Agriculture Committee Members, I oppose bill A04611. This bill has broad sweeping negative impacts on many animal interest groups including farmers, bird breeders, reptile keepers, mammal breeders, and more. New York Assembly Bill 4611 (A04611) was introduced on February 4. This bill seeks to ban the shipping of all mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. This included shipments within, into and from the state (both import and export). Per the bill, shipping via any “mail carrier” will be banned so that includes the commonly utilized overnight services from major carriers such as FedEx and UPS (for verified shippers). A04611 was assigned to the Assembly Agriculture Committee. Fines can be $1,000 per violation. Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal introduced the bill and she sits on the assigned Agriculture Committee. The Committee members must be made aware of the broad sweeping repercussions of this bill and informed of the many shipping regulations, restrictions, and safeguards already in place. Please allow me to inform you regarding the many regulations already in place to protect animals. Stringent policies are already in place by shipping companies, as well as various federal and state animal welfare laws. First, mail carriers already prohibit the shipment of many animals. The United States Postal Services (USPS) prohibits the shipping of mammals, most birds, turtles, and snakes. The United Parcel Service (UPS) does not allow shipments of mammals, birds, or snakes. Other companies have various restrictions and certifications. For example, FedEx requires that you have a Live Reptile Certification in order to ship live reptiles. If a carrier does allow for the shipment of certain live animals, there are stringent policies and laws in place. These include but are not limited to: Containers must meet construction standards; Proper ventilation; Veterinary health certificates and inspections; Use of heat/cold packs during certain weather conditions; International Air Transport Association (IATA) standards; International Safe Transit Association (ISTA) standards; Labeling requirements; Internal packaging requirements; The federal Lacey Act. Not only are all of these regulations already in place, but shipments are required to be done as timely as possible. When reptiles are shipped, they are delivered to the carrier or picked up late in the day and then delivered early the following day. The travel time is always less than 24 hours, and typically closer to 12 hours. Animals also are not shipped during temperature extremes as various thresholds for animal safety are applicable (too hot/too cold). The shipping of live animals is a serious matter, is not unregulated, and is not taken lightly by either the shippers or the carriers. For those who do ship animals, protections and safeguards for those animals are numerous. I hope you oppose and stop A04611. It is a misguided bill attempting to fix a problem that does not exist due to so many protections already existing. A04611 is bad for New York, the residents, and the animals. Thank you for your time and consideration on this matter. Have a good day. Bill Text February 4, 2021 Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Agriculture AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to prohibiting the shipment of certain live animals by postal mail The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The agriculture and markets law is amended by adding a new 2 section 382 to read as follows: 3 § 382. Prohibition of the shipping of live animals by postal mail. 1. 4 It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, partnership or corporation to 5 mail or offer for mailing a live animal by postal mail into or within 6 the state of New York or from the state of New York to points outside 7 the state of New York. As used in this section, "live animal" shall 8 mean any mammal, bird, reptile, or amphibian. "Postal mail" shall mean 9 mail that is processed and delivered by the United States postal service 10 or other mail carrier. A person, firm, partnership or corporation shall 11 be considered to have mailed or offered for mailing a live animal in 12 violation of this section when such person, firm, partnership or corpo- 13 ration causes such live animal and applicable postage or shipping fee to 14 be physically placed in the possession of the United States postal 15 service or other mail carrier. 16 2. A violation of this section shall be punishable by a civil penalty 17 not to exceed one thousand dollars. Each such violation shall be deemed 18 a separate violation with respect to each animal mailed or offered for 19 mailing. 20 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately Sincerely,

A 16-year-old girl working on palm oil plantations in Indonesia told the Associated Press that her boss took her to a remote part of the estate and suddenly grabbed her arm and started pawing her breasts, throwing her to the jungle floor. Then he held the ax to her throat, spit on her, and raped her. “He threatened to kill me,” she said softly. “He threatened to kill my whole family.” This story is just one of many -- women working on palm oil plantations are enduring horrific working conditions: From free labor to exposure to toxic pesticides to rape. And Procter & Gamble, like many other beauty brands, have blood on their hands as they source from producers that operate like modern-day slavery. Rainforest Action Network (RAN) investigations found that labor abuses regularly occur even on plantations that supply mills bearing the green palm stamp for sustainable palm oil. Procter & Gamble is one of the world’s biggest palm oil users, and despite year after year of its palm oil suppliers being exposed for labor abuses, it has failed to ensure palm oil workers are protected. We ask P&G to: 1) Enforce and monitor the worker protection standards for all its palm oil suppliers 2) Apply full transparency and proof that workers rights are being respected instead of relying on inadequate; certification schemes and allowing offenders to hide from public scrutiny If we expose a global giant like Procter & Gamble and make them shift big time, it will send ripple effects through the industry and all the others might follow suit.

Many US families still have significant savings in our accounts and have our Dependent Care facilities closed due to Covid 19. I would hate to see our hard earned savings go to waste due to a March 15th deadline. I know I'm not alone. This simple change could help a lot of families once Dependent Care facilities are safe to open and keep our children safe again.

For all rapes reported to police, only 34.5% are cleared by arrest, and even fewer actually lead to convictions. This is an alarming number given the fact that approximately 20% of women in the U.S. have experienced an attempted, or completed rape in her lifetime. According to aggregate data, for every 1,000 rapes, nearly 38.4% are reported to police, and only 7 result in a felony conviction. Given the disparity between the occurrence of rape, and the number of rape cases that result in conviction, it is apparent the system is inadequate at providing justice for victims. While the numbers are vague, experts estimate 200,000, or more rape kits are lying, unsubmitted in police departments all over the U.S. According to the Maryland Sexual Assault Evidency Policy and Funding Committee, there are 6,000 untested kits in Maryland. Not only does this impede the justice system’s ability to prosecute offenders, but it leaves victims tragically unvindicated. By these rape kits going untested, rapists remain free and justice is not sought out. Legislation will allow for offenders, especially serial rapists, to be arrested and convicted, giving survivors the justice they deserve. With this legislation in place, Maryland will be able to do our part in ending the backlog of rape kits. For too long, the voices of the raped and assaulted have been silenced by being relegated to the back of an evidence room.

We, the people of Ulster County, are facing unprecedented economic challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic.The systems we have operated within have been catastrophically disrupted and, in the process, we’ve seen just how tragically broken they were. Returning to the pre-COVID version of “normal” is not an option. In our society, electricity and internet access are basic needs, especially with many working from and schooling from home. Individuals and families are suffering from the impacts of Coronavirus—lost income, added expenses from being home, and stress from a global pandemic. COVID has hurt small businesses in dire ways. Business has slowed due to life-saving safety measures and illness, which has caused small businesses all across Ulster County to close their doors. Particularly, utility costs are crushing small businesses, causing them to make the horrible decision between making payroll for Ulster County residents and keeping the lights on. Meanwhile, Spectrum and Central Hudson are shutting down people’s service for non-payment. For Spectrum, First-quarter revenues increased to $11.7 billion. Profits reached about $396 million and their CEO made 98 million in 2016 while we struggle. Central Hudson’s parent company Fortis had 2019 revenue of $8.8 billion and total assets of $57 billion as of March 31, 2020. In the first two months of the pandemic, community members rallied around their neighbors experiencing financial hardship, by supporting the Radio Kingston Community Fund and raising over $400,000 to provide emergency financial support. Of these donations, $107,000 went directly to Central Hudson & Spectrum to thwart shut-offs. The people of Kingston cannot allow corporations to profit off our pain. We demand a cancellation of all internet and electric charges for Kingston residents.

Thousands of students across America cannot afford college because unless you have a kid or are married, it goes off your parents income until you are 24 EVEN IF you can prove they do not financially support you. The message being sent is for young adults to have kids or get married and this IS WRONG. People should be able to get financial relief who support themselves and want an education.

There can be no true justice in America until there is actions coupled with the apologies for the North America slave trade.

We should not have a defeated President naming a Justice for life in the last few months of his term. McConnell blocked Obama’s Garland appointment in Obama’s last YEAR.

It affects all aspects of our lives. Women's rights concerning their own bodies, and many other key issues.

Recently, a variety of concerning issues have come to light that are directly associated with social organizations in AU Greek Life. Accusations of sexual assault and the lack of inclusivity associated with Greek Life, among a variety of other incidents, have taken a toll on our student body, so we think AU would be a better place without them. If AU claims to be the inclusive, diverse, and just place it brands itself as, it will stand with us in taking this crucial step.

FSUSD has known about sexual abuse allegations/reports and have not acted to the best of their ability. They failed to meet their own guidelines and in return—left victims facing their abusers daily.

Donald Trump cares about his wealth. To get him to act in a humane manner, let alone a "Presidential" one, he must fear he will lose it unless he changes his behavior.