Monday, November 16, 2009

MA Legislation for Kayakers

Wear It!
Recently proposed legislation in Massachusetts relating to kayaks and safety were brought to the attention of the American Canoe Association. The ACA National Office has authored a response letter and has submitted copies to 11 individuals in the MA legislature detailing the ACA position on the proposed bill.

Please follow this link to the proposed legislat
ion:
http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/186/st00/st00974.htm
The MA Legislative Committee that will be acting on the bill is:
http://www.mass.gov/legis/comm/h52.htm

Staff informed the ACA that action will take place by the end of the month. Note that the SENATE BILL S.974 is now before a HOUSE committee because it passed the Senate. There is also a HOUSE BILL that relates to Kayaks but is less comprehensive. That bill passed the HOUSE at about the same time, and is now before a Senate committee - http://www.mass.gov/legis/comm/s29.htm
m/s29.htm. The ACA has not prepared comments on this yet as this bill is less inclusive, but comment may be warranted and is currently under consideration.

If you are interested in taking action / commenting on this matter, please use the link above to the MA Committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling. Having letters from individuals associated with clubs an
d other outdoor organizations may be beneficial.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to respond to one of the individuals below:

Martin Bartels – ACA Executive Director

Paul Sanford – ACA Director of Stewardship & Public Policy / Legal Counsel
Jeremy Oyen – ACA Director of Safety Education and Instruction






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