Gov. Tate Reeves addresses members of the press after speaking at the Neshoba County Fair Thursday morning, 2024. (Photo by Jeremy Pittari | Magnolia Tribune)
- The Mississippi governor pushes back on California’s law he and other governors say is hurting livestock producers and driving up costs.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves (R) signed on to a letter to the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture on Wednesday as the body considers legislation to address negative effects on farmers and consumers following the passage of California’s Proposition 12 in 2018.
Reeves, along with seven other Republican governors, contend that while states should be able to lawfully regulate livestock production within their own borders, one state – California – is seeking to do so in other states. The governors say federal legislation is appropriate and necessary to address the issue as livestock production is inherently interstate in its design.
California’s Proposition 12 is under scrutiny by House Republicans on the Agriculture Committee. A hearing was held Wednesday to examine the implications of the state law.
Prop 12 was passed as a ballot measure in 2018 by voters in California. Titled “Prevention of Cruelty to Farm Animals Act,” the law established minimum requirements for confining certain farm animals while prohibiting sales of meat and egg products from animals confined in a noncomplying manner. It applies to livestock production in California and that may enter the California marketplace, meaning from other states through interstate commerce.
The Humane Society and other animal protection organizations heralded its passage while farmers and consumer groups said it violated the Commerce Clause in the U.S. Constitution and would hurt agriculture production and increase costs.
Prop 12 faced legal challenges that reached the U.S. Supreme Court, but justices upheld the law in a 2023 ruling.
In Wednesday’s letter to the House Agriculture Committee, the governors hold that the U.S. is producing high-quality protein as affordably and humanely as possible.
“However, through Proposition 12, California has set arbitrary requirements for how producers should operate their farming business. Out of touch and removed from the realities of agriculture, California activists now claim to know what’s best for the producers who raised livestock from generation to generation,” the governor wrote.
Governor Reeves and his counterparts went on to note that while nearly 100 percent of the nation’s sow population is raised outside of California, the state accounts for 15 percent of the pork market. They say due to Prop 12, California is increasing prices for its consumers and for the farmers in other states supplying their pork.
According to new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data obtained by Politico, 27 percent of U.S. pork producers have made or are working to make investments to comply with California’s Proposition 12. Politico also shared that the USDA data shows retail pork prices in California increased by nearly 19 percent in June compared with the same month last year. Politico notes that a study conducted by the department in May found that California’s low-income families reduced their pork purchases by 22 percent since the law’s implementation on January 1, 2024.
In a post on X, the House Committee on Agriculture wrote, “Livestock producers in Mississippi have an ally in Tate Reeves, who knows activists in California shouldn’t be dictating livestock practices in the Magnolia State.” Governor Reeves replied, “California dictating anything would be disastrous.”
You can read the full letter from the governors on X below.
