Rackaddict
Life Member
Here's a personal account of the positive results you can have by contacting your State Representatives. This past Fathers Day my family and I all went to have a picnic at a lake near town. While we were there I noticed a Mo. Conservation officer parked of the road with binoculars watching people at the lake. A bit later one of the families that was picnicing near us had some kids that wanted to fish so the there Dad took them down to the water and hooked up a worm for them and helped them fish. A few minutes had passed and he returned to the picnic area and asked his wife to hold one of the kids fishing rods while he went to the car to get them some more hooks. He had no more left when the officer pulled up, jumped out of his car and asked to see the womans fishing license. Of course she didn't have one and come to find out the man didn't either. He didn't think it would be a problem to help his kids bait there hooks and take there fish off the line. Well, you know the story. They were both issued fines for fishing without a license. Him for being a good Father, and her for holding a fishing pole 50 yards away from the lake. This whole scenario made me sick and later that week I had a client in that is the State Rep. for my district. I told him the story and asked him what it would take to make Fathers Day in Missouri a License free weekend. Now keep in mind that we do have a "Free' weekend in Mo. that falls the weekend BEFORE Fathers Day. They happily advertise it to "promote fishing" in the state. My Rep. contacted the MDC about changing the dates. He suggested to them that not only would it promote fishing in the state, but also be a great opportunity to promote family values. NO DEAL!!! They said the dates were already established and they could not do that. He then asked to see a record of the tickets issued on Fathers Day to compare them with other weekends to see if there motivation was purely revenue based and was denied. (MDC is a self governing commission and basically answer to no one.) Here is where it gets good. Last Tuesday, Brad introduced a bill that would make Fathers Day a " Free Fishing Day" by law in Missouri. He said that based on the standpoint of family values alone it stands a very good chance of passing the Mo. House and Senate. I was excited to say the least. I never dreamed that a simple conversation could have been the catalyst for a possible change in the law.
So guys, if you have something that you are passionate about, take the time to talk to your elected officials. Yours may be the voice of change.
