Governor Martin O’Malley may have threatened to veto it.
But a state Senate committee took up the 5-cent chicken tax proposal yesterday where only a handful of people testified against it.
The Salisbury Daily Times reports that they included representatives from the Maryland Farm Bureau and Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc.
The chicken tax money would go toward efforts to restore the bay.
Bill Satterfield executive director for Delmarva Poultry Industry told the committee that while chicken companies owned the chickens they are not responsible for the manure those chickens produce during their growth.
The legislation would have required poultry companies such as Perdue Farms Inc. to pay a 5 cent tax on all chickens that are delivered to growers in Maryland.
