In the wake of Issue 2’s overwhelming passage by Ohio voters this week, groups are racing to claim victory, groups are vowing to continue the fight in Ohio and elsewhere, but those working raising livestock in Ohio are wondering what comes next, and then, what comes after that?Thankfully, the media and experts are thinking the same thing and answering our questions for us. Below you will find a link to an excellent fact sheet on Issue 2, which passed with a 64 percent majority in Ohio, as well as the language of the amendment, both provided to us by Peggy Hall, Director of the Agriculture and Resource Law Program at the Ohio State University Extension. For the fact sheet click here.
Basically, the amendment as passed by Ohioans establishes a bipartisan board of thirteen stakeholders to establish the standards for animal care. Additionally, the goal of the standards is to keep food safe, encourage consumption of locally-raised food, and “protect Ohio farms and families.” These standards will be administered and regulated by the Ohio department of agriculture.
But before anything happens the Ohio General Assembly must pass legislation authorizing, or essentially creating, the board, and they must provide the board with some funding. To ensure the bipartisanship of the board, no more than seven of the thirteen members can be “of the same political party.” The term limits of office for members, or any other conditions on service have yet to be established by the Assembly.
The board will be comprised of the following: the director of the department of agriculture, who will also serve as the board’s chair; ten members appointed by the Governor, but who must also receive approval from the Senate—the ten people must consist of a family farm representative, someone with knowledge about food safety in the state, two members representing statewide farm organizations, one Ohio veterinarian, the state veterinarian, two representatives of Ohio consumers, a member of a local humane society, “the dean of an Ohio college or university’s agriculture department"; and a family farmer appointed by the Speaker of the House in Ohio, and one appointed by the President of the Senate.
You may notice the term 'family farmer' appears quite often in Issue 2 and in stories covering Issue 2. Well, as Hall points out in her fact sheet, neither Issue 2 has a definition for the term nor does any statutory law in Ohio. So, presumably the General Assembly will get to define that term when they pass the legislation authorizing the board. It is worth noting that Issue 2 can be changed, but since it was passed as an amendment to the Ohio Constitution, only another amendment could nullify Issue 2. Unless, of course, someone brought a state constitutionality case against Issue 2, and then won the case.
Politically, given the ease with which Issue 2 passed in Ohio, a swing state, it is more than likely that other rural, predominately agrarian states, particularly those with large livestock and animal farm operations, will use the Ohio approach as a blueprint for preempting efforts by the Human Society of United States (HSUS) and other animal rights advocates from changing the law through their own efforts.
For their part, the HSUS has vowed to continue the fight in both Ohio and around the rest of the country. Given their success in the past, the HSUS still forms a formidable movement and carries considerable clout when it comes to livestock housing laws.
Here is the language of the amendment:
Issue 2
To adopt Section 1 of Article XIV of the Constitution of the State of Ohio
This proposed amendment would:
1. Require the state to create the Livestock Care Standards Board to prescribe standards for animal care and well-being that endeavor to maintain food safety, encourage locally grown and raised food, and protect Ohio farms and families.
2. Authorize this bipartisan board of thirteen members to consider factors that include, but are not limited to, agricultural best management practices for such care and well-being, biosecurity, disease prevention, animal morbidity and mortality data, food safety practices, and the protection of local, affordable food supplies for consumers when establishing and implementing standards.
3. Provide that the board shall be comprised of thirteen Ohio residents including representatives of Ohio family farms, farming organizations, food safety experts, veterinarians, consumers, the dean of the agriculture department at an Ohio college or university and a county humane society representative.
4. Authorize the Ohio department that regulates agriculture to administer and enforce the standards established by the board, subject to the authority of the General Assembly.
If adopted, this amendment shall take effect immediately.
And there you have it.
Posted: 11/05/09
