Ready to make a difference?
Contact Appropriation Committee members. Call each of them every day.
Then, show up.
TBD; possibly April 30, 2025
Capitol Annex Swing Space, Room 1100
1021 O St, Sacramento, CA 95814
🤚 visit their offices!
Gather…
Outside the State Capitol building at 8am.
Enter…
The building early.
Listen…
To Mr. Rogers present the bill and the supporting and opposing statements.
Stand Up…
If the Chair calls for members of the audience to participate. State your name, any organizational affiliations, and that you OPPOSE AB 928!
Appropriations is concerned only with direct fiscal impact to the state.
However, you can absolutely talk about anticipated reduction in revenue — or reduction in feed expenditure — due to this bill.
Direct costs to the state include:
- Increased disease management and depopulation expenses due to dumped roosters and decreased on-farm biosecurity.
- Costs to certify/license flocks being raised for personal (noncommercial) food purposes.
- Increased legal fees due to lawsuits surrounding takings claims and religious suppression under the 1st, 4th, and 14th amendments.
Legal Liability (Regulatory Takings and Due Process Claims)
Restricting existing property (roosters) without compensation may trigger takings claims under the 4th and 14th Amendments.
- Comparable settlements for animal seizure litigation average $200,000–$500,000 per case.
- Anticipated wave of lawsuits: 20–50 cases/year statewide.
- Legal defense + settlements: $5–10 million annually
Footnote: Based on California Animal Control Agencies’ litigation data and analysis from the Institute for Justice.
Legal Liability (Religious Suppression/Persecution Claims)
Restricting the Hmong community’s access to the roosters necessary for religious practices may trigger lawsuits under the 1st Amendment.
- Conservative estimate of $375,000-$1.5 million per case.
- 1% of 1.3 million households claiming religious/cultural use equals 130,000 at-risk enforcement incidents.
- 10% resulting in legal action or challenge leads to 13,000 potential claims.
- 5% of these claims proceeding to litigation equals 650 serious lawsuits statewide
- With an average cost of $500,000 per case: $325 million annually
Footnote 18: Church of the Lukumi Babalu v. City of Hialeah (1993), Supreme Court struck down animal ordinance that targeted Santeria rituals. Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal v. Gonzales (2006), Religious group won right to use prohibited substances in rituals.
Leave a Reply