House of Representatives members are pushing back against the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, a measure meant to combat standards set in place by California’s Proposition 12 or similar laws.
In a letter to Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “G.T.” Thompson (R-PA-15) and ranking member David Scott (D-GA-13), dozens of House members said the bill could “harm America’s small farmers, threaten numerous state laws, and infringe on the fundamental rights of states to establish laws and regulations within their own borders.”
The lawmakers wrote that the EATS Act goes behind overturning Prop 12 and threatens many other state laws.
“We believe that Congress should not usurp the power of states to regulate food and agricultural products in a manner that is responsive to local contexts,” the letter concluded. “We need not agree with every law or rule adopted by each state to adhere to this core principle of federalism.”
The House members urged for the provision or any like it to not be included in the farm bill.
