New hog farm bill goes to governor

The Missouri Legislature passed a new version of a bill that would restrict lawsuits against hog farms, although Gov. Jay Nixon isn’t publicly committing to signing it yet.

Earlier this month, the governor vetoed HB209, which restricted the potential damages in actions for private nuisance involving farming, agriculture or animal production. In his veto letter, Nixon said the bill was poorly worded and would, among other things, prevent punitive damages in such cases.

Nixon’s veto, however, came with an offer for lawmakers to try to fix the bill, which they did. A new version, SB187, received its final vote on Tuesday.

“The governor outlined his concerns on this issue in his veto message,” a Nixon spokesman, Sam Murphey, said in an email. “We will be reviewing this legislation to ensure that those concerns have been addressed.”

The bill was passed just a few days after a jury awarded $1.95 million to several Barton County residents who said their quality of life was ruined by a hog farm. A series of similar lawsuits, including an $11 million verdict last year in Jackson County, were the reason lawmakers sought to change the law.