As the implementation date drew closer, egg farmers in California were investing millions to make their egg farms compliant, thereby reducing the number of laying hens while increasing their maintenance costs. In anticipation, prices for eggs at the store have increased by a third already this year and are expected to go even higher.
But with the additional ruling by California’s legislature in 2010 that all eggs sold in California, whether raised in California or not, must meet Proposition 2’s requirements, pushback from Missouri’s Attorney General Chris Koster began in earnest in February when he challenged the law. The challenge rested primarily on claims that Proposition 2 violated the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which grants the national government the power “to regulate commerce … among the several states.”
As noted by the American Bar Association's Journal, the onerous...