Not long ago, Americans could say with certainty that you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. But times have changed.

These days, you can’t make an omelet without breaking into junior’s college fund or taking out a payday loan. At the rate the price of eggs has been rising, this year’s Easter egg hunt will have a Hunger Games theme.

I don’t blame you for being frustrated and a little confused considering all the politicization of this poultry pandemic. Depending on your news source, skyrocketing egg prices are being caused by an outbreak of bird flu, transgender athletes or something on Hunter Biden’s laptop.

Those looking for leadership from the White House, now known as the Doge’s Palace, will be left a little eggsasperated by the all too familiar finger-pointing of President Donald Trump. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump was a certified eggo-maniac. He blamed the emergency not on the spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus, which has led to the culling of more than 20 million laying hens, mass shortages and higher prices, but on the Biden administration.

The prevaricator-in-chief continues to dissemble about his failure to “immediately bring prices down, starting on day one.”

Meanwhile, in Nevada, egg prices continue to confound consumers. After gaveling into session, the state Legislature — a group with its own history of confounding consumers — is trying to do something about it.

Call it one-part enlightened lawmaking, one-part political no-brainer, but lawmakers managed to do something refreshing this past week. They moved with uncommon alacrity to address the state’s ongoing egg shortage by whisking AB171 through the Assembly and Senate in Carson City.

The bill enables the state to temporarily suspend the legal requirement that all commercially produced eggs come from cage-free sources. The legislation also allows the sale of safe but cosmetically inferior Grade B eggs, and opens the hen house for noncommercial egg producers to sell commercially.

Those accustomed to sniffing at flawless eggs displayed in the carton like diamonds in a jewelry store window might be disappointed, but we’re not talking about a dirty dozen here. Even if they’re differently colored, they’ll remain safe and nutritious. When it comes to the staple of the American breakfast, I suspect most people will appreciate this DEI rule.

The bill passed unanimously in both houses, but is it time to celebrate a new state hollandaise?

Not exactly. 

Although AB171 was assured to produce a quick round of high-fives in halls of the Legislature, there’s obviously no guarantee that a dozen of your favorite extra-large, organic, free-range scramblers will soon plummet in price at the checkout stand. But in an emergency, it’s refreshing to see the partisan flock of lawmakers moving in unison instead of wasting time clucking and pecking.

I watched the Assembly Natural Resources Committee work session late Monday afternoon with a blend of interest and amusement. Nevada isn’t considered a commercial egg producer. It relies on other Western states for its supplies, and all of them have been hit hard by the bird flu. But Nevada’s scattered production, such as it is, assumes an outsized importance at a time like this. Enter AB171.

Director of the state Department of Agriculture Dr. J.J. Goicoechea capsulated the sweeping devastation of the nation’s commercial egg producers, citing millions of birds lost to the flu and to culling meant to slow the spread of the disease.

“There is a population we can source in a time of emergency, and that is all we are asking for, and that is all we worked with Assemblymember (Howard) Watts on,” Goicoechea said, also acknowledging the contribution of the Nevada office of the Humane Society of the United States, which offered its own friendly amendment. “They actually had the foresight to give us more flexibility on other sources for other types of eggs that we could be bringing to the market. So, this has really been a unified front.”

With the “supply crunch” hitting states across the nation, natural resources committee member Assm. Howard Watts (D-Las Vegas) said, the bill at least “expands the tool box that is available to help address this issue.”

Former legislator-turned-lobbyist Warren Hardy represented the humane society and noted another of its contributions, something sure to either comfort or infuriate consumers.

“One of the things that confuses us a little bit at the humane society, and confuses me in general, is why at one location eggs are $6 a dozen and at another location they’re $16.95 a dozen,” Hardy said.

As part of the bill, an effort will be made, he said, “to provide a report on the potential causes of those egg price discrepancies.”

When the report is ready, someone should send it to the Doge’s Palace.

John L. Smith is an author and longtime columnist. He was born in Henderson and his family’s Nevada roots go back to 1881. His stories have appeared in New Lines, Time, Readers Digest, Rolling Stone, The Daily Beast, Reuters and Desert Companion, among others.