Eyes on Haslam as he weighs veto of animal cruelty bill

Gov. Bill Haslam appeared Friday afternoon flanked by House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick and Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris. Photo credit Blake Farmer/WPLN

Governor Bill Haslam says he’s getting up to speed on a proposal narrowly passed by the legislature that is intended to stop activists from doing their own undercover investigations into animal cruelty.

“It’s not one that was quite frankly really high on my radar screen so I hadn’t paid a lot of attention to it,” Haslam told reporters following the legislature’s adjournment. “We’ve obviously already gotten a lot of calls and emails on it, so you can tell everybody to hold. We’ve got all we need on both sides.”

The Tennessee Cattlemen’s Association as well as the Farm Bureau favor the measure. They argue evidence of animal cruelty should be turned over to police. The bill requires video or photos to be handed over within 48 hours of collecting them.

Animal rights groups like the Humane Society of the United States say the legislation would keep them from being able to prove a pattern of abuse over time. Some of the organization’s evidence was used to convict a hall of fame Tennessee Walking Horse training of abuse last year.

The opposition gained some star power last week when singer Carrie Underwood tweeted, “shame on TN lawmakers for passing the Ag Gag bill. If Gov. Bill Haslam signs this, he needs to expect me at his front door.”

The governor has 10 days to sign a bill after it arrives on his desk. He says he’ll try to take a “dispassionate look.”

Haslam called the sponsors – Rep. Andy Holt (R-Dresden) and Sen. Dolores Gresham (R-Somerville) – into his office Friday to understand their intentions. He’s also hearing from Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, who says the legislation is not really meant to stop abuse, only the filming of abuse.

“We’re going to talk a little bit more about it,” Norris said Friday as he stood beside the governor.

On Haslam’s other side was House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick, who cast one of the 50 votes to narrowly approve the bill. But didn’t exactly offer a rousing endorsement for the proposal.

“I probably could have looked at it a little bit harder,” he said. “I just didn’t have time to.”