HR 3835 · 117th Congress 2021–2023, ended

PRIME Act

Introduced Jun 11, 2021 Originated House Sponsor Thomas Massie R-KY

Fact sheet Spreadsheet

Latest action · Jul 15, 2021 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.

  1. IntroducedJun 11, 2021
  2. Passed HouseNot reached
  3. Passed SenateNot reached
  4. To the PresidentNot reached
  5. Became lawNot reached

Summary

Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption Act or the PRIME Act

This bill expands 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 49

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jun 11, 2021 to Sep 2, 2022; 27 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

SeatCosponsorSigned on
R-AZAndy BiggsOriginalJun 11, 2021
D-MEChellie PingreeOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-TXChip RoyOriginalJun 11, 2021
D-FLDarren SotoOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-AZDebbie LeskoOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-WIGlenn GrothmanOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-WAJaime Herrera BeutlerOriginalJun 11, 2021
D-CAJared HuffmanOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-MOJason SmithOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-SCJeff DuncanOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-COKen BuckOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-COLauren BoebertOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-TXLouie GohmertOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-GAMarjorie Taylor GreeneOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-FLMatt GaetzOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-MTMatthew M. Rosendale, Sr.OriginalJun 11, 2021
R-TXMichael CloudOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-ALMo BrooksOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-SCNancy MaceOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-AZPaul A. GosarOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-SCRalph NormanOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-IARandy FeenstraOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-PAScott PerryOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-NCTed BuddOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-TNTim BurchettOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-CATom McClintockOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-OHWarren DavidsonOriginalJun 11, 2021
R-CADavid G. ValadaoJun 14, 2021
D-CTJoe CourtneyJun 14, 2021
R-FLW. Gregory SteubeJun 14, 2021
R-OHRobert E. LattaJun 15, 2021
D-VAAbigail Davis SpanbergerJun 16, 2021
R-NCMadison CawthornJun 16, 2021
R-TXBrian BabinJun 29, 2021
R-FLDaniel WebsterJun 29, 2021
R-TNMark E. GreenJun 29, 2021
R-VABen ClineJul 2, 2021
R-PALloyd SmuckerJul 2, 2021
R-ILMary E. MillerAug 6, 2021
R-VABob GoodAug 10, 2021
R-ORCliff BentzAug 13, 2021
R-WACathy McMorris RodgersAug 20, 2021
R-INVictoria SpartzAug 20, 2021
R-WIThomas P. TiffanySep 10, 2021
D-MEJared F. GoldenSep 21, 2021
R-FLMaria Elvira SalazarSep 24, 2021
R-MDAndy HarrisNov 2, 2021
D-NMTeresa Leger FernandezFeb 1, 2022
R-FLGus M. BilirakisSep 2, 2022

Committees 1

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

ChamberCommitteeWhat it did
HouseAgriculture Committee
Referred Jun 11, 2021
Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Subcommittee
Referred Jul 15, 2021

Actions 3

Everything that happened, newest first.

  1. Jul 15, 2021Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture.
  2. Jun 11, 2021Introduced in House
  3. Jun 11, 2021Referred 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. 167, no. 102, June 11, 2021, page H2710.

Printed hearings 1

Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.

NumberHearingCommitteeHeld
S. Hrg. 117-709NOMINATION TO THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION92 pagesCommerce, Science, and Transportation CommitteeMay 20, 2021

Related bills 3

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

BillTitleRelationshipLatest action
S 2001PRIME ActRelated billFeb 1, 2022
HR 2814PRIME ActReintroduced BillMay 15, 2023
HR 2859PRIME ActReintroduction ofJun 21, 2019

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 Title(s) 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.

  1. Jun 11, 2021Introduced 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.