California’s Proposition 12 has been in full effect for a month and Illinois Farm Bureau Director of State Legislation Kevin Semlow says initial data is already showing increased pork prices in California. Using Proposition 12 as an example, Semlow says groups are using similar tactics to pass similar laws.
“This is a new tactic by many groups out there that want to pass individual legislation state by state,” says Semlow. “Then, by doing so, they can run the Supreme Court, and get a court ruling very similar to Proposition 12, which could make those regulations, if we adopt something here in Illinois applicable to other states. And sometimes some of those legislation doesn’t have a lot of impact on farmers in Illinois, would have a huge impact on a farmer in say, Nebraska or in Texas or even Maine.”
Even after the Supreme Court upheld Proposition 12 back in May, Semlow says the Illinois Farm Bureau continues to work with the American Farm Bureau Federation and other Midwest states to limit the effects of this law to the California market.
