

The following Members have previously voted YES on the bill in the Committees on Water, Parks and Wildlife, Judiciary and Appropriations: Chu (D), Friedman (D), Cristina Garcia (D), Eduardo Garcia (D), Gloria (D), Kalra (D), Levine (D), Blanca Rubio (D), Salas (D), Wood (D), Chau (D), Chiu (D), Gonzalez (D), Holden (D), Maienschein (D), Petrie-Norris (D), Reyes (D), Mark Stone (D), Bloom (D), Bonta (D), Calderon (D), Carrillo (D), Eggman (D), Gabriel (D), Petrie-Norris (D), Quirk (D), Robert Rivas (D).