Iowa AG Bird Leads 23-State Coalition In Second Challenge To California Pork Restrictions

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is leading a 23-state challenge to a California law that regulates pork production in other states. According to Bird, California passed Proposition 12 in 2018, which restricts the sale of pork and other animal products in the state unless they comply with strict space constraints.

The law, ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023, will force livestock producers nationwide to completely overhaul their facilities if they want access to California’s market. The court’s ruling affirmed states are permitted to regulate how products are sold in their respective jurisdiction, but it did not directly address the Constitution’s Commerce Clause that restricts a state’s ability to enforce laws affecting interstate commerce.

That is the route Prop 12’s challengers are pursuing this time. Bird says, “California’s radical pork ban, Proposition 12, raises pork prices and threatens to drive family farms out of business with extreme costs. Iowa is the top pork producing state in the country. California doesn’t get to tell Iowa farmers how to raise hogs in Iowa.”