Bill sent to interim study as lack of votes became apparent

by Brian Leubitz

With the recent negative coverage from the movie Blackfish, activists from across the nation were looking to the Assembly today. The orca hearings in Sacramento got a lot of press coverage, but the bill will not move forward this year:

In a move that effectively kills the legislative effort for the year, the legislation aimed at ending SeaWorld’s killer whale shows was sent to interim hearings. The author agreed to the committee chair’s request when it became clear that the votes were not there to move the bill. The action spares legislators and SeaWorld the uncertainty that a simple defeat of the bill in committee would have brought since bills sent to interim cannot be reconsidered. Presumably, hearings will be held after the close of the legislative session that could shape the debate in 2015.(IVN / Shawn M. Griffiths)

As you might expect, SeaWorld was very, very opposed to the bill and brought out all the stops. Their argument is fairly well laid out in this Fox5 video, but the short version is that the whales are better off performing because that is the most stimulating part of their day. That question will get some more study this year as the bill is likely to come up again. On the eve of the hearings, activists delivered over a million signatures in support of the measure, and the attention is unlikely to totally recede anytime soon.