Contact the SC legislators ASAP! It only takes a few minutes! This is a backdoor effort to completely ban venomous non-native reptiles just before the last day of the session. This was done to hide from the opposition and it makes a mockery of the legislative process and American government. After returning from a short recess, the vote will happen on Tuesday (May 11).
Two bills moving through the South Carolina legislature regarding non-herpetoculture matters were amended to include a ban on non-native venomous reptiles. Both bills were nearly through the legislative process when the amendments were added. H3539 adds the ban to the previous text regarding swine. H3056 completely stripped the previous bill language regarding various SCDNR laws and replaced it with this ban.
The bills vary slightly but both will:
- ban all non-native venomous reptiles of the class Reptilia belonging to the families Elapidae, Crotalidae, Viperidae, and Hydrophiidae;
- ban all non-native venomous reptiles in the genus Heloderma;
- ban all non-native venomous reptiles in the family Colubridae belonging to the genera: Rhabdophis, Boiga, Dispholidus, Thelatornis, and Atractapsi;
- make it unlawful for a person to import into, possess, keep, purchase, have custody or control of, reproduce, or sell a non-native venomous reptile, including transactions conducted via the Internet;
- find that a person who possesses non-native venomous reptiles may be guilty of a felony and may be fined up to five thousand dollars and imprisoned up to five years.
Exceptions allowed only for:
- Association of Zoos and Aquariums accredited facilities;
- any business engaged in the public exhibition of non-native venomous reptiles. The exhibition must be at a non-traveling, fixed facility that is open to the public for a time no less than thirty hours per week for at least six months each year.
Contact the legislators!
Remember that you MUST be professional and civil at all times.
Please supply South Carolina addresses when completing the forms! SC residents’ voices and opposition are needed!
Step 1
Email all Senators about H3539:
Go to this link and complete the form (shaded yellow areas) and copy/paste the below subject and message. You will need to do the word verification at the bottom and finally click SEND at the top right.: South Carolina Legislature Online - Send Message
Subject: NO to H3539
Message: I implore you to vote NO to H3539. As a voting taxpayer, I feel my rights have been violated! Affected persons were not even allowed to engage during the legislative process! This last-minute amendment does not possess stakeholder input and appears to have not been sponsored by DNR. Affected citizens deserve due process and their rights have been violated by this unjust action.
The bill does not provide a regulatory or permitting avenue for those working with these species to continue. While H3539 does allow current animals to be kept, there are South Carolina residents, some with tens of thousands of dollars invested, who spent their money and years of time working on breeding programs with species that would be banned. You cannot justifiably rip that privilege from responsible reptile keepers willing to be regulated.
H3539 is a travesty that is unexpected from a state like South Carolina. The bill does not possess the rationale nor logic to force a ban rather than provide the ability for stakeholders to continue with their endeavors. Vote NO to H3539 and do what is right by South Carolina residents. Have a good day.
Step 2
Email all House members about H3056:
Go to this link and complete the form (shaded yellow areas) and copy/paste the below subject and message. You will need to do the word verification at the bottom and finally click SEND at the top right.: South Carolina Legislature Online - Send Message
Subject: NO to H3056
Message: You must vote NO to H3056. As a voting taxpayer, I feel my rights have been violated! Affected persons were not even allowed to engage during the legislative process! This last-minute amendment truly turns citizens into criminals overnight. H3056 is an immediate ban on certain reptile species owned by hundreds of South Carolina residents. These citizens are currently law-abiding reptile keepers and would be made into criminals literally immediately upon passage of this bill.
The bill does not possess stakeholder input and appears to have not been sponsored by DNR. Affected citizens deserve due process and their rights have been violated by this unjust action. The bill does not provide a regulatory or permitting avenue for those working with these species to continue. There are South Carolina residents, some with tens of thousands of dollars invested, who spent their money and years of time working on breeding programs with species that would be instantly banned. You cannot justifiably rip that privilege from responsible reptile keepers willing to be regulated.
H3056 is a travesty that is unexpected from a state like South Carolina. The bill does not possess the rationale nor logic to force a complete and immediate ban rather than provide the ability for stakeholders to continue with their endeavors. Vote NO to H3056 and do what is right by South Carolina residents. Passing this bill (and frankly simply introducing it) would be the most unconstitutional and overreaching government action I have ever witnessed. Have a good day.
Step 3
Contact (email and call) your House and Senate members:
- Find them at South Carolina Legislature Online - Find Your Legislators
- Enter your street address, city, and zip code, and then hit Find Legislators.
- You will get five results. Contact your state Senator and House member (the last two contacts).
- Clicking their names will go to their contact information. You want to email (see below) and call (leave a message).
- Your phone call/message should simply be: I am a South Carolina resident and your constituent who opposes (you will say House bill 3056 for your House member and you will say House bill 3539 for your Senator.)
- For email: after clicking the “Send message to…” link, simply complete the form (shaded yellow areas) and copy/paste the below subject and message. You will need to do the word verification at the bottom and finally click SEND at the top right.
- For the subject: NO to H3056 and H3539
- For the message, copy/paste the message below:
Subject: NO to H3056 and H3539
Message: As your voting constituent, I implore you to vote NO to and stop H3056 and H3539. As a taxpayer, I feel my rights have been violated! Affected persons were not even allowed to engage during the legislative process! These last-minute amendment bills do not possess stakeholder input and appear to have not been sponsored by SCDNR. Affected citizens deserve due process and their rights have been violated by these unjust amendments.
The bills do not provide a regulatory or permitting avenue for those working with these species to continue their work. There are South Carolina residents, some with tens of thousands of dollars invested, who spent their money and years of time working on breeding programs with species that would be banned. You cannot justifiably rip that privilege from responsible reptile keepers willing to be regulated.
H3056 and H3539 are travesties that were unexpected from my state of South Carolina. The bills do not possess the rationale nor logic to force a ban rather than provide the ability for stakeholders to continue with their endeavors. Vote NO and stop H3056 and H3539 and do what is right by South Carolina residents. Have a good day.
Differences (bill texts below)
H3539 allows for current animals to be maintained (no breeding or sales). H3056 does not allow for any grandfathering provisions.
H3539 amendment text: 2021-2022 Bill 3539 Text of Previous Version (May. 6, 2021) - South Carolina Legislature Online
H3056 amendment text: 2021-2022 Bill 3056 Text of Previous Version (May. 6, 2021) - South Carolina Legislature Online
