All 3 of the bills I posted about previously were released from their Committees today, but not without a little bit of drama:
S1803 Ban on Declawing – This one ended up being a bit contentious. While most of the people who showed up to testify were in favor of the bill, there was a veterinarian from the NJ Veterarians Medical Association who got into a heated exchange with Senator Singleton, the bill’s sponsor, regarding studies and data surrounding the safety risks of declawing. No video of the hearing was provided, but based on the audio, it sounded like she ended up walking out of the hearing. Senator Pennacchio also expressed concerns about the bill, and voted against releasing it, but he was the sole dissenting vote.
S3137 Vet Billing Transparency & S3327 The Pet Insurance Act were both released from the Senate Commerce Committee. Senator Bramnick abstained from voting to release S3137, citing concerns that it could be cumbersome for vets to post all of their fees, but the sponsor assured him that there were aspects of the bill that mitigated that concern. S3327 was released with unanimous support.
