YOUR DUES DOLLARS AT WORK

FACTORY FARM BILLS DIES MEMBERSHIP DOLLARS MAKING A DIFFERENCE

by CCA Vice President of Government Affairs Kirk Wilbur

Legislation introduced this year to prohibit the construction or expansion of “commercial animal feeding operations” and slaughterhouses – referred to by proponents as the ‘No More Factory Farms’ bill – died last month without so much as receive a substantive hearing in the relevant policy committee.

Specifically, Assembly Bill 2764, authored by Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian (D-North Hollywood), sought to ban the creation or expansion of any CAFO or slaughterhouse with annual revenues over $100,000. The bill proposed a fine of $10,000 per day for those who constructed or expanded such facilities after Jan. 1, 2023.

AB 2764 was sponsored by the fringe animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere (“DxE”). DxE is well-known for high-profile publicity stunts; the group has repeatedly stolen farm animals from agricultural operations (which DxE terms “open rescue”), has picketed feedyards and processing facilities and even protested outside of Governor Gavin Newsom’s private residence for three days in September of 2021 in protest of the Governor’s support of “factory farms.”

CCA and several other agricultural trade associations immediately and strongly condemned AB 2764 when it was introduced in mid-February. The $100,000 revenue threshold was low enough to amount to a complete prohibition on CAFO or slaughterhouse development, and the bill ran contrary to both the Biden-Harris and Newsom Administrations’ efforts to expand meat processing capacity to address the supply-chain and market challenges exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and other market disruptions.

As Assemblyman Nazarian and DxE peddled misinformation regarding the purported harms of CAFOs and slaughterhouses to animal health, environmental quality and employee health, CCA highlighted our industry’s leadership in each of these areas. California’s beef producers comply with the strictest environmental, animal handling and labor regulations in the world, and just last year seven Imperial Valley feeders were awarded a national Beef Quality Assurance award in recognition of their exemplary animal care and handling practices.

But livestock advocates weren’t the only opponents of AB 2764. Because it would cause significant harm to the workforces of CAFOs and slaughterhouses, the bill was also opposed by labor interests. In response to those labor interests, Nazarian ultimately removed slaughterhouses from the bill, prohibiting only the creation or expansion of commercial animal feeding operations.

Removing slaughterhouses from the bill did not satisfy members of the Assembly Agriculture Committee, however, and it soon became apparent that AB 2764 lacked sufficient support to advance out of the Committee. According to the bill’s sponsor, Assemblyman Nazarian “informed supporters that [the bill] would be changed to enable only a study of commercial feeding operations and slaughterhouses.”

Incensed by what it deemed a “betrayal,” DxE on April 6 held a protest on the north side of the State Capitol in Sacramento, with supporters gathering around a giant cardboard sculpture of a burning globe and donning yellow shirts emblazoned with the text “NO MORE FACTORY FARMS.”

That same day, the Assembly Agriculture Committee was slated to meet – though AB 2764 was not on the agenda. During public comment on an unrelated bill, a member of DxE approached the witness table, covered her hand in superglue, affixed it to the table and began monologuing. “I wanna say that I was very excited to come here today in order to be part of a historic vote on the factory farm moratorium bill, AB 2764,” she began, before being cut off by Committee Chair Robert Rivas (D-Hollister).

The protester’s microphone was swiftly turned off, and the Assembly Agriculture Committee took a brief recess to reconvene in another room. California Highway Patrol officers administered WD-40 to free the woman’s hand and declined to arrest or cite the protester. (Apparently gluing themselves to various surfaces is the go-to move of DxE supporters – on April 12 a DxE member disrupted an NBA game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Clippers when she tried to super glue her hand to the court to protest the bird-flu-prevention killing of chickens at an egg company owned by the Timberwolves’ owner.)

These sort of antics, of course, are targeted at gaining publicity and do nothing to ingratiate activists with state lawmakers. Indeed, it is unclear in the aftermath of the April 6 hearing whether Assemblymember Nazarian will even seek to hold a hearing on the “study bill” to which he’d agreed to amend AB 2764.

While DxE’s antics garnered headlines in Sacramento in the days after April 6, the overlooked headline was that CCA had succeeded in swiftly killing an ill-advised, counterproductive and un-serious policy proposal before it could even receive an initial hearing, ensuring that California cattle ranchers can continue providing environmentally-sustainable, nutritious beef.

And while it may sound bold for CCA to claim credit for killing a bill opposed by several other agricultural organizations, you don’t have to take our word for it: in statements posted to the group’s social media accounts, DxE put the blame squarely on CCA for “pressuring” Assemblymember Rivas to reject the bill as introduced.

That’s all the evidence you need of your dues dollars at work!

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