URGENT POST: Raw Milk Monday Continued...HB 4036 wants to make all raw milk ILLEGAL in Illinois

Now grab a big cup of coffee or raw milk or Pepsi or whatever YOU as an American choose to drink and settle in for some very disturbing raw milk updates. If you follow me on Facebook this post is both a recap of the events of the last 3 days as well as essential action steps needed RIGHT NOW.

When I last posted just 4 days ago I informed you of IDPH's back handed work with the proposed rules and regulations now making their way through that department. Less than 24 hours after that post I was informed by a Springfield contact, that House Representative Daniel Burke was sponsoring HB 4036 Amendment # 1 that would make all sales of raw milk in Illinois illegal.

This flies in opposition of what our own Molly Lamb of the Illinois Department of Public Health promised us, the members of the Dairy Work Group, which was that they never intended to make raw milk illegal, they just wanted to make it "safe." I'll come back to that point soon. 

Now look at that last paragraph. This is how raw milk dairies have been allowed to sell raw milk in Illinois. Let me point out the phrase "milk produced in accordance with Department rules and regulations".  Please remember the department they are referring to is the Illinois Department of Public Health who to this day does not yet have any rules related to raw milk production, they only have unenforceable policy, which is why they are fighting tooth and nail to get those rules passed that we objected to. (See my post on Monday)

But Representative Burke in his amendment altered that part of the bill so it looked like this:

The term "sell or distribute for use or consumption" means to sell or distribute to a person for human use or consumption and not for processing or resale in any form.
    The pasteurization requirement of this Section shall not be applicable to milk produced in accordance with Department rules and regulations if sold or distributed on the premises of the dairy farm.  

By eliminating the final sentence he and Representative Flowers would make ALL RAW MILK ILLEGAL IN ILLINOIS.

With just hours to spare, many of us who either produce or consume raw milk here got busy making phones calls and sending emails. We told folks to call Representatives Burke and Flowers, their own representatives as well, and we told them how to file an official slip opposition to the bill on Illinois General Assembly Web Page.

The response was immediate and amazing. I stayed up until midnight Tuesday eve just watching the opposition slips roll in. By 0750 the next morning there were 390 opposition slips to this bill and only 16 proponents to the bill. It is crucial to note three things.

1. Of all 16 proponents to HB4036 , 14 were representatives from various Public Health Departments in our state and only 2 were consumers.

2. Of the 390 who opposed HB4036 the large majority were consumers, the very same people that IDPH claims to be protecting, are clearly saying “we don’t want your protection, WE WANT RAW MILK.”

3. The third and most disturbing point to me as of this am is this. The official count of those opposing this bill via the filing of opposition slips has been decreased to 300! The "No Position" section has suddenly leapt to 42. Names listed here include individuals I know personally including a close relative who was extremely clear in his written explanation of why he opposed HB 4036 amendment #1. Why did his and 41 other opposition slips get moved to the "no position side" And where are the other missing 58 opposition slips?!?!

The number of slips on the other side also decreased marginally by 2.

You can see those specific Proponent/Opposition Slips HERE. I implore you if your name is listed incorrectly please contact the Legislative Information System who maintains these statistics at 217-782-2050

Which is what I just did. Very polite was my demeanor, because I am sure the woman who answered the phone is an employee and just a messenger. I explained my concern. At first she told me the numbers were different because the bill went through committee twice that day, one at 0800, and one at 3pm. But I clarified I was only comparing the 0800 numbers for the committee mtg on March 26. Then she told me it was probably just a "computer glitch"

I told her nicely it was an unacceptable excuse, a "glitch" that must be explained and corrected and asked her to take it to her supervisor which she promised to do and get back to me.

I wait with baited breath.

So how did that vote go? Sadly the Members of The Human Services Committee (composed of 9 Democrats and 6 Republicans) voted to pass the bill, with its amendment making raw milk illegal in Illinois.  9 Democrats for the bill to 6 Republicans opposed. Imagine that.

Now here is where I get back to public health as I promised in paragraph 4 above. We had to wonder how did this bill pass when so many folks registered their opposition PRIOR to the committee mtg. Well, I would venture that it had to do with the "FACT SHEET" complied by Northern Illinois Public Health Consortium, Inc.  which was circulated to the committee members. The fact sheet is a very tiresome repeat of old CDC statistics that suggest raw milk "May cause illness and possibly death"

I may fall down my basement steps, hit my head and die of a cerebral hemorrhage as well. Gonna ban my use of basement steps, Public Health?

But I regress, anyway... there are just 12 bullet points on this Fact Sheet and only 5 separate resources, barely enough to meet high school research paper standards. All of these same very broad raw milk statistics have been churned out over and over ad nauseum.

Consider this my challenge to you, Northern Illinois Public Health;  What if you shared the exact number of raw milk related illnesses resulting from milk produced by ILLINOIS raw milk farmers in the last decade in the 2 cities and 9 counties you currently serve? And what if you took the time and trouble as many of you were taught in your MHA and MBA classes to compare those statistics to the number of adults and children in those same areas who were ill/hospitalized/died after consuming tainted pasteurized milk as well as all other food borne illnesses? And, because I know you want to do your best at this task...what if you expanded your reference list a bit? Include the well-established Westin A Price Organization, perhaps.

Of course I have made several attempts to talk with Chrissy Carlson the Executive Director at Northern Illinois Public Health Consortium, Inc.  I'm sure she is busy but since their mission statement says that they are

Serving as a point of exchange for information, innovation, and collaboration in promoting health, preventing disease and protecting our communities.

I'm sure she'll get back to me soon. Unless she has been told like so many others in various other county health departments which my husband and I have been calling the last few days that they are to make "No Comment" Including public health departments SOUTH of I-80.

How is that for professional accountability?

So the Bill was reviewed again by the Human Services Committee at 3pm March 26, but strangely I cannot find the results of THAT meeting. You can see all the other bills discussed at that time HERE but no mention of HB 4036 Amendment #1. Another phone call to those who manage this website with no clear answers and a request that a supervisor return my call.

So where do we stand? In a thorny thicket that must be cut away.

Finally, if you are a customer of ours feel free to share these grim statistics. If raw milk sales are banned in Illinois our farm would (If we chose to follow the law) immediately lose 40-50% of its income. Not just in raw milk sales but in the other products we sell to customers (like beef, pork, chicken, eggs, and soap) who travel to our farm for their milk. Our farm has only been able to stay in the black financially because we sell a diversity of products. Take a major product away and all the other product sales will suffer as a result. Recovery would be time consuming, expensive.

Other small farms will have to shut their doors. Already one of the amazing raw milk farmers that worked with us on The Dairy Work Group informed me this week he is selling his herd. Just one of the many small dairy farm fatalities which would continue to occur should future draconian measures against raw milk in Illinois rear there Big-Dairy-Over-Involved-Public-Health-Fire-Breathing-Heads.

Final Note: I worked in healthcare as a nurse aide and then and RN for over 36 years, in two states and I NEVER ONCE cared for a patient who became ill as a direct result of raw milk consumption. I do not doubt that these illnesses exist but the risk is minimal and must be accurately reported.