I’m sure that most of you are unaware of house Bill 6419A, which was passes by the Rhode Island legislature in the final hours of its rush to adjournment. This bill will have adverse effects on the ability of RI fishermen to compete in the big money multi-state fishing tournaments that are becoming more and more common on the east coast.

Background
Most of these big money multi-state tournaments require the winners to pass a polygraph test to insure that all of the tournament rules have been complied with. All of these tournaments require the various official weigh stations for the tournament to forward their weigh-in slips to the central office to be sure that there hasn’t been any misunderstanding in their verbal (telephone) reports. This process can take anywhere from one day to several days, depending on whether they use an overnight delivery service or the U.S. mail.

The problem
The bill contains a provision that would require the tournament organizer to conduct any polygraphs tests required by the tournament rules within “several hours” of the end of the tournament. For the multi-state tournaments and their organizers this provision is impossible to meet, since the official winners won’t be known for one or more days after the tournament ends. If this bill becomes law, the only option for the organizers of these tournaments is to exclude RI fishermen and weigh stations from the tournament.

What You Can Do
Write or call to the Governor Carcieri and ask him to veto House bill 6419A. You can reach his office via phone at (401) 222-2080. You can write to the Governor at:

…………………………Governor Donald L. Carcieri
…………………………Office of the Governor
…………………………State House, Room 115
…………………………Providence, RI 02903

Or you can e-mail him via a link on the governor’s website at http://www.governor.ri.gov/contact/
I have attached my letter to the Governor as a reply to this message. Please feel free to copy it or compose you own letter. Thanks!

Governor Donald L. Carcieri

Office of the Governor

State House, Room 115

Providence, RI 02903

You Honor,

I am writing to ask you to veto house bill 6419A. This bill, if enacted in its present form will have the effect of preventing Rhode Island anglers from participating in many high value multi state fishing tournaments.
I know you are a fisherman so let me explain. There are many multi-state fishing tournaments held up and down the coast during our fishing season. The general structure of these tournaments is that they are administered from a central location, all of which are located outside of Rhode Island. Fishermen can enter these tournaments by mail, over the Internet or by filling out the required forms at their local bait and tackle shops. These local bait and tackle shops also act as weigh-in stations for the potential winners. All of these tackle shops will call in a report of each day’s catch to the central location, which will keep a running tally of the leaders. At then end of the last day of fishing the weigh-in stations will call-in their reports and the central office will compile a list of tentative winners. This list is no final until the weigh-in stations have sent the paperwork (signed weigh-in slips) to the central office to certify the catches they have reported.
Almost all of these tournaments require that the winners, usually the first five top finishers, to take a polygraph test to confirm that the winning fish were caught in compliance with the tournament rules. This is where the problem with the bill arises. The bill would require the tournament sponsors to administer this polygraph test within hours of the end of fishing, at a location in Rhode Island.
The tournament organizers cannot possibly receive the certifications, from thousands of anglers and tackle shops spread among many states, and announce the winners within several hours of the close of the tournament. Therefore they cannot arrange to have a polygraph test administered within the state of Rhode Island within the time frame contained in the bill. Thus, if they cannot comply with the bill they will have no alternative but to exclude Rhode Island anglers from participation in the tournament. In addition to being unfair to Rhode Island anglers this bill will also deprive Rhode Island tackle shops of the additional revenue (bait and tackle sales) that these tournaments generate. In fact, in a state as small as ours some of this revenue will be shifted to bait and tackle shops in Connecticut and Massachusetts
While the General Assembly’s intention protect Rhode Island anglers from abuse in these tournaments is to be commended, the effect of this bill will be to prevent Rhode Islanders from competing in these tournaments and deprive bait and tackle shops of needed revenue.
Thank you

Could one of the mods please pin this top the top for the next week or so? Thanks!

FYI the Governor Vetoed the bill on Tuesday just before he left fo the 4th of Jult holiday.


Mods: You can unpin it now and thanks!