ROUNDUP BATTLE. As Gov. Brian Kemp mulls whether to wade into the fight over the popular weed killer Roundup, the company that makes the product is trying to go over his head.

Bayer, the German biotechnology giant, has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop lawsuits that accuse the company breaking various state laws by not warning people their product could cause cancer. Roundup contains glyphosate, which some studies have linked to cancer.

The federal government doesn’t require Bayer to warn people about that. That’s why the company says state laws can’t compel it to warn people, either.

At the same time, Bayer is trying to convince several states to shield them from these lawsuits. That includes Georgia. The Legislature approved Senate Bill 144 last month and delivered it to the governor earlier this week. Kemp has until May 14 to decide what to do about it.

The bill would shield Bayer from state lawsuits if it displays a label approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It contains an exception for companies that knowingly withhold information about health risks.

It’s an interesting decision for Kemp, who used his political might this year to pass legislation he said would limit civil lawsuits while preserving people’s access to the courts. The Roundup bill passed with bipartisan support in Georgia. Lawmakers worry that without it, Bayer could pull Roundup from the market, which they say would hurt the state’s crop yields.

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