By Ruth Wiechmann for Tri-State Livestock News
HB 1219 died on the House floor in Pierre, South Dakota, on Thursday, February 25. But proponents and opponents agree that the basic idea behind it is not going away any time soon.
HB 1219 suggested creating a compact so that producers would be able to ship meat across state lines processed at state inspected facilities within a specific coalition of states. Montana is also bringing similar legislation forward, said Rep. Spencer Gosch, a Republican from district 23 in north central South Dakota, who introduced the bill.
“There was quite a bit of argument against this bill, but I think it’s good that we had the discussion,” Gosch said. “One of the concerns was the loss of USDA funding for our state inspection program, but I thought that it was a dollar figure that we could easily make up within our state’s budget.”