S-6326.3

SECOND SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 6382

State of Washington

66th Legislature

2020 Regular Session

BySenate Ways & Means (originally sponsored by Senators Ericksen and Takko)

READ FIRST TIME 02/11/20.

AN ACT Relating to creating the meat and poultry processing and marketing assistance program; adding a new section to chapter 15.64 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that consumers and small to mid-scale farmers would both benefit from greater access to meat and poultry processing facilities that would allow the farmer to sell meat and poultry to consumers who would like a greater opportunity to support local agriculture, while also ensuring that the meat and poultry are inspected under a program that safeguards consumers from possible harm. Direct marketing assistance will play a critical role in considering the economic viability of meat and poultry processing facilities and providing small and mid-size farms with the ability to sell meat and poultry to consumers at retail.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 15.64 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The meat and poultry processing and marketing assistance program is created.

(2) The meat and poultry processing and marketing assistance program shall assist small and mid-size farms in exploring options to expand capacity for processing meat or meat and poultry for sale and direct marketing efforts. In carrying out this duty, the program must:

(a) Assist farms in complying with federal, state, and local rules and regulations as they apply to direct marketing of meat and poultry products;

(b) Assist in developing infrastructure including, but not limited to, custom meat facilities, slaughter facilities inspected by the United States department of agriculture, and slaughter facilities inspected by the department under a cooperative agreement with the United States department of agriculture as appropriate to increase direct marketing opportunities for farms;

(d) Identify and help reduce market barriers facing farms in direct marketing;

(e) Assist in developing and submitting proposals to grant programs to assist farm direct marketing efforts; and

(f) Perform other functions that will assist farms in directly marketing their meat and poultry products.

(3) The department must work with the United States department of agriculture to negotiate a cooperative agreement with the United States department of agriculture in order to operate a state inspection program.

(4) The department must collect data on the activities conducted under this section and report to the legislature by December 31, 2020, pursuant to RCW 43.01.036. The report must include information related to meat and poultry processing facility needs and information related to the negotiations to enter into a cooperative agreement with the United States department of agriculture to conduct state inspections of meat and poultry facilities.

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