We attended the meeting Sunday March 22,2009 that Stevie Moon hosted in Tallahassee. Stevie and his staff did a great job of putting on a very useful and constructive meeting. He invited Guy Spearman, a Florida Lobbyist, and Kris Sperry a well know MD to the tattoo Industry to speak about the bill and their professional opinions.  Both men hard very validated reasons against the bill and we also went over the proposed amendment language that was written last week.

I was asked how the language for the bill was authored and I explained the history in great detail. Stevie wanted to find out every thing concerning the bill from how it was written to how it got to the Senator. Also we talked about amendments that had been submitted and the additional amendments that should be forthright coming. As I explained to the group this was very old language and we were trying to amend everything we felt would be harmful to the Florida Tattoo Industry.

The discussions and debates continued for the next three and a half hours on what should happen to the bill and where we should go from here. We talked and listened to the Lobbyist and the Doctor and got some very useful ideas and language that could be used in a bill. Also because of some resistance I got from the Senator’s office when I submitted the proposed amendment language two weeks ago I felt we needed to do a drop all amendment on SB1130. So a vote was held and everyone there voted to drop the bill and start with new language that we can submit next session. We also hired Guy Spearman as our lobbyist and requested Kris Sperry MD to help us develop  new language and guide lines for the Industry.

I’m also happy to announce that Stevie Moon has joined the Guild and will be running for a Board seat at the general meeting and election to be held at the end of April. A date for the meeting has not been set as of yet but we hope to have some thing final in a day or two. So if you want to run for office or you would like to nominate someone please come to the meeting and be a part of this new era. Remember you will need to join in order to vote. But you do not need to be a member to attend the meeting.

The only sad part of this entire meeting was the poor turn out. Every one of you has a voice and a lot of you have been very vocal about being involved so there is no reason for you not to attend and let you voice be heard. Yes, it is very inconvenient and always a chore and it will always take you away from your business, but it is your business and future that you need to be involved in. 

I hope and want all of us to come together and work as a Professional group and do the best job we can at protecting our lively hoods. There is work being done to update the web site and provide information in a timely manor and to make it easier to contact another member any place in the state. I’m looking forward to seeing and talking to you at the meeting. 

Sincerely,

Bill Hannong