Oh, and Mira, with Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House, and 53 of the 435 Congressmen in the House being from California, the state of California won't have to pay for the subsidies. They'll slip it into a bill in Washington, DC.
You keep making that claim but it only a poorly conceived hunch on your behalf. In fact the Californian farmers would be crazy to fight for interstate trade barriers if they could just sit and wait for Feds to subsidize them. Those Californian farmers know no such subsidies are about to be offered . If they suspected they were to be offered they would just sit back and wait for them.
The Grand Rapids Press
> Michigan farmers to face off with Humane Society activists over animal
> care legislation
> by Monica Scott
> Tuesday July 28, 2009, 1:43 PM
>
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/07/michigan_farmers_prepared_to_f.html>
> In a battle forming over proposed state standards for farm animal
> treatment, farmers and agribusiness leaders are supporting the
> proposals -- and squaring off against animal activists who oppose
> them.
>
> A bruising 2010 ballot initiative campaign could be on the horizon,
> led by the Humane Society of the United States. Representatives of
> that group say the proposed bills, which could be voted on in the
> House Agricultural Committee this week, don't address their concerns
> about tight confinement methods, such as battery cages for poultry.
>
>
The group is fresh off a victory in California in which voters
> overwhelmingly approved measures that give chickens, pigs and calves
> in crates and cages more room. Farmers there have until 2015 to change
> their housing systems.>
> State Rep. Mike Simpson, D-Jackson, one of the sponsors of the
> Michigan bills, said the California initiative highlighted the lack of
> mandatory standards here, which makes the state vulnerable to outside
> groups.
>
> "With this legislation, we can prove farmers are doing it right," he
> said. "We can find the bad actors and weed them out. We don't need
> outside folks coming into the state."
>
> The legislation -- companion bills are in the Senate -- establishes
> animal-care guidelines to be fully implemented in 2020, third-party
> auditing, a certification program and an animal care advisory council.
>
> The 10-member council would make recommendations to the state
> Department of Agriculture and the Commission on Agriculture on changes
> to the standards every five years. The department and commission would
> have sole authority to regulate livestock health and welfare.
>
> But Jill Fritz, Michigan state director for the Humane Society of the
> United States, said agribusiness interests would dominate the advisory
> council. She also said that adopting current industry standards would
> mean allowing extreme confinement systems -- such as gestation crates,
> veal crates and battery cages.
>
> For example, on average, each caged laying hen is afforded 67 square
> inches of cage. HSUS wants the industry to move to a cage-free system
> that allows at least 1.5 square feet of barn space.
>
> "Those methods of confinement do not allow animals the most basic
> movements, such as the ability to turn around and stretch their
> limbs," she said. "That is an inhumane way to raise animals. These are
> modest reforms we are requesting."
>
> The Humane Society of the United States, which is not affiliated with
> state or local agencies, is considering ballot initiatives in Michigan
> and Ohio. Last month, Ohio lawmakers approved resolutions to create a
> 13-member board to oversee animal treatment, and residents there will
> vote on a constitution amendment. The action, prompted by California's
> vote, is seen as a preemptive strike. But HSUS representatives say
> they have gotten positive feedback from a poll of likely voters in
> both states.
>
> Merle Langeland, president of the Ottawa County Farm Bureau and
> co-owner of Langeland Farms in Coopersville, said that if there is a
> ballot showdown, there is a compelling argument to be made about how
> the cost of the measures for agriculture, a $71.3 billion industry in
> the state, would be passed down through higher food prices.
>
> "When you have outside groups calling the shots -- in any industry --
> it's a recipe for disaster," said Langeland, whose 2,700-acre farm
> raises dairy cows and poultry. "I hope that the general public feels
> the legislation, if passed, puts in place enough controls for the care
> of animals."
>
> The Michigan Humane Society has not taken a formal position on the
> legislation but has raised some concerns. Representatives of the group
> opposed the adoption of industry guidelines, some of which were
> written earlier this decade.
>
> "By delaying their full implementation until 2020, and prohibiting
> their review until 2025, the bill would effectively eliminate
> consideration of new and developing practices in animal culture over
> the next 16 years," Cal Morgan, the Michigan Humane Society's
> president and chief executive officer, wrote Simpson last month.
>
> Animal activists have an ally in the Michigan Township Association,
> which opposes the proposed measure because it preempts local control.
> But Sen. Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland and a bill sponsor, said many
> farmers have fields in different municipalities, so the proposal would
> give them one standard to follow.
>
> FACT SHEET
> The Michigan Legislature is considering two bills regulating animal
> care. If approved, they would:
>
> • Give the state Department of Agriculture and the Commission on
> Agriculture sole authority to regulate livestock health and welfare.
>
> • Adopt guidelines developed by national groups that farmers would
> have to comply to by July 1, 2020.
>
> • Create a 10-member advisory council, appointed by the director of
> the state Department of Agriculture. Council members could make
> recommendations to change specific science-based animal standards
> every five years.
>
> • Forbid a local unit of government from enforcing any ordinance
> involving animal care standards regarding livestock.
>
> • Require a system of third-party auditors to certify whether farms
> are complying with animal guidelines; the state would set fees to be
> paid.
>
> Source: House Fiscal Agency