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Colorado lawmakers reject attempt to roll back egg law

Cage-free chickens stand in a fenced pasture on the Francis Blake organic farm, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015, near Waukon, Iowa. On January 1, 2025, a new law went into effect in Colorado requiring that all eggs sold in the state come from cage-free chickens.
Charlie Neibergall/AP
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AP
Cage-free chickens stand in a fenced pasture on the Francis Blake organic farm, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015, near Waukon, Iowa. On January 1, 2025, a new law went into effect in Colorado requiring that all eggs sold in the state come from cage-free chickens.

Colorado lawmakers rejected an attempt Monday to roll back the state’s new cage-free eggs law.

Republicans behind the measure saw it as a way to slow soaring egg prices.

Bird flu is wiping out broods and driving up the cost of eggs at the supermarket nationwide. It's one of the most visible signs of inflation. The issue has spurred political fights from coast to coast.

But Republicans in the Colorado General Assembly have argued there's another factor in the state: requiring producers to keep chickens outside of cages makes it harder to isolate sick hens and increases producers’ costs. That rule went into effect on Jan. 1, and a priority for the GOP this year has been to reverse it.

So state Rep. Ryan Gonzalez, R-Fort Lupton, filed a measure, HB 25-1074, that would do away with the cage-free requirement.

"Chickens by nature flock together," he said at a hearing Monday on his proposal, "and in cage-free settings, this behavior increases the likelihood of disease transmission."

Colorado is one of at least 11 states that require large egg producers to be cage-free. Most of those states also require eggs sold at the supermarket to be farmed without cages — meaning grocers can't bring caged eggs from out of state, even if they're cheaper.

At a hearing, several people shared anecdotes of eggs being cheaper just over the state line.

That prompted an assortment of groups to get behind the Republican proposal. Notable among them were free-market advocates, leaders of the Libertarian Party of Colorado and the Weld County Commission. Weld County is the state’s biggest producer of eggs.

But a notable group stood against them — farmers and egg producers. They said they’ve already adjusted to the cage-free requirement, and it would be unfair to change the rules again so soon.

"If you look nationwide, you will see that egg prices are increasing everywhere," said Tyler Garrett, director of government relations for Rocky Mountain Farmers Union. "Reversing these requirements around cage-free eggs will not fix our egg price issue."

As for the lower prices at some supermarkets, egg producers and retail groups say that may just be gamesmanship.

Stores know egg prices are a big issue — economically, as well as politically. Offering a deal could simply be a good way to draw in customers.

Copyright 2025 KUNC

Chas joined WPLN in 2015 after eight years with The Tennessean, including more than five years as the newspaper's statehouse reporter.Chas has also covered communities, politics and business in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. Chas grew up in South Carolina and attended Columbia University in New York, where he studied economics and journalism. Outside of work, he's a dedicated distance runner, having completed a dozen marathons