Reconciliation process will be the key to hopes of Egg Bill passage

Proponents of the Egg Bill (H.R. 1731 and S. 820) were unable to get this legislation added as an amendment to the Farm Bill in either the Senate or House Agriculture Committees. Agriculture groups who oppose the Egg Bill had too much influence on these committees and were able to block the legislation.

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Proponents of the Egg Bill (H.R. 1731 and S. 820) were unable to get this legislation added as an amendment to the Farm Bill in either the Senate or House Agriculture Committees. Agriculture groups who oppose the Egg Bill had too much influence on these committees and were able to block the legislation. But, Mike McLeod of McLeod, Watkinson & Miller, a law firm representing the United Egg Producers, said that the struggle to secure passage of the Egg Bill is far from over.

Speaking at the United Egg Producers' Legislative Board and Committee Meetings, McLeod said that the real battleground for the Egg Bill will be on the floor of the House of Representatives; because it is there that the influence of the Humane Society of the United States will be felt the most. Proponents of the Egg Bill will need to get two things accomplished on the House floor, according to McLeod. The so-called King amendment will need to be removed from the Farm Bill and the Egg Bill amendment will need to be added.

The King amendment, which would not allow a state to restrict movement of agricultural products into the state from other states, was added to the Farm Bill as an amendment by the House Agriculture Committee. McLeod called the King amendment the "anti-Egg Bill," but he said that some lawyers have espoused the position that the King amendment would be found to be unconstitutional if enacted and challenged in court.

If the King amendment is removed from the Farm Bill on the floor of the House and the Egg Bill amendment is added, then the reconciliation process can result in the Egg Bill being part of the final Farm Bill legislation. McLeod said that action on the Farm Bill on the House floor should begin around June 16. 

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