TN Action Alert - SB 1123 Attack on Herdshares - The Weston A. Price Foundation

Herdshares Still Under Attack –

Tell Senate Committee to Vote NO on SB 1123

Senate Bill 15 (SB15), legislation that would ban herdshares in Tennessee, has reared its ugly head again. After failing to get a hearing in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee where it was initially assigned, SB 15 is being added as an amendment to an unrelated bill, Senate Bill 1123 (SB 1123), originally a two-line bill changing reporting dates to the legislature on state expenditures for medicaid and temporary assistance. Senator Richard Briggs, the sponsor for SB 15, is also the sponsor of SB1123, giving him a second chance to outlaw herdshares.

SB 1123 is scheduled for a hearing this Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. (March 20) in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee.

It’s time to let Committee Members know that you want SB 1123 to die in their committee. Don’t let these legislators ban herdshare agreements and deny your property rights and liberty!

ACTIONS TO TAKE

1. CALL and/or email the Senate Health and Welfare Committee members asking them to “Vote NO on SB 1223”.

You may tap each email address of the committee members or copy/paste the entire to block to email the whole committee:

sen.rusty.crowe@capitol.tn.gov; sen.ferrell.haile@capitol.tn.gov; sen.shane.reeves@capitol.tn.gov; sen.joey.hensley@capitol.tn.gov; sen.ed.jackson@capitol.tn.gov; sen.becky.massey@capitol.tn.gov; sen.art.swann@capitol.tn.gov; sen.bo.watson@capitol.tn.gov; sen.jeff.yarbro@capitol.tn.gov

2. ATTEND the hearing on SB 1123 that is taking place at the Cordell Hull Building, Senate Hearing Room I at 1:00 p.m. Central, Wednesday, March 20, 2019.

Cordell Hull Building

Senate Hearing Room I

425 5^th Avenue N.

Nashville, TN 37243 (directions)

TALKING POINTS

1. We have the right to determine what foods to put in our bodies, not the government; and parents have the right to feed their children the foods they believe are best for their health. Passage of SB15 would deny this right to 99% of Tennessee’s population. It’s not a free society if people don’t have the right to assume the risk and eat foods that its government discourages them from consuming.

2. There have been numerous and deadly foodborne illness outbreaks in the past few years involving ice cream, cantaloupe, and romaine lettuce, and there have been no calls to ban any of those foods. Raw milk should be no different. There shouldn’t be any double standard. Raw milk has a good overall track record for safety. One incident should not dictate policy.

3. Banning the distribution of raw milk through herd share agreements denies the property rights of those who have partial ownership interests in dairy animals. Herdshare agreements are private contractual arrangements outside the stream of public commerce providing for the distribution of a food that is legal to consume. The government should leave them alone.

4. The Tennessee dairy industry is suffering enough, dealing from 600 dairies in 2007 to less than 200 at the present time. Herd share programs have thrived in Tennessee since the state legalized them in 2009. Several hundred dairies have operated herdshares at one time or another in the past ten years; thousands of raw milk consumers have benefitted. Herdshare programs are a way for some of the remaining dairy farms to stay in business. SB15 takes that away.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS – Senate Health and Welfare

Staffers are listed below since you will likely speak to them when you call.

Sen. Rusty Crowe (R-3) – Chair

sen.rusty.crowe@capitol.tn.gov

615-741-2468

Staff: Laken Shattuck & Jenny Ritchey

Sen. Ferrell Haile (R-18) – 1^st Vice Chair

sen.ferrell.haile@capitol.tn.gov

615-741-1999

Staff: Deana Guenther & Chip McConkey

Sen. Shane Reeves (R-14) – 2^nd Vice Chair

sen.shane.reeves@capitol.tn.gov