Legislative Update - Crossover Report 03.27.23

What is Crossover? Crossover literally describes a deadline, this year it was March 17th, by which a bill needs to pass through one chamber of the legislature to “cross over” to the other to have a chance to make it through the entire legislative process in the same year. That means two things: 1. That bill will have gone through three readings! 2. There’s an effort made and likelihood to pass these bills the same year. 

Three readings start with the bill introduction and referral to the committee of jurisdiction - first reading. In committee the bill subject is being discussed in hearings with various stakeholders. After editing the bill, often in multiple drafts with the help of legislative council, the committee will vote on the bill. If the bill is moved in favor it may be referred to another committee. Especially when there’s money involved, the appropriations committee will make recommendations on appropriating money from the State Treasury and the Ways and Means committee will make recommendations on measures to secure the revenue of the State. During the “second reading“ it's often those committees who present their recommendations through amendments to the version of the committee of origin to the “floor,” meaning all members of a chamber. After another day to digest the possibly amended version of the bill, a third reading gives the final yay or nay by the respective chamber. A bill is called “dead” when it didn’t move in favor, didn’t make crossover or didn’t pass in a session. A bill is not really “dead” oftentimes, for example: since the legislature meets in biennial sessions, technically bills can pass within two years when they are introduced in the first year. Also, often bills are part of national campaigns and are being reintroduced session after session. As such, the ag committees have been working (again) this year on the right-to-farm bill and the right-to-repair bill. In our “crossover” legislative update we focus on those bills that have been moving and relate to agriculture. We’ve included a couple updates on stranded efforts as well which are not comprehensive. 

We celebrate the good chance for the passage of H.205, which would establish a new Small Farmer Diversification and Transition Program. While this new funding will be important, it will ultimately only benefit about 25 farms - more systemic change in the programmatic landscape is needed to service thousands of farms that are bleeding in this economy.

Cannabis

Summary: Rural Vermont continues to work with other member based organizations of the VT Cannabis Equity Coalition (NOFA VT, VT Racial Justice Alliance, Vermont Growers’ Association, and the Green Mtn. Patients’ Alliance) to advance our goals related to a racially just, economically equitable, and agriculturally accessible cannabis economy in Vermont. There are multiple bills related to the regulated adult-use and medical cannabis market in VT this legislative session, we are currently most focused on 3 bills: H.270, H.426, S.127.  

Latest Change: H.270, miscellaneous cannabis bill, was voted out of the House on 3/28 with minor revisions.  On March 15th (beginning minute 38) a farmer / cultivator and members of our coalition were provided a short window in House Government Operations to speak to things currently in the bill - in particular the medical components and the propagation license.  It will be taken up by the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs on Thursday the 30th, this week. This bill is largely informed and led by the Cannabis Control Board (CCB), and is likely seen as “must pass” by the Board and some members of the legislature.  It is also a potential vehicle for our coalition’s proposals - our coalition and members have been told so by members of the CCB - despite pressure we face to limit our testimony which we reference here.  The most recent significant changes to the bill include:

  • Replacing the $10k gross income cap on the Tier 1 manufacturing license with a $50k cap.  This is not as high a cap as we advocated for - but is an improvement and one of our priorities.

  • A “Cannabis Propagation Cultivator” license ($550) of 3500 sq feet of canopy with sales of live plants limited to licensed cultivators.  A license which addresses the sale and growing of seed and live plants is one of our priorities - but this license does not allow sales to the general public which is of significant importance to the people we have talked to with interest in being a nursery.

  • Particular regulations related to accessibility and confidentiality in disciplinary measures

Status: H.270 passed the House 3/28; H. 426 and S.127 did not make crossover.

TAKE ACTION!  Policymakers in the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs in particular will need to hear from community members and stakeholders pressing them to take action this session on our priorities by including them in H.270 and by inviting impacted community members and advocacy organizations into the committee to represent themselves.  Your voice makes a difference to policymakers!  Actively harming farms’ and small businesses’ viability and accessibility right now is the lack of inclusion in H.270 of an improvement and extension of the exemptions provided to Tier 1 Outdoor Cultivators in Act 158 to all Tiers and types of Outdoor Cultivation license. These exemptions allow this scale of cultivation to be treated in the same manner as farming when it comes to development, municipal regulation, taxation and current use status.  Contact Graham@ruralvermont.org for more information.

More Info: see the 2/28/23 Legislative Update for a more comprehensive list of what’s in H.270

H.205 - An Act Relating to Establishing the Small Farmer Diversification and Transition Program

Summary:  This bill would create the new “Small Farm Diversification and Transition Program” within the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets. Grants would be used for (1) farm diversification, (2) transitioning farm type, (3) on-farm processing, or (4) add on-farm accessory businesses. Grants would be capped at 15K. In early discussions in the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency and Forestry, when former dairy farmer Rodney Graham first mentioned this idea, he named closing dairy farms as the motivation behind the bill that aims for easy access to grants that would help small farms specifically. Evaluation for grant applications will consider the potential to increase revenue for farmers. 

RV comment: This new funding will be important. Unfortunately, its scope will ultimately only benefit about 25 farms and more systemic change in the programmatic landscape is needed to service thousands of farms that are bleeding in this economy.

Latest Change: The House Committee on Appropriations is suggesting to increase the funding amount from $250K to $350K and for the Working Lands Enterprise Board to administer the program.

Status: House is coming back for third reading 3/29 at 1pm

More Info: on the bill website here; see also bill as considered by the House here (p. 27)

H.126 - An Act Relating to Community Resilience and Biodiversity Protection

Summary: This bill aims to mandate conservation goals for Vermont in alignment with federal and international “30 by 30” initiatives: to conserve 30% of Vermont by 2030, and 50% by 2050. Get more background info about this bill in our Legislative Update from 2.28.23 here.

Latest Change: Passed the House with an amendment from the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry that seeks to pair land access and keeping the working lands open with conservation goals by:

  1. Inclusion of the Vermont Forest Future Strategic Roadmap in the findings.

  2. Inclusion of a review of the conservation categories in the conservation plan that will be mandated to be developed by the Secretary of Natural Resources by December 31, 2024; and 

  3. for the conservation plan to inform a comprehensive strategy towards conserving agricultural land that would include recommendations to increase equitable access to protected and conserved lands and land-based enterprises as well as recommendations to increase funding in the working lands more broadly.

Status: Passed House 3/24 

More Info: on the bill website here. See the amendment of the House Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Markets in House Journal 03/23/23 p. 607 

H.472 - House Miscellaneous Agricultural Subjects

Summary: This bill makes many small technical changes to statutes related to agricultural fairs, meat processing, bees and apiaries, and agency regulation of nurseries and pests. Most of these changes are semantic or insignificant, but changes to apiary registration rules and the creation of a grant program for county fairs will be impactful. Below is a summary of the changes related to bees and apiaries – for a full summary of the bill, see the 3/13 Legislative Update.

Latest Change: No substantial changes have been made to the sections on bees and apiary regulations in the House miscellaneous ag bill since our 3/13 legislative update. Here’s a brief overview of those changes that stand out as being more impactful to beekeepers in the state: 

  • The annual report required by VAAFM will no longer need to include prospective changes to whether the location of an apiary will change in two weeks of report submission. It will now require reporting for bees, colonies and equipment that are just passing through the state.

  • Change to inspection of bees for sale: instead of requiring one summertime inspection, it would require inspection within 45 days prior to any sale. This will likely shift the inspection to a time just before the spring sales of bees, instead of in the annual cycle before the distribution of many hives. It also might require more inspections for those selling bees throughout the season.

  • Beekeepers near borders will likely need more import permits for moving apiaries in and out of state, see Section 14. Shall the bill pass the Senate as well, bees that are transported out of Vermont for less than 75 miles away for 30 days or less would require an import permit. Currently, those conditions are exempt from needing a permit. There is still no import permit required for bees just traveling through Vermont to another destination (though that information is now required on the annual report).

Status: Passed the House 3/28

More Info: Bill draft as passed by the House 3/28; track bill info

S.115 - Senate Miscellaneous Agricultural Subjects

Summary: It is still a new occurrence that the Senate launches their own “miscellaneous” agricultural bill, parallel to the House. S. 115 would clarify that VAAFM has the authority to quarantine dairy cows that are suspected of producing unsafe milk or other product; modernize requirements for labeling, sale and marketing of eggs; significantly increase the amount of penalties VAAFM may charge in enforcement actions and deals with the authority of municipalities for a farm’s stormwater management. Below is an update of the changes related to stormwater management – for a full summary of the bill, see the 3/13 Legislative Update.

Latest Change: The changes regarding stormwater regulation and water quality related to a municipalities authority to penalize stormwater management infractions. The  Senate’s draft bill version as recommended the Committee on Agriculture suggested that towns can manage stormwater, but only if “the municipality does not exceed [ANR’s] authority, maintains the exemptions in 10 V.S.A. § 1264(d)(1), and does not charge an operating fee related to exempt practices.” Goal was to ensure that towns cannot regulate or penalize farms in particular, which are exempt from storm water regulation. 

Many towns currently penalize farms for their stormwater management (which is based on impervious surfaces, which can be large for farms) and this change would protect those farms, leading to a decrease in revenue for some towns. For this reason, this change is contentious and still being debated. The Senate Committee on Finance is recommending an amendment to mandate a report on stormwater regulation and the potential impact of prohibiting municipalities from collecting fees from farms in accordance with RAPs. The suggested report would leave more discretion to the Commissioner of Environmental Conservation in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture. The Senate Finance amendment suggests that municipalities would no longer be able to assess a fee, rate, or other assessment to farms for stormwater runoff until the mandated report was submitted and the legislature had a chance to review the subject again during the 2024 legislative session. 

Status: Voted out of Senate Committee on Finance, Second reading ordered 3/29 at 1pm 

More Info: 

H.81 - Right to Repair

Summary: Reintroduced and granted a couple hearings was the right-to-repair bill, presented by a nationwide coalition as a recurring effort across 27 states. This bill raises the issue of a dealership of agricultural equipment having the right to computer parts and service materials needed to repair equipment. While Memorandums of Understandings in place with Dealerships have made improvements to farmers' right to repair according to the Farm Bureau, the bill aimed to advance the ability to buy parts and service materials (diagnostic tools etc.) to fix equipment DIY or through independent neighborhood mechanics. Opponents raised safety concerns and the fear of losing more dealerships for agricultural equipment. 

Status: this bill did not make crossover 

More Info: Proponents hearing 3/15, 10.45am HAG; Opponents hearing 3/16, 10am HAG

Summary: Right to Farm describes a farms’ protection from nuisance lawsuits when in compliance with existing regulations. 

Latest Change: See draft 4.1 here

Status: This bill had not been introduced yet, so the Committee on Agriculture considered this subject as a potential committee bill. A straw poll indicated opposition from Senator Campion; the committee did not take a vote on this bill in time for the crossover deadline. 

More Info: For a full summary of the bill, see the 3/13 Legislative Update.

H.368 - An Act Relating to Supporting New Farmers, Veteran Farmers, and Farmers who are Disadvantaged

Summary: The House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry members Heather Suprenant, Esme Cole and Josie Leavitt have been co-sponsoring this bill which charges the Vermont House and Conservation Board (VHCB) with supporting new, veteran, and disadvantaged farmers. The bill would expand VHCB’s formal duties to include “increasing financial and technical assistance” for those groups. There is no associated allocation or fund defined in the bill itself. The draft defines a disadvantaged farmer as someone “engaged in farming or proposing to engage in farming who is annually earning not more than the State median income level for the relevant household size.”

Latest Change: None

Status: The draft as introduced has not received updates or much discussion - this bill did not make the crossover deadline.

More Info: https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2024/H.368 

H. 165 - Universal School Meals

Summary: This bill extends the current COVID-reactive universal school meal policies by requiring all public schools in Vermont to make available school breakfast and lunch to all students at no charge in perpetuity. It also extends some support to public-tution students at some independent schools. The bill asks for $29M from the Education Fund to the Agency of Education for fiscal year 2024.

Latest Change:  After approval from Committees on Way and Means and Appropriations, a strike all amendment from the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency and Forests included definitions of universal meal supplements for breakfast and lunch, now ordering funds for the program through the Education fund - without spelling out the exact appropriation in the bill itself. The new version also includes small language tweaks to the existing local foods incentive grant.

Status: Passed by House

More Info: https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2024/H.165 

AG Relevant Budget Items

LAOB Funding Request

Summary: The Land Access and Opportunity Board is proposing in its sunrise report a funding request for the FY2024 of 1.2M to continue its work, and it is also advocating for the use of one-time funding to appropriate 3.8M to fund their work in a more sustainable way over the next three years (for a total of $4.8 million).

Latest Change: Members of the Land Access and Opportunity Board and allies continue to provide additional testimonials in support of the appropriations request. Last week, LAOB members spoke to both agricultural committees during Small Farm Action Day 

Status: as of 3/27 the 1.2M funding request was included in the FY24 budget as a one-time appropriation from the General Fund

More Info: Watch Jess Laporte (LAOB, Rights and Democracy) testify to HAG here & Kirsten Murphy (LAOB) testify to SAG during Small Farm Action Day here

Organic Dairy Relief - New Draft

Summary: Organic dairy farms are in a crisis -  to help carry Vermont’s organic dairies through the year, NOFA-VT has asked the state to provide funding to farmers who were shipping organic milk in 2022 to compensate for nightmarish economic circumstances. Asking that farmers be paid $5 for every hundred pounds of milk they shipped, NOFA-VT originally estimated this would cost about $9.2 million dollars. This request was met with enthusiasm but the House Ag Committee, and now the Senate Ag Committee is working to move quickly but thoroughly with it. 

Latest Change: After working with the Agency of Ag and NOFA-VT, better data on quantities of organic milk shipped in 2022 (the basis for the payments) determined that paying $5 per hundredweight shipped in 2022 would actually cost about $6.9M dollars. 

Status: A new bill draft was released last week by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, that would make those funds available to farms that were shipping organic milk in 2022 (and that are still dairy farms). 

This bill is likely to move quickly!

More Info: new bill draft here; follow the bill in SAG here

Working Lands Enterprise Fund

Summary: Earlier this year, the Working Lands Enterprise Fund (WLEF) celebrated 10 years of supporting Vermont’s Farm and Forestry Businesses. In the past decade, over $13.6 million in funding have been awarded in grants through WLEF and leveraged $22.5 million in matching funds. Money invested in a total of 418 projects that generated over $55M in sales one year after completing their grant project. While forestry projects make up a third of all projects, dairy and meat processing projects were most prominent among agricultural ones, followed by grant awards in produce farms and value-added products. 

Latest Change: The FY24 budget suggests an annual base funding from $594,000 to $1,000,000. Notably, this increase is still a display of an underfunded program given that Governor Scott, who is conservative in spending, proposed an increase to $4 million in funding for the program in fiscal year 2024 (see press release here). 

Status: As of 3/24, budget FY24 includes 1M in one-time funds from the General Fund (see here)

More Info: Check out the full Impact Report or two-page summary report detailing the past 10 years of WLEF!

Conservation Districts

Summary: The Conservation District desired to increase their baseline funding to 3M this year and the past year and testified early on to both agricultural committees. Conservation Districts function as an important local liaison between local stakeholders and government programs available to them. They are historically underfunded and last year the legislature increased their baseline funding from over an additional $250,000 for a total base appropriation of to total $362,000. This year's funding request would support the 14 District Managers and their Boards of Supervisors, training, community outreach and education, equipment and facility upgrades and additional capacity development. 

Status: The FY24 Budget includes a one-time appropriation from the general fund over 1M for the Conservation Districts

More Info: 3M Baseline funding request here

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