Marshall withdraws sponsorship of bill to curb Prop 12

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., on Thursday dropped his co-sponsorship of the Save Our Bacon (SOB) Act, which would negate Proposition 12, the California law mandating that pork sold in the state must be raised under certain conditions. 

“With all of the challenges facing farm country right now, Sen. Marshall is prioritizing year-round E15 and helping [Senate Agriculture Committee] Chairman [John] Boozman, [R-Ark.]  get a farm bill done,” said Payton Fuller, Marshall’s communications director, in an email. 

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, is the primary sponsor of the bill, and there are still seven cosponsors. Boozman has said his draft farm bill will not include the SOB Act because his priority is to write a bill that can garner 60 votes in the Senate. 

Marshall’s decision thrilled opponents of the bill, while a pork producer said it is “particularly frustrating.”

“Sen. Marshall has aligned himself with Chairman Boozman in recognizing that there is broad Democrat and Republican opposition to the Save Our Bacon (SOB) Act, and that if there’s a pathway to complete work on a farm bill, it must omit the provisions to repeal state farm animal welfare laws,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy.

The House-passed farm bill includes the SOB Act, but Pacelle said, “The House would have stripped the SOB provision by a two-to-one margin but the Rules Committee denied Reps. Anna Paulina Luna [R-Fla.] and Andrew Garbarino [R-N.Y.] a vote on their amendment.”

“A handful of lawmakers in the House chose to try to overturn the vote of 10 million Americans in two statewide elections without even allowing a stand-alone vote by 435 members of the House,” Pacelle said. “The good news is, the SOB Act appears to no longer have a pulse in the Senate.”

Holly Bice, president of the American Meat Producers Association, which represents producers who raise animals to comply with the California standards, said, “Sen.  Marshall did American family farmers right by removing support for this dangerous bill.”

“He’s choosing family farmers over Chinese pork conglomerates, and we’re looking forward to his leadership to ensure no variation of Save Our Bacon is in any final farm bill.”

Farm Action Fund President Joe Maxwell said, “We at the Rural Independence Initiative would like to commend U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall for withdrawing his name as a sponsor of the Food Security and Farm Protection Act, the Senate version of the Save Our Bacon Act.”

“We have long advocated that the so-called ‘Save our Bacon’ provision be excised from the farm bill. It takes away the right of states to set food standards, robs independent farmers of market opportunities, and further increases the power of corporate control over our food supply,” Maxwell said. “We salute Sen. Marshall for listening and choosing independent farmers over corporate monopolies.”

National Pork Producers Council President Bob Brenneman, an Iowa producer, said. “What makes this decision particularly surprising — and frustrating — is that Sen. Marshall himself has been one of the strongest voices explaining why a Prop. 12 fix is needed.”

“He has repeatedly said that ‘We do not want California telling Kansas and Iowa [and other states’] farmers how to raise pigs.’ Marshall has been on the record for years loudly warning that Prop. 12 threatens interstate commerce and allows one state to impose its will on farmers and consumers across the country,” Brenneman said.

California voters passed Prop 12 as an initiative. The pork producers took the bill to the Supreme Court, which ruled that it was legal and left further action up to Congress.