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Wisconsin Senator remains hopeful for one of three food labeling bills

The author of Wisconsin’s three food labeling bills says one of them definitely will not pass the State Senate. 

State Senator Howard Marklein is the Vice-Chair of the Agriculture Committee and co-chairs the Joint Committee on Finance.  He tells Brownfield the labeling bills for milk, dairy products and meat have mixed support. “There’s one that has a reasonably good chance of survival, and that’s the milk labeling bill, and then the dairy products one, I guess I consider that to be kind of a 50-50 proposition at this standpoint.”

Marklein says the meat labeling bill has no chance of passing this session. “Some people have got a, just a philosophical objection to it. They believe that we should have freedom of speech and that people ought to be able to call something whatever they want to call it.”

And, Marklein says he’s disappointed that only one or two will pass. “It’s a big deal for my farmers. You know, I hear about this all of the time, and out in the rural areas, it’s a big deal but you know, again, I hope we can get this, at least the milk labeling done.”

The State Senate has a floor vote scheduled for Tuesday, but the labeling bills are not on the agenda. 

If passed, Wisconsin would be the third state to pass dairy labeling laws behind Maryland and North Carolina.  Ten states out of 15 must approve similar bans by 2031 to move towards enforcement.