Sponsors vow to revise, bring back vetoed 'Ag Gag' bill

Sponsors vow to revise, bring back vetoed 'Ag Gag' bill
Sponsors vow to revise it, bring it back


    • By Tom Humphrey
    • Posted May 13, 2013 at 9:47 p.m.


NASHVILLE — Sponsors of livestock surveillance legislation known as the “Ag Gag” bill say they will let stand Gov. Bill Haslam ’s veto and instead seek passage of a revised version next year.

The plans of Rep. Andy Holt, R-Dresden, and Sen. Dolores Gresham, R-Somerville, are in line with Haslam’s professed thinking in vetoing the bill.

“Some vetoes are made solely on policy grounds. Other vetoes may be the result of wanting the General Assembly to reconsider the legislation for a number of reasons. My veto here is more along the lines of the latter,” Haslam said in announcing his decision Monday.

His first concern, Haslam said, is that Attorney General Bob Cooper has deemed the bill “constitutionally suspect.”

“Second, it appears to repeal parts of Tennessee’s Shield Law without saying so. If that is the case, it should say so. Third, there are concerns from some district attorneys that the act actually makes it more difficult to prosecute animal cruelty cases, which would be an unintended consequence,” the governor said.

“For these reasons, I am vetoing HB1191/SB1248, and I respectfully encourage the General Assembly to reconsider this issue,” Haslam said.

Holt and Gresham had argued their bill, which would have required anyone making photographs or video of livestock abuse to turn the unedited material over to law enforcement authorities within 48 hours, would mean stopping abuse more quickly. They had criticized, for example, a Humane Society of the United States video, taken by an undercover operative over a period of months, showing abuse of Tennessee Walking Horses. The video led to successful prosecution on animal cruelty charges.

Holt and Gresham did not return reporter phone calls but issued a joint statement saying there would be no override attempt. Instead, they said a new bill will be filed in 2014 with revisions aimed at meeting objections from Haslam and questions about the bill’s constitutionality raised by Cooper.

“There were thousands of people who weighed in on this issue, and we plan to work with all interested parties in the coming months to draft a bill that will protect animals and ensure those people who abuse livestock are brought to justice,” the joint statement said.

Haslam’s office received thousands of emails, phone calls and letters on the bill — almost all urging a veto — after the Humane Society spent more than $100,000 on advertising urging citizens to contact him. Several celebrities, ranging from TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres to country music singers Emmylou Harris and Carrie Underwood, also urged a veto.

Asked if he would play a role in next year’s version of the bill, Haslam said “the thought we had was, if you want to write that bill, there’s a better way to write it.

“I think the attorney general in his opinion said sort of the same thing... He almost gave them a path to write it,” Haslam said.

HSUS, the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Tennessee Press Association and the Tennessee Coalition on Open Government issued statements hailing Haslam for the veto.

“We appreciate that Gov. Haslam recognized the backdoor attempt to repeal the Tennessee Shield Law and stopped it — for now at least,” said Frank Gibson, public policy director for the Tennessee Press Association.

Tennessee’s “Shield Law” says news media can keep confidential their reporting sources. Haslam said that his mention of the law in his formal statement was not advocating it be changed, only that any bill changing another law should specifically say so.

The Tennessee Farm Bureau, which supported the bill, declared: “Although we are disappointed, we are appreciative of his (Haslam’s) recognition that well established, long-accepted agricultural practices on farms are

vulnerable to unfair attacks through misrepresentation and deception.“

The bill is the second to be vetoed by Haslam since taking office in January 2011. The first came last year when Haslam waited until the 107th General Assembly had permanently adjourned to veto a bill that would have prohibited Vanderbilt University’s “all comer’s” policy, which says all campus student organizations must accept any student as a member. Sponsors of the bill said the policy wrongly interferes with religious rights of Christian groups who — at least in one controversial case — were told to accept an atheist as a member.


Related document
Haslam's letter explaining his veto