Sponsors drop hens initiative after accord with egg producers

The sponsors of a Washington initiative to give egg-laying hens better living conditions called it quits Thursday after reaching a national deal with commercial egg producers to pursue federal legislation.

The backers of Initiative 1130 said they'd already collected more than 350,000 signatures. That's likely more than enough to meet the state requirement for the valid signatures of at least 241,153 registered voters. The deadline is Friday.

The Humane Society of the United States, the largest contributor to the initiative campaign, announced Thursday it was suspending initiative efforts in Oregon and Washington. I-1130 had raised more than $560,000 in cash and in-kind contributions.

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, said I-1130 was used to pressure the egg industry to negotiate a national agreement.

"We thought we could leverage the Washington circumstance into a national agreement to improve the lives for all 280 million laying hens," he said. "If you can leverage a single initiative into a national agreement, that's an opportunity you don't want to miss."

I-1130 would have prohibited keeping egg-laying hens in stacked cages, or in cages that prevent them from moving freely and fully extending their wings. It also would have barred the sale of eggs from businesses that didn't comply with the law.

Pacelle said two other states, California and Michigan, have already adopted similar laws.

The state Legislature earlier this year passed a law, Senate Bill 5487, that requires egg producers in Washington to provide larger cages for hens by 2026, but the Humane Society said the legislation did not go far enough.

"It was inappropriate that these birds would have to wait for that many years without protections," said Jennifer Hillman, the western regional director for the Humane Society of the United States.

She said the federal legislation would improve conditions more rapidly for the chickens.

United Egg Producers, a group representing companies that own about 80 percent of the nation's egg-laying hens, said it agreed to pursue federal legislation because a national agreement would be better than a hodgepodge of state laws.

"We're saying a patchwork quilt of different state laws of how you can produce eggs and how you can sell eggs is really causing chaos in the marketplace," said Mitch Head, a spokesman for the organization. "We could see ... that at some point a national standard is really more efficient and effective for everybody."

Will Stakelin, campaign manager for the No on 1130 campaign, said his group agrees with the move. "We support what the industry feels is best," he said. "If they can do it nationally and it's good for the industry and it's good for the hens, then that makes sense."

The Humane Society says the proposed federal legislation, among other things, would require conventional cages to be replaced with new housing over time that provide each hen nearly double the amount of space it currently has.

Three other initiatives still have appointments to turn in signatures on Friday: Initiative 1183 would privatize the state liquor business, Initiative 1125 would make it harder to toll state highways, and I-1163 would reinstate training requirements for home health-care workers.

Andrew Garber: 360-236-8266 or agarber@seattletimes.com