Loading ...Ohioans: Vote NO on Issue 2
Thanks to Mary O’Connor Shaver for this important update:
As many of you are aware, Issue 2 on the November ballot is an attempt to change the Ohio state constitution, establishing a 13-member, Agri-business dominated “Livestock Care Standards Board” that will have unchecked power to establish standards for livestock and poultry.
It is our firm belief (as explained through correspondence received from Laura Allen, legal counsel for Animal Law Coalition) passage of Issue 2 could potentially impact our ability to pass humane legislation impacting Ohio dog auctions and puppy mill breeding – > http://www.animallawcoalition.com/farm-animals/article/967.
Technically the product of the Ohio General Assembly, the ballot issue is heavily backed by groups representing major agribusiness interests, including the Ohio Farm Bureau and The Ohio Pork Producers Council:
(1) While masquerading as an attempt to improve food safety and animal welfare, Issue 2 in reality is an attempt by big industry to preempt statewide initiatives like the recent Proposition 2 in California, and which phased out problematic animal production practices like battery cages for chickens
(2) If passed, he proposed Livestock Care Standards Board would give a dozen political appointees broad and unchecked power to decide rules on animal welfare, potentially reshaping regulations on how animals are raised, tracked or traced.
Changing the Ohio constitution to include the ‘Livestock Care Standards Board’ would set a dangerous precedent by creating a permanent place for special interests in the constitution. This Board would have unchecked power over all Ohio policies related to animals in agriculture, and could radically shift livestock standards in any direction, including those relating to commercial dog breeding.
It is the belief of many animal advocates that agricultural policy should be determined through an open, democratic process, vested in the state-run department of agriculture, not through a politically appointed board heavily influenced by big industry.
We encourage all Ohio voters to reject this proposal to keep integrity in Ohio’s constitution and to keep corporate agribusiness accountable.
For more information on Issue 2, including where you can order “Vote NO” yard signs, please click here – > http://www.ohioact.org/.
Check out the HSUS’s take on Issue 2 here.
As a Farm Bureau member I worked on our local committee to find ways to fight and defeat HSUS and PETA at their own game.
My problem with this constitutional amendment is the excessive power it places in the hands of a 13 member group of non-elected bureaucrats.
This issue should not have been a constitutional amendment. The same objective to thwart PETA and HSUS could have been accomplished by including the key words “agricultural best management practices for such care and well-being” in section 900 of the Ohio Revised Code.
The big question for me is, “What did it take to twist the arms of all the members of both the House and Senate to make them take such a draconian measure?” If we change the Constitution every time the wind blows from the wrong direction, what value remains in it? What next? Change the US Constitution to remove free speech and religious freedom?
VOTE NO on ISSUE 2
Issue 2 is a change to the Ohio Constitution purportedly to put a governmental institution in place before animal rights activists can put their system in place.
Ohio has constructed hundreds of unaccountable boards that at that time, were created by good people for good purposes. I ask you, which board that oversees your solid waste management, your local library, zoning board, civil rights commission board, zoning appeals board, the PUCO, contractor licensing board, cosmetology board, realtors board (and ad nauseum), which one of these serves the purposes for which they were originally intended?
Issue 2 will construct an omnipotent board, granted the full weight of law enforced by people that holster guns, with governance over the treatment of livestock and what we eat. Given the track record of any board in this state, where do you think this will wind up when we have completely forgotten that this board even exists and has the authority that we are considering granting it?
I see Issue 2 as a Trojan horse, but one built by the Trojans themselves! Why would Ohioans build a Trojan horse and deliver it to within our city walls so that animal activists are given the means to attack us while we sleep?
Have we so forgotten that all our endeavors and all our governmental activities should be constructed to preserve or liberty? Are we no longer courageous enough to face down these threats when and if they finally arise?
No matter how clever this issue sounds on its face, please remember that once we have created the means, some liberal activist judge will most certainly corrupt the law’s original intent and turn this board into just another unaccountable and uncontrollable board that will dictate to Ohio farmers and livestock owners.
Vote NO on Issue 2 and face down the enemy when it actually comes to Ohio. Read the language of this issue carefully; it is so vague as to be frightening: http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/upload/ballotboard/2009/2-text.pdf.
Section 1. (A) There is hereby created the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board for the purpose
of establishing standards governing the care and well-being of livestock and poultry in this state.
In carrying out its purpose, the Board shall endeavor to maintain food safety, encourage locally
grown and raised food, and protect Ohio farms and families. The Board shall be comprised of the
following thirteen members:
(1) The director of the state department that regulates agriculture who shall be the chairperson of the Board;
(2) Ten members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. The ten
members appointed by the Governor shall be residents of this state and shall include the
following:
(a) One member representing family farms;
(b) One member who is knowledgeable [?] about food safety in this state;
(c) Two members representing statewide organizations that represent farmers;
(d) One member who is a veterinarian who is licensed in this state;
(e) The State Veterinarian in the state department that regulates agriculture;
(f) The dean of the agriculture department of a college or university located in this state;
(g) Two members of the public representing Ohio consumers;
(h) One member representing a county humane society that is organized under state law.
(3) One member appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives who shall be a family
farmer;
(4) One member appointed by the President of the Senate who shall be a family farmer. Not more than seven members appointed to the Board at any given time shall be of the same political party.
(B) The Board shall have authority to establish standards governing the care and well-being of
livestock and poultry in this state, subject to the authority of the General Assembly. In
establishing those standards, the Board shall consider factors that include, but are not limited to, agricultural best management practices for such care and well-being, biosecurity, disease prevention, animal morbidity and mortality data, food safety practices, and the protection of local, affordable food supplies for consumers.
(C) The state department that regulates agriculture shall have the authority to administer and enforce the standards established by the Board.
(D) The General Assembly may enact laws that it deems necessary to carry out the purposes of this section, to facilitate the execution of the duties of the Board and the state department that
regulates agriculture under this section, and to set the terms of office of the Board members and
conditions for the Board members’ service on the Board.
(E) If any part of this section is held invalid, the remainder of this section shall not be affected by that holding and shall continue in full force and effect