Doyle Vetoes Raw Milk Bill, Rep. Danou Says Corporate Interests Won

Citing concern for public health and the state's dairy industry, Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed a bill Wednesday that would have regulated the sale of unpasteurized milk.

State Rep. Chris Danou, one of the bill's cosponsors, said he was disappointed and blamed a "well coordinated insider campaign against the bill."

Danou, a first-term Democrat from Trempealeau, said despite bi-partisan support for the bill, which would have allowed on-farm sales of raw dairy products until 2012, corporate interests won out. He vowed to introduce the bill again next year.

"What's frustrating to me is the will of the people is so clearly ignored," Danou said, noting that of nearly 700 people who turned out for a March hearing in Eau Claire, only a few dozen opposed the bill. "The real issue was the economics for a lot of the corporate ag groups… The middle men didn't like it."

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