It’s been said that sunshine is the best disinfectant. Maybe that’s why factory farmers are fighting so hard to keep the public in the dark.





the proposed bill as an “odious effort” to hide the state’s agricultural activities under a “veil of secrecy.” Last week Missouri governor Jay Nixon vetoed HB 1414, an agribusiness-backed bill that would have drastically limited public access to government records relating to Missouri’s agricultural industry. Governor Nixon did not mince words, slamming the proposed bill as an “odious effort” to hide the state’s agricultural activities under a “veil of secrecy.”





Mercy For Animals actively opposed HB 1414, and applauds Governor Nixon for standing up for Missouri citizens’ right to know.





Factory farmers understand that their practices can’t withstand public scrutiny. That’s why in recent years they’ve pushed for “ag-gag” laws that criminalize undercover investigations and keep people from seeing the horrifying realities of modern animal farms. Industry representatives have also been pushing for “data-gag” laws, such as HB 1414, that would shield potentially damning public records from disclosure under state and federal sunshine laws.





Missouri, a major factory farming and puppy mill state, has become ground zero for many of these industry-led efforts. The state enacted an ag-gag law in 2012 and amended its state constitution in 2014 to make passing tighter factory farm regulations more difficult.





This year, Missouri’s legislature considered a number of other bills aimed at shielding factory farms from public oversight, including one that would have given control over the state’s Clean Water Commission to industry representatives. Fortunately, Governor Nixon vetoed that too, calling it a “ blatant attempt to limit public oversight in favor of regulated interests .” One chamber also passed a “ food libel ” law that would have let agribusiness interests sue people simply for questioning their products’ safety. Thankfully, this dangerously un-American bill died on the Missouri Senate floor.





Lawmakers should work to strengthen laws protecting their constituents and animals, not make it easier for agribusiness to escape oversight. Thanks to a broad coalition of activists and the support of Governor Nixon, we’re going to make sure they do just that.





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