Some significant state fights show us what works in opposing NAIS:

Arizona is the first state to pass a bill outlawing a mandatory NAIS. How did this happen? First, state senator Karen Johnson learned about NAIS at the annual Freedom 21 conference, which supports the independence of local communities and opposes intrusive international regulation. At this year’s conference in Kentucky, Judith McGeary of Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance (FARFA) made a major presentation on NAIS. Senator Johnson got it immediately and committed herself to fighting NAIS.

She looked into Arizona laws and discovered the state had already adopted a law authorizing its agriculture department to implement a mandatory NAIS. So she drafted a bill to repeal the law and replace it with a complete bar on any NAIS. The Liberty Ark Coalition sent out notices to its Arizona list, and local activists took up the cause, calling and writing their legislators.

Most important, Senator Johnson knows how to get things done. When she saw that a complete bar wouldn’t get out of committee, she amended the bill to repeal the authority to make NAIS mandatory. Although some provisions, like those against coercive tactics, didn’t make it into law, Arizona has a stake in the ground, and Arizonans can breathe more easily without the imminent threat of a mandatory program. A further measure of Senator Johnson’s ability is that, incredibly, her anti-NAIS bill was approved even though she was unable to be on the floor to champion it, because the vote occurred the week after her daughter was killed in an auto accident.

Indiana already has mandatory premises registration, by statute. Senator Steele introduced SB486, which would have dealt a death blow to NAIS in Indiana. The bill made it through the Senate Agriculture and Small Business Committee by an eight-to-one vote. Then, after it passed through committee, Senator Steele introduced a totally different bill to the senate. His replacement bill left premises registration intact and stopped only mandatory animal ID and tracking. Protection against coercion was also taken out of the bill. Although the second bill was ultimately dropped and then reintroduced by another senator, it died in the senate without a vote.

Louisiana has no state NAIS program, but people are beginning to face coercion, and 4-H and other youth are being told premises registration is required. Informed farmers there are up in arms over the potential for problems. Many people are saying they will refuse to comply based on their religious beliefs. Senator Cain responded to his constituents and introduced a strong bill barring participation in a mandatory NAIS.

On May 22nd the Senate Committee on Agriculture heard one presentation on NAIS, in one hour. FARFA testified in favor of the bill. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA)—an association of producers, packers, processors, and others related to the beef cattle industry—sent representatives to testify against the bill. NCBA wrongly claimed all cattlemen are in favor of NAIS. The United Stockgrowers of America Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund (R-Calf), an organization of cattle producers, had been asked to testify in favor of the bill, but did not send a representative and so wasn’t there to refute NCBA.

No opportunity was given to submit further testimony or briefing materials to the committee, or to amend the bill to address minor issues the senators raised. The Senators repeatedly referred to the federal program being voluntary. The senators adjourned without voting, and never did vote on the bill.

Missouri, with its strong property rights coalitions, started out with a powerful team. SB428, a blanket bar to NAIS, passed the senate 29-to-two. When it went to the Missouri house, it was distorted and stalled in the Agriculture Policy Committee, chaired by John Quinn, who also kept the bill from a floor vote when it finally was released from committee.

In response, Representative Mike Dethrow introduced amendment 7 to omnibus agriculture bill HB156 containing good anti-NAIS legislation, but not as strong as SB428. On May 7th amendment 7 passed the full house. Then it went to a senate/house conference committee. The committee was unable to resolve differences and directed anti-NAIS and pro-NAIS forces to hammer out some key areas of dispute. 

In closed-door sessions, anti- and pro-NAIS groups resolved key areas of dispute involving livestock marketing, ID for specific animal diseases, and anti-discrimination provisions. But neither side could reach agreement on the primary overall scope of the anti-NAIS legislation. A bill was finally agreed on and sent back to the conference committee. Chairman Quinn first agreed to allow a vote and then refused. Anti-NAIS activists scrambled to attach an amendment with the HB156 language to another bill, but time ran out. The legislative session ended.

Texas had a good chance to repeal the Texas Animal Health Commissions’ (TAHC) power to institute NAIS. HB461 and HB637, filed by Representatives Miller and Hughes, would have taken away the agency’s authority to make NAIS mandatory and would have limited it to a completely voluntary program. Under these statutes, Texas’ animal ID program would have included safeguards against the use of misleading or coercive tactics to force people into NAIS.

TAHC executive director Dr. Hillman, along with Texas Farm Bureau, Texas Cattle Feeders, and Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers all testified against these bills. After the House Agriculture Committee approved HB461, the Texas Farm Bureau sent email to the legislators urging them to vote against the bill.

Then, although Senator Estes sponsored the bill in the Senate, he later turned around and amended the bill so TAHC could make NAIS mandatory in Texas if USDA merely issues a time-line for mandatory implementation. Under that plan, a mere internal USDA memorandum could trigger mandatory NAIS in Texas. Ultimately, despite strong citizen protest, the lieutenant governor refused to put the bill on the calendar and it died without a vote.

Who, exactly, got legislators to turn in each of the states where anti-NAIS legislation failed? Farm Bureau, NCBA, Pork Producers, and similar industry organizations.

• Battles Ahead

Karin Bergener of Ravenna, Ohio, is an attorney and co-founder of Liberty Ark Coalition. This article appeared in the Summer 2007 issue of Rural Heritage.