Livestock Brand Inspection

Livestock Brand Inspection

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
I'm Bob Larson. The Livestock Branding and Inspection Program could soon be a thing of the past in Washington state. The House, last week, overwhelmingly passed a bill, sponsored by 15th District Representative Bruce Chandler ...

CHANDLER ... "So, this is kind of an interesting bill, it has to do with the livestock brand identification program. So, that program has been operating at a half-a-million-dollar deficit for several years now, four or five years I believe, so we're working hard with some legislation to make the program whole."

And, the Granger Republican says, this bill could help ...

CHANDLER ... "There's a bill that has come over here from the Senate to do just that, but we need to make it whole because in statute the ID program needs to operate in the black. It can't be in the red like this, so OFM has told us we need to fix this we need to stop the program."

He's hopeful it won't be necessary, but Chandler says, when all else fails ...

CHANDLER ... "So, this bill is here as kind of a backstop. If we don't get the program fixed, then this bill will come into play and we'll stop the program. So, we do need to pass this bill out of here today, put it in the Senate where we'll keep it in reserve and hopefully, and I believe we can do this, that we will fix the livestock identification program with the bill that's coming from the Senate and then everything will be good, but for today I am asking for a yes vote."

He says if there is no appropriation that can meet the need, this bill provides a path to systematically close down the program.

House Bill 2075 passed the House 89-7 and now moves to the

Senate.

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