The first week of the new year could be a big one for America’s farmers and ranchers as the Supreme Court weighs which high-stakes cases it will hear this year. Perhaps the biggest is Prop 12.
California restaurants are challenging the restrictions on meat from “caged livestock” raised in other states. Producers will be watching closely to see if the court does indeed take up the case. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, who lives in the biggest pork-producing state, says that Justices need to weigh in.
“The Supreme Court hears a very small percentage of appeals each year, and I hope the Justices will see California’s misuse of its commercial power as interfering with interstate commerce, as exactly the kind of activity that the farmers intended to prevent,” the Senator explains.
Grassley is sponsoring a bill that would ban state and local governments from interfering with ag production in other states. He says that Californians have no business telling Iowans how to raise pigs.
“Californians are trying to use their state’s massive economic power to impose regulations on pig farmers nationwide,” Grassley adds. “Other states do not tell California how to grow grapes or almonds.”
The high court will also consider year-round E-15 sales, and the long-fought Waters of the U.S. rule, which EPA is currently rewriting. Justices hold a conference every Friday during their session to decide which petitions they will accept.
Related:
NPPC and AFBF petition Supreme Court to hear Prop 12
Iowa pork sues California over Prop 12
Flawed law: industry groups call for more time on CA’s Prop 12