PIERRE, S.D. (Meghan O’Brien / South Dakota Searchlight) – Governor Larry Rhoden vetoed a bill Monday that would effectively ban lab-grown meat in South Dakota, but also suggested a moratorium on the products as a compromise approach.
The vetoed bill is sponsored by Lesterville Republican Rep. Julie Auch, who proposed the legislation with concern for what she called “the takeover of the livestock industry here in South Dakota.” The bill would add lab-grown meat to a list of adulterated foods in state law.
The bill was supported 45-22 in the state House and 18-16 in the state Senate. It’s Rhoden’s first veto of the current legislative session, and overriding it would require a two-thirds vote in each chamber.
Opponents of the bill raised concern about opening the state up to lawsuits, similar to ones filed against state bans in Florida and Texas. Others, like Rhoden, worry about disrupting the free market.
“While you won’t catch me eating these products, it is against our values to ban products just because we don’t like them,” Rhoden said in a statement Monday. “Government is best when it is limited. We should respect the freedoms of our people, and we should not set precedent that violates our own values.”
In place of Auch’s bill, Rhoden suggested amendments to a state Senate bill, which is sponsored by Bonesteel Republican Mykala Voita and has not yet had a hearing. In its current form, the bill would place a 10-year ban on the manufacture, sale and distribution of lab-grown meat in the state.
Rhoden said he would support amending the bill to a five-year moratorium, “to permit further study within the existing regulatory framework and allow the pending litigation in other states to further unfold.”
Voita is open to working with the governor.
“I don’t agree with the decision that the governor made, but we’re appreciative that he was willing to work with us to at least get something across the finish line,” said Voita, who voted in favor of Auch’s bill.
Auch said she’s disappointed in the veto but is hopeful the compromise bill will pass.
“A compromise is better than nothing,” she said.
The South Dakota Cattlemen’s Association, South Dakota Retailers Association and South Dakota Farm Bureau all support the veto, according to letters Rhoden released Monday.
Rhoden and legislators adopted a law last year requiring lab-grown meat to be clearly labeled. They also passed a law prohibiting the use of state money for the research, production, promotion, sale or distribution of lab-grown meat. There’s an exception for public universities, which can still do research on lab-grown meat. But the law prevents, for example, the awarding of state economic development grants to companies that sell the product.
