State Sen. Tom Carlson of Holdrege, chairman of the Agriculture Committee, says the vote was a rebuke to the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) and similar animal rights groups.

“It tells them that they aren't welcome here, that they won't be successful here and that they will be defeated,” he says.

Legislative Bill 305 cleared the first of three rounds of approval on a 35-1 vote.

The measure that advanced was scaled back from its original form.

As introduced by Sen. Tyson Larson of O'Neill, the bill would have created a state meat inspection program, similar to programs in 27 other states. Larson introduced an amendment Wednesday to simply require a study of what would be needed to start a state program.

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