(Radio Iowa) – A key member of the Iowa House backs a bill to prohibit lawsuits accusing pesticide companies of failing to warn the product could cause cancer, as long as the product’s label meets federal guidelines. The bill does not name glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup — but House Majority Leader Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican who farms near Wilton, suggests Bayer’s factory in Muscatine that makes Roundup could close if Iowa lawmakers don’t take action.

“I can tell you what will happen if we don’t get this bill done. What will happen is we’ll be buying glyphosate from China. We just got done seeing what China can do if they choose to squeeze us — whether it’s soybeans, whether it’s (computer) chips — China can put its grip around our throat and particularly around our farmers’ throats,” Kaufmann said during an interview with Radio Iowa. About 70 percent of the glyphosate sold in the North America is made at the Bayer plant in Muscatine.

“Do you want an Iowa company with all of the Iowa guardrails, with all of the Iowa accountability…making a product our farmers have to have,” Kaufmann asks, “or do you trust China?” Kaufmann says while Bayer’s Muscatine plant is just outside of his House district, he represents many of the 400 people who work there. “It’s 15 miles from me,” Kaufmann said. “It’s five miles from my district.”

The Iowa Senate narrowly approved this bill this past May, but it did not come up for a vote in the House. Kaufmann isn’t guaranteeing a vote in the House next year. Kaufmann says he’ll talk with House Republicans to see if there are the 51 votes necessary to pass the bill in 2026 — and he knows there are some House Republicans who are strongly against it. “Some of my closest friends are not for that bill in my (House Republican) caucus and their views are based on real stories and heart-tug stories,” Kaufmann said, “and their views are very, very valid.”

Opponents of the bill say it prioritizes profits over the health and lives of Iowans who’ve been affected by RoundUp and some accuse the company of covering up information about the product’s harmful effects. Tens of thousands of lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. with claims that the weedkiller causes cancer. Bayer has spent over 10 BILLION dollars on litigation and jury awards to plaintiffs. New laws in North Dakota and Georgia give Bayer new liability protection from lawsuits over product labeling and Iowa’s governor has signaled she would support of a similar law here.