Nevada lawmakers have fast-tracked a bill in response to the surge in egg prices caused by the international bird flu outbreak.

AB171 would allow the state to suspend requirements from a 2021 law, which mandated that all commercially produced eggs sold in Nevada come from cage-free environments in the event of a disease emergency or natural disaster that directly affects the egg supply. The suspensions could last for as long as 120 days, and the state could issue no more than two suspensions each calendar year.

The bill, which passed the Assembly and Senate unanimously this week, would also allow the suspension of other regulations related to the egg supply chain, including allowing the sale of Grade B eggs (a distinction from Grade A eggs that does not relate to consumer health) and streamlining processes to allow noncommercial producers to enter Nevada’s egg supply chain.

The spread of the bird flu has decimated egg production nationwide, as millions of birds are either dying on their own or being euthanized by farmers. In the fourth quarter of 2024, more than 20 million egg-laying birds died because of the disease, and there were about 369 million egg-laying birds as of January.

Nationwide, a dozen grade A eggs cost about $4.95 in January, an increase from the January 2024 price of about $2.52, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Egg prices increased by about 15 percent from December, the largest monthly increase in about a decade, the bureau said.

Rhetoric around the bill has turned political. Democratic legislative leaders said in a joint Tuesday statement that “[w]hile the new administration in Washington seems focused on everything but lowering costs for Nevada families, our goal at the Legislature is to provide some relief.”

Senate Minority Leader Robin Titus (R-Wellington) criticized Democrats’ victory lap, citing that the bill passed unanimously and rolled back parts of a 2021 bill that most Republicans voted against.

It’s the latest economic crutch for American consumers — but will this move by lawmakers actually lower egg prices in the Silver State?

Not a silver bullet

Officials said the bill should increase the state’s egg supply, which would lead to a price drop, but they emphasized it is not a “silver bullet” — such as the eradication of bird flu — especially given that there may be an increase in transportation costs if the state broadens its geographic range of suppliers.

“This is not going to overnight make prices get back down to normal,” Assm. Howard Watts (D-Las Vegas), one of the bill’s sponsors, said in an interview. 

In a bill presentation this week, Department of Agriculture Director J.J. Goicoechea also acknowledged that decreasing prices quickly is a tall order.

“I will not tell you that if this is passed next week and we suspend the rules, that in two weeks, you will see a drastic change, but we will see a slow change at the grocery store,” Goicoechea told legislators.

The goal instead is to ensure the state exhausts every opportunity to increase the egg supply. There is untapped potential in where Nevada receives its eggs, as about 60 percent of the nation’s egg-laying hens in December did not come from cage-free environments, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

"We want to make sure that we've got every tool in the toolbox … that when there is a kind of emergency situation like this, that all options are on the table to get eggs into the state,” Watts said.

Read More: What to know about Nevada’s evolving bird flu outbreak

Sourcing from more states

There are no commercial egg producers in Nevada, so the state relies on imports from other states, primarily California, Arizona and Colorado, Goicoechea told The Indy. All of these states have cage-free egg requirements.

States with cage-free egg requirements are mostly concentrated in the Western U.S. The bill could allow the state to tap more into states’ production, and Goicoechea said that the state would primarily look at producers from Iowa, Ohio and South Carolina.

However, tapping into egg production from Eastern states will come with higher transportation costs.

“If we can keep those transportation costs where we need them, we can see that dollar amount start coming down,” Goicoechea said.

Still, he emphasized to legislators that California’s egg prices are higher than in New York, which does not have a cage-free requirement.

“You’re gonna hear it maybe will not make a difference — it will,” he said.

Humane conditions for chickens

The legislation was opposed by several noncommercial egg producers in Nevada, who did not approve of exceptions being allowed to the state’s cage-free requirement.

However, the legislation has the support of the Humane Society of the United States, which backed the 2021 legislation —  which passed with almost all Republicans opposed. The Humane Society  was responsible for the amendment to this year’s bill that allowed the opening up of the state’s egg supply chain by including Grade B eggs and streamlining processes for noncommercial producers.

Rebecca Goff, the Humane Society’s Nevada state director, said that she does not know whether lifting the cage-free requirement will on its own decrease prices, but she hopes the bill will help.

“There's no guarantee that doing this, especially when we're looking at specifically just the cage-free aspect of it, is going to change pricing,” Goff said. “But I think the point of the amendment was just trying to give them as much flexibility as possible.”

She also acknowledged the animal welfare concerns from egg producers, but said the bill was necessary.

“I want to make sure that we're doing everything we can to still protect the animals while being sensitive to the time that we're in,” Goff said.