UPDATE: The bill was postponed indefinitely on Monday by a vote of 9 to 4. Lawmakers who voted against the bill explained they believed the root cause of the high cost of eggs was more directly tied to the avian flu and repealing the cage-free egg law wouldn't help following hours of testimony.
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Two Republican lawmakers are pushing to repeal a Colorado law that was fully enacted at the start of the new year.
Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer and Rep. Ryan Gonzalez are the prime sponsors of HB25-1074, Change Confinement Standards Egg-Laying Hens. The bill repeals the standards in HB20-1343, more commonly known as Colorado's cage-free egg law.
HB25-1074 is scheduled to be heard in the Agriculture, Water & Natural Resources committee on Monday at 1:30 p.m.
Under current law, all eggs sold in Colorado must come from a cage-free facility and all egg producers in Colorado housing more than 3,000 egg-laying hens will need to comply with cage-free requirements. One of the requirements is to give 144 square inches of space per hen.
The bill to repeal the law points to several statistics:
1. The Colorado Egg Producers Association estimates that the cost of producing cage-free eggs is roughly 16%-18% higher than the cost of producing eggs in a caged environment due in part to the amount of labor, the cost of reconstructing hen houses, and the potential spread of illnesses in a larger environment.
2. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows egg prices increased 39.6% between September 2023 and September 2024, which was the largest increase of any food tracked;
3. Since January 2022, the average national cost of a dozen eggs rose 75% from $1.92 to $3.37 in October 2024, with a peak of $4.82 in January 2023. As of December 2024, a dozen large white eggs at a grocery store costs $5.49.
Despite the stat provided by the Colorado Egg Producers Association on the cost of going cage-free, Bill Scebbi the Executive Director of the organization is against the proposed bill. Scebbi wanted to make it clear the high price of eggs is tied to the bird flu.
"The bill is probably not necessary," Scebbi said of HB25-1074. "It appears that people are under the impression that cage-free laws have caused a shortage in eggs, and they have not. The shortage of eggs is due to avian influenza across the United States. We don't have enough hands producing eggs, and our eggs are sold on a commodity market, so it's supply and demand that's that's in play here.... So the cage-free law really has nothing to do with the shortage of eggs, nor currently the price of eggs."
Scebbi plans to testify against the bill on Monday afternoon. Rep. Gonzalez compared the cost of eggs in Colorado and other cage-free states to states that don't have cage-free laws.
"The need for to roll back this legislation is just not necessary whatsoever," Scebbi added. "It would actually harm our farmers here in the State of Colorado, and it would jeopardize the investments they've already made."
Rep. Gonzalez believes the consumer should have a choice between cage-free or not.
"I understand there was, you know, a very good intention for that bill to basically give chicken welfare. But we shouldn't be prioritizing that over our own people who are struggling to make ends meet," Rep. Gonzalez stated.
Rep. Gonzalez said it should be more of a free market.
"I have talked to also some people who work with grocery stores, because their concern is also limiting choice in consumers and what they're able to bring into their stores, which also, you know, supply, demand, all that good stuff," Gonzalez said.
Bill to repeal cage-free egg law in Colorado scheduled for committee Monday
Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer and Rep. Ryan Gonzalez are the prime sponsors of HB25-1074, Change Confinement Standards Egg-Laying Hens.
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