Oklahoma Rep. Brian Renegar has introduced a state bill known as House Bill 2250 that, if passed, will prohibit "animal rights organizations" from soliciting funds in Oklahoma for use on “program services or functional expenses outside of this state, or for political purposes inside or outside this state.”
Rep. Rengar wants the state to be able to control those who would raise their voices in dissent against cruelty to animals -- especially farm animals. If animal rights groups can't seek donations from Oklahomans unless those groups spend that money inside Oklahoma -- and if they also are forbidden from spending it on "political purposes" in any way -- he will have effectively made illegal any opposition to factory farming in that state. That's not how we do things in America.
Please sign this petition asking Oklahoma lawmakers not to pass House Bill 2250. Silencing legitimately established animal rights charities in this way is outrageously inappropriate.
Dear Oklahoma lawmakers:
Those who have signed this petition, like many other members of the public, were deeply distressed and angered to learn that there is a bill currently under consideration that would limit how certain animal rights charities can solicit funding and use that funding within your state.
First, it is inappropriate to tell your constituents how they can spend their own money. Presumably, there are some Oklahomans who do wish to contribute funds to help national campaigns run by animal rights groups like the Humane Society of the United States or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. You deny these constituents the ability to support these causes this when you try to limit how such groups can spend donations within your state.
Second, this bill appears to do something that would seem to be unconstitutional and unAmerican. House Bill 2250 would silence groups who actively support a certain political opinion because some in your state just don't like those groups. The essence of animal rights work is political. Why else would anyone suggest that these legitimately established activist charities should not be able to use legally obtained donations for political purposes within your state? That's just plain wrong.
Those who don't like these groups don't have to donate to them, but it's completely inappropriate to try to bar them from influencing important animal-related issues in Oklahoma. This is America. Presenting arguments about such issues is how we decide things. Stifling the opposition's arguments is decidedly NOT how we do things. Right?
We thank you for giving this matter the attention it deserves.
