Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird led 23 states in a brief supporting Iowa pork producers against California’s strict-hog-housing regulations — Proposition 12, the Office of the Attorney General reported in an article on Jan. 29. As the nation’s top pork-consuming state, California has major influence over the whole market.
“Proposition 12 sets harsh regulations that will spike pork prices, dictate to other states how they should raise their hogs, and force some pork producers to close up shop if they cannot afford to keep up with the strict new mandate,” the article said.
Iowa is the No.1 state for producing and exporting pork. Approximately 147,000 Iowans work to raise and deliver quality pork throughout the state, contributing billions of dollars to the economy each year.
“We are fighting to stop California’s illegal attack on Iowa pork producers,” Bird said. “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.”
Iowa has led the charge nationally in defending pork producers. Attorney General Bird fought in October 2023 and September 2024 to oppose the Massachusetts pork ban known as “Question 3.”
The States are urging the federal appeals court to hear the case defending pork producers, the article said. Key points include:
- Proposition 12 risks creating an interstate trade war—in violation of the Constitution.
- Parts of the Constitution that Prop 12 violates include
- the Dormant Commerce Clause, which gives the federal government the power to regulate interstate commerce
- the Import-Export Clause, which prevents states from imposing import regulations on products from other states
- the Full Faith and Credit Clause, which requires states to respect the laws passed in other states
“California has fired the first shots in what could be an interstate trade war,” the brief states. “Rather than respect her sister States’ regulatory approach to raising pork in their own States, California seeks to substitute its own inexpert judgment for what regulations are best.”
Iowa led the brief and was joined by Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
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