A bill in the Missouri statehouse that many farmers feared would have led to Missouri-sourced plant and animal products being labeled as a "Potential Gene Therapy Product" died in committee last night, much to the relief of both agricultural and biotech interests in the state.
The bill, HB 1169, was tied to the state’s burgeoning anti-vaccine movement, which lobbied heavily for it. Critics complained that it was vaguely worded and would have forced the erroneous "gene therapy" label on all sorts of plant and animal products grown in Missouri.
Mike Deering, the executive vice president of the Missouri Cattlemen's Association, was one of the people who testified against the bill last month before the Emerging Issues Committee. He tells the RFT that Missouri beef would have been required to be labeled a potential gene therapy in grocery stores if the cow it came from had ever been given a vaccine. Deering adds that livestock vaccinations are a routine matter of animal health and wellbeing.
Kelly Gillespie, a lobbyist and president of the Missouri Biotech Association who also opposed the bill, says, "The [bill's] sponsors start with the premise that whether it is a COVID mRNA vaccine, or a genetically modified soybean plant that ends up being fed to pigs before being processed for baby back ribs, either scenario in their minds ends up changing and re-shaping humans' DNA gene sequence. The science is actually far different."
Gillespie says that the bill could have also led to GMO corn and soybeans to be slapped with the gene therapy label as well.
"This is the anti-vax movement, and the anti-vax movement is trying to do everything they can to sow seeds of doubt and fear," Gillespie says.
Before voting no last night, Representative Sherri Gallick (R-Belton) said that she worked in the meat industry before seeking elected office. "It is not a diabolical plot to change people's genes or their DNA," she said.
The Missouri Chamber of Commerce came out against the bill as well, saying in a statement it "would likely have a chilling effect on economic development in the state."
The bill was sponsored by state Representative Holly Jones (R-Eureka), whose biography on the statehouse website says that she works as the business manager for Renz Law as well as the vice president of wellness development for the Nepute Wellness Group.
Eric Nepute is a chiropractor who testified in favor of the bill in March. He holds the distinction of being the first individual in the country to be sued by the federal government under a relatively new law designed to stop deceptive marketing related to COVID-19.
Jones' other employer, Renz Law, is headed by Tom Renz. In a September 2021 profile, the Washington Post said that Renz describes himself as a “reluctant leader" to stop COVID-19 vaccines. The Post also reported that Renz had promoted the bizarre idea that COVID shots had killed 45,000 people, a notion spread by Michael Flynn, who was briefly Donald Trump's national security advisor, and others.
Multiple state representatives, before voting no on the bill, said that proponents of HB 1169 had waged a campaign of intimidation.
Before his no vote, Josh Hurlbert (R–Smithville) said that Jones had been "nothing but pleasant" in advocating for the bill. However, Hurlbert added, "Some of the other actors that are outside the building that have been on this bill have really tainted the process …. When you're visiting people's houses to confront them and their families about this bill, that's a line too far. When you're posting pictures of their kids on social media, that's the line too far."
Deering, with the Missouri Cattlemen's Association, said that members of his group had their personal phone numbers posted online and he'd even heard of people receiving death threats over the bill.
Asked yesterday if he thought a no vote last night would be the end of the effort to have food items labeled as potential gene therapies in Missouri, Deering said, "I don't think that it ends tonight. I think they're going to continue to try this not only in Missouri, but in other states. I think that the intimidation and tactics that they have deployed will continue."
Jones, the bill's sponsor, said last night, "I think that this bill is something that we're going to see a whole lot more of. Five states have reached out to me wanting to work with Missouri; they see us as the forefront of this. I think that's a good thing."
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