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SF 64

Wyoming Opposes Mandatory Electronic ID Devices-Livestock.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Bill Allemand and 10 co-sponsors

Wyoming declares opposition to mandatory electronic ID for livestock, promotes voluntary ID options, and assigns the buyer/receiving state to tag when required.

Assigned Chapter Number 53
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Bill Summary · SF 64

Summary — SF 64 (Wyoming): "Wyoming Opposes Mandatory Electronic ID Devices — Livestock"

Status: Enrolled Act No. 22 (Assigned Chapter No. 53). Introduced Jan 16, 2025; passed both chambers and signed by the Governor (effective immediately upon completion of acts required by the Wyoming Constitution).

Note: The materials provided include an unrelated Iowa fiscal note also numbered SF 64 (school district budget adjustment). This summary focuses on the Wyoming enactment (Senate File 0064 / SF0064 / Enrolled Act No. 22), consistent with the title and bill text provided.

Main purpose and intent

The act (creates W.S. 11‑18‑121) declares Wyoming state policy opposing a federal USDA/APHIS final rule (April 2024) that would mandate electronically readable identification devices (EID) for certain livestock. It establishes state-level guidance on livestock identification options, assigns responsibilities for informing producers, and clarifies who bears responsibility for EID tagging when livestock are moved to receiving states that require electronic tags.

Key provisions

  • Creates W.S. 11‑18‑121 outlining:
    • The Wyoming Livestock Board must inform livestock producers of all available identification options under W.S. 11‑18‑117 for disease traceability. (Section 11‑18‑121(a))
    • If a receiving state mandates electronic identification devices, buyers in that receiving state are responsible for tagging the livestock — unless the Wyoming owner has voluntarily already used electronic devices. (Section 11‑18‑121(b))
    • Nothing in the section prohibits a Wyoming licensed and accredited veterinarian from issuing a certificate of veterinary inspection that complies with destination requirements. (Section 11‑18‑121(c))
  • Legislative findings and policy statements (inserted by amendment) asserting:
    • Support for the voluntary livestock identification system and opposition to APHIS’s mandatory EID rule.
    • Concerns about the federal rule’s scope, costs, claimed compliance thresholds (noting a 70% compliance figure cited), and that the rule was issued administratively rather than by Congress.
    • Policy goals to work with other states and manufacturers to enable non‑EID movement of livestock and to request a full cost accounting from USDA/APHIS for mandating EID (hardware, software, tags, wands, facility retrofits, labor, paperwork, etc.).
  • Effective date: Immediately upon completion of acts required for a bill to become law under the Wyoming Constitution.

Who is affected

  • Wyoming livestock producers: retain and are informed of non‑electronic identification options (brands, backtags, tattoos, ear tags) and may expect buyers to assume tagging responsibility if a destination requires EID.
  • Buyers/receiving states: designated as responsible for applying EID when required by destination state law.
  • Wyoming Livestock Board: tasked with producer outreach and inter‑state coordination; may have additional workload.
  • Licensed and accredited veterinarians: expressly allowed to issue required certificates of inspection to meet destination rules.
  • Interstate livestock movement and market operators (sale barns, markets): potentially affected by differing state requirements and the policy to avoid mandatory EID for Wyoming-origin livestock.

Fiscal and administrative impact

  • Legislative Services Office (LSO) fiscal note: fiscal impact is indeterminable. The Wyoming Livestock Board indicated implementation could increase agency travel expenditures; the magnitude is not specified.
  • The act primarily contains policy/findings and administrative responsibilities (informing producers, inter‑state coordination) rather than direct subsidy or regulatory enforcement mechanisms, so direct statewide fiscal effects are expected to be limited but not precisely quantifiable.

Procedural timeline (selected)

  • Bill assigned number: 12/27/2024; Senate introduction and committee actions in Jan 2025.
  • Passed Senate (3rd reading) 30–1; passed House (3rd reading) 54–3–5.
  • Amendments adopted in both chambers clarified that the Wyoming Livestock Board (not state veterinarian) will perform outreach, added the legislative findings/policy section, and preserved veterinarian authority to write export certificates.
  • Enrolled as Act No. 22; assigned Chapter No. 53 and signed by the Governor (February 2025).

Practical effect and limits

  • The act is declarative of state policy and places responsibilities on the Livestock Board and buyers in receiving states; it does not directly preempt federal law or block federal EID mandates. Conflicts between state policy and federal requirements (for interstate commerce or export) would still be governed by federal law and destination state requirements.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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