CARE STANDARDS; EGG-LAYING HENS                                                             S.B. 660:

                                                                                                    SUMMARY OF BILL

                                                                                      REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE

Senate Bill 660 (as reported without amendment)

Sponsor:  Senator Arlan Meekhof

Committee:  Agriculture

CONTENT

The bill would amend the Animal Industry Act to do the following:

-- Specify that certain animal confinement standards would not apply to egg-laying hens until October 12, 2025, instead of April 1, 2020.

-- Prohibit a business owner or operator from selling an egg for human consumption if the business owner or operator knew or should have known that the egg was produced by an egg-laying hen that was confined in violation of the animal confinement standards, beginning October 12, 2025.

-- Allow the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development or the Attorney General to bring a civil action to restrain an act or practice in violation of proposed prohibition.

-- Require the Department, by October 12, 2023, to promulgate rules to implement the proposed provisions.

MCL 287.746 et al.                                                           Legislative Analyst:  Jeff Mann

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill would likely have a minimal fiscal impact on the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. It would require the Department to promulgate rules to implement the bill's provisions, allow it to bring a civil action to restrain actions in violation of the bill, and require that the rules provide for the collection of fees to recover the costs of administration.

The bill could have a fiscal impact on the Department of Attorney General; however, the potential costs are indeterminate and dependent on the actual number of civil actions that the Attorney General brought based on the provisions in the bill.  It is anticipated that the number of civil actions would be few and thus the costs could be absorbed within the Department's annual appropriations.

Apart from any impact on the court system, the bill would have no fiscal impact on local government.

Date Completed:  12-12-17                                                   Fiscal Analyst:  Bruce Baker

Joe Carrasco

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.