After reading through SB 34, Production and Sale of Food in Utah Revisions, I literally spat out a sigh of disgust/confusion/and general “huh?” a-tude.

The bill, proposed by Senator Casey Anderson (R-Cedar City, District 28) says that if an agricultural product is grown, distributed, and consumed entirely in Utah, it is exempt from federal regulation.

This was the confusion part.

The bill then goes on to say that  if a state or federal agent arrests someone for growing, distributing, and consuming an agricultural product entirely in Utah, the state or federal agent will be arrested and charged with a Class A misdemeanor.

This was the “huh” part.

And the cherry on the cake – if some mean old law enforcement officer does manage to arrest someone without getting arrested themselves…wait for it…THE STATE WILL PAY THEM BACK FOR THEIR TROUBLES…EVEN THOUGH THEY BROKE FEDERAL LAW!

Disgust has now set in.

Really Senator Anderson? Really? I MEAN REALLY?!

Your grand idea, the whole reason you wanted to come to Capitol Hill was to propose some half-baked law that would be overturned in a heartbeat.

Yes, that is the best part of this bill – IT IS COMPLETELY IMPOTENT! SAYS SO RIGHT IN THE BILL!

Scroll down to the bottom, down there where Legislative Research threw in its own two cents; and I quote (emphasis added):

As drafted, these provisions raise issues relating to the Supremacy Clause, contained in Article VI, Section 2 of the United States Constitution (“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States . . . shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”). The United States Supreme Court has “long recognized that state laws that conflict with federal law are ‘without effect,’”… and has further held that an individual cannot be guilty of a state crime if the individual was acting necessarily and properly under the authority of the laws of the United States.

Based on the federal statutes and case law described above, there is a high probability that a court will find that this bill violates the Supremacy Clause to the extent that it: 1) conflicts with valid federal regulation of intrastate commerce; 2) makes it a crime for a government agent to enforce federal law; or 3) requires a court or the governor to uphold state law in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.

That’s right, if this bill were to pass, IT WOULD DO NOTHING! and (this is the best part) WASTE STATE TIME AND MONEY IN THE PROCESS!

I mean really? You are concerned about the feds? With Carrots? I mean…Really? You…we…Constiu…Can’t do it…won’t work…I…wha?

You know what? I am done here. Captain Picard, take us out.

To contact Sen. Anderson, Click Here or call 435-263-5854

Impact: 0

Need: 0

Overall: -5

Questions about the rating system? Click Here

To view other bills in the 2012 Bills to Watch series, Click Here