Wisconsin State Journal | Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act tries to end local control

Reposted from: https://madison.com/opinion/letters/farm-bill-amendment-tries-to-end-local-control/article_7c64222e-3abd-11ee-89f5-3b733280f28b.html

August 23, 2023

Domestic and foreign agriculture corporations may soon have the power to override laws and regulations — state and local — that threaten their financial interests. An amendment to the 2023 Farm Bill would do it. Its authors — Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, and Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa — claim that their Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act (also known as the EATS Act) will streamline interstate commerce.

But the U.S. Constitution already restricts states from enacting protectionist laws that discriminate against interstate commerce.

What the EATS Act will actually do is free big agricultural firms from state and local laws safeguarding public health and personal safety from hazardous products and services sold in their communities. This act could erase protections from pesticide misuse, manure spreading overuse, puppy mill abuse — even child labor exploitation in slaughterhouses.