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House approves bill asserting residents’ right to grow and keep homegrown food, citing Wickard debate
Summary
House passed HB 198 (53–16), a bill supporters framed as protecting individuals’ rights to grow, store and keep food and as a pushback on federal Commerce Clause doctrine (Wickard v. Filburn); supporters said it preserves state authority while involving the Department of Agriculture for infestation concerns.
The Utah House passed House Bill 198 to clarify and protect residents’ rights to grow, keep and store their own food. Representative Harrod, sponsor of the bill, said it guarantees people’s ability to produce and retain personal food supplies and pushes back against broad Commerce Clause interpretations such as Wickard v. Filburn.
Harrod described the bill as twofold: to protect individual food sovereignty and to preserve a role for state government to regulate in limited circumstances (for example, to address pest infestation). He said he worked with the Department of Agriculture and the Farm Bureau to ensure the state retains authority for public-health or infestation responses.
Opponents raised constitutional concerns about the bill’s reach and suggested some language could sweep more broadly than intended. Representative Powell questioned whether the referenced Supreme Court precedent pertained specifically to federal power (the sponsor said it was directed at the federal government).
After debate and a summation from the sponsor, the House approved HB 198 by a vote of 53–16; the bill will be transmitted to the Senate for further consideration.
