Statement:
Senator Brian Munzlinger on Veto of SB 506

JEFFERSON CITY — State Sen. Brian Munzlinger, R-Williamstown, today (7-8) issued a statement relating to the governor’s veto of Senate Bill 506. The measure would have added the definition of captive cervid to livestock in Missouri.

"I am disappointed the executive branch chose special interest over Missouri agriculture and the farmers who have kept our economy going through this most recent recession. This veto shows just how far this governor is willing to go to allow bureaucrats and special interests to control the process of legislation, which belongs to the people and their representatives. Anyone who thinks that the Legislature can't define individual species as livestock doesn't understand we are the branch of government that can do that. This is just another veto in a long list, that continue to prove the governor and his staff are absent from the process.

The Missouri Department of Conservation, in the Missouri Constitution, is authorized to regulate wildlife — not captive animals. What are animals that are purchased, have documented ownership, get regular veterinary care, are fed with feed from a mill and kept inside a fence? Livestock, and they should be treated as such. Today, this is about captive deer. What will tomorrow's overreach on property owners be? In 1995, the Legislature defined elk as livestock, because they are fenced, have documented ownership and care. The same thing this bill would have done for captive cervids. What this veto does is put a state department in direct competition with Missouri farmers and ranchers.

The constitution and the statutes of Missouri do not give this department the right to regulate private land ownership, or to impose requirements on private landowners.

The underlying bill with this language was introduced in February, worked through the committee process and after debate was passed on the Senate floor. The current statute defining livestock (144.010 RSMO) includes this "documented as obtained from a legal source and not the wild." If the governor and his departments truly care about the health of animals, then they would welcome the input of the state veterinarian — who is at the Missouri Department of Agriculture — to aid this industry.

I look forward to a conversation with all my colleagues on these vetoes.”

Senate Bill 506 and House Bill 1326 were supported by all 13 Missouri agriculture groups, including: Missouri Cattlemen’s Association; FCS Financial; Missouri Agribusiness Association; Missouri Corn Growers Association; Missouri Dairy Association; Missouri Deer Association; Missouri Egg Council; Missouri Farm Bureau Federation; Missouri Federation of Animal Owners; Missouri Pork Association; Missouri Poultry Federation; Missouri Soybean Association; and Missouri Farm Equipment Dealers.