HR 2657 · 115th Congress 2017–2019, ended

PRIME Act

Introduced May 25, 2017 Originated House Sponsor Thomas Massie R-KY

Latest action · Jun 26, 2017 Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

IntroducedMay 25, 2017
Passed HouseNot reached
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Summary

Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption Act or the PRIME Act

This bill amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act to expand the exemption of custom slaughtering of animals from federal inspection requirements.

Under current law, the exemption applies if the meat is slaughtered for personal, household, guest, and employee uses. The bill expands the exemption to include meat that is:

slaughtered and prepared at a custom slaughter facility in accordance with the laws of the state where the facility is located; and
prepared exclusively for distribution to household consumers in the state or restaurants, hotels, boarding houses, grocery stores, or other establishments in the state that either prepare meals served directly to consumers or offer meat and food products for sale directly to consumers in the state.

The bill does not preempt any state law concerning: (1) the slaughter of animals or the preparation of carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products at a custom slaughter facility; or (2) the sale of meat or meat food products.

Cosponsors 23

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from May 25, 2017 to Nov 13, 2018; 15 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
D-ME	Chellie Pingree	Original	May 25, 2017
R-CA	Dana Rohrabacher	Original	May 25, 2017
R-WI	Glenn Grothman	Original	May 25, 2017
D-CA	Jared Huffman	Original	May 25, 2017
D-CO	Jared Polis	Original	May 25, 2017
D-CA	John Garamendi	Original	May 25, 2017
I-MI	Justin Amash	Original	May 25, 2017
R-ND	Kevin Cramer	Original	May 25, 2017
R-NC	Mark Meadows	Original	May 25, 2017
R-SC	Mark Sanford	Original	May 25, 2017
R-ID	Raul R. Labrador	Original	May 25, 2017
R-VA	Robert J. Wittman	Original	May 25, 2017
R-CA	Tom McClintock	Original	May 25, 2017
R-NC	Walter B. Jones	Original	May 25, 2017
D-CA	Zoe Lofgren	Original	May 25, 2017
R-VA	Dave Brat		May 26, 2017
R-MN	Jason Lewis		Jun 7, 2017
R-ME	Bruce Poliquin		Jun 20, 2017
R-AZ	Andy Biggs		Jun 28, 2017
R-IA	Steve King		Sep 5, 2017
D-MN	Collin C. Peterson		Dec 13, 2017
R-PA	Scott Perry		Jan 16, 2018
R-VA	Thomas A. Garrett, Jr.		Nov 13, 2018

Committees 1

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Agriculture Committee	Referred May 25, 2017
	Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Subcommittee	Referred Jun 26, 2017

Actions 3

Everything that happened, newest first.

Jun 26, 2017Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture.
May 25, 2017Introduced in House
May 25, 2017Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Constitutional authority

Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: This act is justified by the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution which, by granting Congress the power to regulate commerce among the several states, also allows Congress to prevent or prohibit federal interference with Americans' ability to slaughter and process meat. This act is also justified by the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the Constitution, which recognize that rights and powers are retained and reserved by the people and to the States.

The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 163, no. 91, May 25, 2017, page H4607.

Related bills 3

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

Bill	Title	Relationship	Latest action
S 1232	PRIME Act	Related bill	May 25, 2017
HR 2859	PRIME Act	Reintroduced Bill	Jun 21, 2019
HR 3187	PRIME Act	Reintroduction of	Aug 25, 2015

Titles 3

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to exempt from inspection the slaughter of animals and the preparation of carcasses conducted at a custom slaughter facility, and for other purposes.
Short Titles as Introduced: PRIME Act; Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption Act

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Agriculture and Food.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

May 25, 2017Introduced in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.