Legislation being circulated by GOP lawmakers aims to limit DATCP’s ability to raise certain fees on the livestock industry, which authors say would protect their constituents from “massive” fee increases.
In an interview Friday, Sen. Romaine Quinn pointed to the recent state Supreme Court ruling that the Legislature’s Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules can no longer indefinitely suspend agency protocols.
He noted JCRAR for decades has been able to “put a pause” on agency rules and exercise oversight, but “now agencies can promulgate rules that have the effect of law, really without any legislative oversight or input, and that is really scary to me.”
In a recent co-sponsorship memo, the Birchwood Republican and other authors noted DATCP earlier this year moved to enact substantial increases in fees for livestock producers in Wisconsin. The cost to register for an Animal Market Class A license, for example, was proposed to increase from $420 to $7,430, according to the memo.
“If you look at the rates the agency wants to go to, they are astronomically higher than every surrounding state, so it puts us at a competitive disadvantage, and it’s going to lead to less market access, especially in rural areas that are already struggling,” he said.
Quinn argued making changes like this without including lawmakers puts agencies in a position of acting as a “pseudo-Legislature” despite not being elected.
“The idea that an agency controlled by the governor can basically write law without legislative oversight is concerning … and so right after we lose our oversight, this rule pops up,” he said, calling it “our first test case of what we’re going to see coming down the pipe that we have no influence over.”
In a separate interview Friday, co-author Rep. Travis Tranel, R-Cuba City, said this is likely the No. 1 issue he’s been hearing about from constituents recently, as he represents a largely rural area with many farmers. He argued DATCP’s move would only serve to shift costs onto those in the industry.
Under the bill, the agency would be stripped of its ability to implement a rule that determines fees related to animal market licenses, animal dealer licenses, animal trucker licenses and animal transport vehicle registrations. The legislation would also set these fees at their current level in state statute, Quinn noted.
“That way, in the future, if the department needs more funding for how we handle livestock in the state or the oversight and sale of livestock, they have to come to the Legislature and ask for that money, they can’t just promulgate a rule and ram through a fee increase that’s 100% on the backs of producers,” he said.
Bill authors say they’ve heard from multiple companies that say they’ll have to shut down if the DATCP rule goes through.
Quinn added these fees haven’t been changed since around 2008 or 2009, “so there could have been conversations” between the agency and industry about possible adjustments.
“That’s the frustrating part, so we heard from the Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Association, the Farm Bureau, that they were completely blindsided by the department,” he said, arguing “if the agency needed more money, they should have come to us during the budget process and sat down.”
When asked for comment, an agency spokesperson noted the public comment period for the rule ended Oct. 15, adding DATCP is currently reviewing what it received.
“DATCP will consider these comments as we make changes to this rule package and proceed with the administrative rules process for ATCP 10 and ATCP 12,” the spokesperson said in an email.
The co-sponsorship deadline is 5 p.m. Wednesday.
See the bill text.
