Legislative Update 04.10.23
After crossover, the agency of agriculture (VAAFM) makes promising attempts to double budget appropriations of the House to the full $14M as proposed by the Governor. The House Ag committee moved the Right to Repair bill to the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development with a chance to still pass this biennium - if not this session. The House also started to discuss new initiatives proposed by members of the ag committee, including H.274 related to ag and nutrition education and H. 368 related to supporting new, veteran and disadvantaged farmers. On the Senate side we’re excited to see potential progress on cannabis related to treating outdoor cultivation in the same manner as agriculture, and integrating Social Equity programs and funding. All the details and more below.
New Initiatives
Young farmers on the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency and Forestry (HAG) are showing initiative and keep introducing bills that address issues in agriculture that they want to work on - education and more specific support for farmers that are disadvantaged, veterans or new. As we explained in our crossover update - the VT legislature meets in biennial sessions, meaning for sessions over two subsequent years so that bills introduced in year one can still move and pass in year two.
Table of Contents
H. 274 - An Act Relating to Agriculture and Nutrition Education
H.205 - The Small Farmer Diversification and Transition Program
H.126 - Community Resilience and Biodiversity Protection, 30x30/ 50x50 bill
Miscellaneous Agriculture Bills
H.165 - Universal School Meals
H.274 - An Act Relating to Agriculture and Nutrition Education
Update: Introduced by lead sponsor Rep. Henry Pearl March 23rd to HAG. This bill aims to develop a statewide agriculture and nutrition education curriculum as well as to include the topics in education quality standards. Technically, H. 274 got introduced by being read for the first time on 2/16, but the HAG committee didn’t take this bill “off the wall” until the lead sponsor had a chance to introduce it 3/23 - which was after the crossover deadline on 3/17. After crossover, the committee picked up the bill and started to hear testimonials. Agency of Education staff questioned adding an additional layer of complexity to the system - especially without the appropriation needed. Similarly, the Vermont Curriculum Leaders Association (VCLA) was thanking the legislators for seeing this issue while also asking how it would be possible to add to the already overwhelmed system around curricula. Legislators asked for ways to include this type of education more in the system without adding stress or even disruption and VCLA staff suggested that real life experience through field trips, internships, partnerships, supplemental curricula, other opportunities for student engagement and more support for that would be an option. Interestingly, the committee learned that the bill would fall in line with Act 77 (2013) goals to personalize learning and could help to facilitate that.
More info: follow the bill status here; view testimony from VT FEED 4/6 here; testimony Woodstock Union HS/MS here; mtg w. Legislative council 3/30 here; hearing with Agency of Education here; bill introduction here; 4/5 VT Curriculum Leaders Association here
H. 368 - An Act Relating to Supporting New Farmers, Veteran Farmers, and Farmers who are Disadvantaged
Update: This bill seeks to address the increasingly dramatic amount of farmland that is up for sale and transition as farmers get older. In order to promote continued agricultural use of that land, Heather Suprenant and the rest of the House Ag Committee are looking for ways to support and encourage new farmers, and especially those who face additional social and economic challenges. There is an early draft which would do so by adding to the duties of the the Working Lands Enterprise Board the charge to “increasing financial and technical assistance for new farmers, veteran farmers, and disadvantaged farmers in order to expand opportunities for more persons to enter farming in the State,” and to “encourage and assist new farmers, veteran farmers, and farmers who are disadvantaged in the ownership and operation of farms in the State.” In this draft, a “disadvantaged farmer” is defined as a farmer or prospective farmer who earns “not more than the State median income level for the relevant household size” (which includes a lot of farmers!).
This bill still seems to be in its early stages, with much debate and various opinions about the impact that expanding the duties of the Working Lands board might have. There seems to be a shared interest in tending to farmland transition and supporting new farmers amongst the reps on the House Ag Committee, but not yet a shared strategy. At this point it is unclear to Rural Vermont how this initiative correlates to the efforts and mandate of the Land Access Opportunity Board which was established in 2022 and has the objective to advocate for and manage public and private funding to “support access to land, housing, opportunity and enterprise for individuals, families, and cooperatives from historically marginalized and disadvantaged Communities” and to “structure its investments [...] to build a future of food and land sovereignty.”
More info: Follow along with H.368 here & learn more about the objectives of the Land Access and Opportunity Board in the Budget update below and here.
-Surprises-
Legislators continue tinkering with the Right to Repair and the Right to Farm issue - both bills have seen some action after not making the crossover deadlines.
Right to Farm
Update: Each state has a “Right to Farm” law that offers some protection to farms doing regular farm things from nuisance lawsuits from neighbors – especially new neighbors – who may not like the smells or sounds of farming. Striking a balance can be tricky (Right to Farm laws have been used to both protect small farms from impractical lawsuits, and to provide immunity to CAFOs and other harmful mega-businesses) and the Senate Committee on Agriculture looked at making various adjustments to Vermont’s law before the crossover. After stalling due to a no vote from Senator Brian Campion, this bill has been stripped down to include just one of the many changes that its early drafts had proposed: the requirement of attempted mediation before suing farms. This latest draft 6.1 would require that any nuisance claim arising from agricultural activity be accompanied by a sworn statement that mediation was at least attempted, and mandates that the would-be plaintiff and defendant split mediation costs. Farmers and farm organizations who advocated for changes to Vermont’s law originally intended for a rewrite to better protect farms that go through farm succession, and other transitions that may uproot their previous nuisance protection. This interest was fired by concerns regarding the current provision that links the rebuttable presumption that an agricultural activity does not constitute a nuisance to meeting the condition that it is “established prior to surrounding nonagricultural activities.” This week, no meeting or vote on right to farm draft 6.1 was scheduled in the Senate Committee on Agriculture.
H.81 - Right to Repair
Update: Vermont is one of fifteen states currently working on legislation that would require farm and forestry equipment manufacturers to make it easier for equipment owners and repair shops to fix their equipment. In particular, this wave of legislation is targeting John Deere and other manufacturers’ habit of locking owners and independent mechanics out of the software that increasingly runs and diagnoses machinery, sometimes charging hundreds of dollars simply to enter a five digit code to gain access to it.
The current draft mandates that manufactures provide mechanics and owners with what they need to unlock and relock software in order to diagnose and repair equipment without charging more than what is “reasonably necessary,” or that would be prohibitive. This bill would make this requirement enforceable by civil action, but also makes clear that divulging trade secrets would not be required by this change.
On 4/6 H.81 moved out of the House Ag Committee with a 7-2 vote (with Republican Reps. Graham and Wilson voting “no”) and has moved to the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development.
More info: Follow along here, and learn more about the wider efforts for the right to repair farm equipment here
Other Updates
Cannabis
Update: Upon the introduction of H.270 - the “miscellaneous cannabis bill” - in the Senate Economic Development Committee, James Pepper (Cannabis Control Board, or CCB) made recommendations to the committee related to two of our coalition’s goals: extending the agriculture related exemptions from Tier 1 cannabis cultivators to all tiers of outdoor cannabis production, and funding the Cannabis Business Development Fund (which pays for the current social equity programming). This is a very positive shift from the CCB, and we are also seeing signs of interest and support in the Committee and from other lawmakers. Based on committee conversation the bill will be between the Senate Agriculture Committee, the Senate Economic Development Committee, and the Senate Appropriations Committee before it progresses to the Senate floor.
This week on Tuesday morning, the Senate Agriculture Committee took testimony on H.270 from the Cannabis Control Board, a tier 3 outdoor cannabis cultivator (former Senator John Rodgers), Vermont Growers’ Association (VGA), and Rural Vermont. Rural VT, VGA, and Senator Rodgers all affirmed in testimony our alignment in treating all tiers and types of outdoor cultivation in the same manner as agriculture. We also testified in relationship to the propagation license and conflicts with the federal hemp program. The Committee seems receptive to some of our recommendations at least, and will likely be taking testimony on the bill again this Friday, April 12.
On Wednesday April 12, Sen. Tanya Vihovsky introduced S.127 - an act relating to the creation of new types of cannabis establishment licenses and the provision of cannabis excise tax revenue to the Cannabis Business Development Fund, communities that have been disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition, and substance misuse treatment. This is a bill which our coalition helped to inform, and in her testimony Sen. Vihovsky suggested that particular aspects of it - including our recommendations related to both the Cannabis Business Development Fund and community reinvestment - could be lifted from this bill and integrated into H.270.
More info: Contact representatives on key committees this week! This is a unique opportunity for us to make progress - and the best opportunity we’ve had for your voice to make a difference on this issue this legislative session. Our Action Alert makes it easy for you to contact the representatives of these committees and create a customized message supporting our coalition’s different asks for H.270. Thank you for supporting this movement towards an equitable and accessible and agricultural cannabis economy!
Organic Dairy Relief
Update: In our crossover update we had shared that the Senate Committee on Agriculture had been working on a draft language to cover the corrected $6.9M in organic dairy relief urgently needed right now. Including such language will be part of the Senate Appropriation Committees discussion when they work on agriculture related budget items. Including the request in the budget is still what’s needed & the Senate Committee on Appropriations would benefit from hearing from your support for the organic dairy relief funding.
More info: contact info to Senators on Appropriations here; bill draft here (corrected link)
H.205 - The Small Farmer Diversification and Transition Program
Update: The bill relating to establishing the Small Farmer Diversification and Transition Program moved over to the Senate Committee on Agriculture in time who started to hear and learn about it on multiple occasions. In the meantime, Rural Vermont got inquiries from members about how the bill defines “small farm” and to whom this grant opportunity of up to 15K grants will apply. The intent of this legislation is to make it easy for any small farmer to apply and be eligible for this support and offers three definitions that apply alternatively: (A) someone who earns at least one half of a person's income farming; (B) someone engaged in “farming as defined in Act 250; (C) a small farm subject to the RAPs {note: which does not need to be a certified small farm}.
More info: follow along here; bill as introduced here; our 3/12 and 3/27 legislative updates.
H.126 - Community Resilience and Biodiversity Protection, 30x30/ 50x50 bill
Update: This bill passed the House with an amendment of the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry last week with an amendment that included a review of the conservation plan that the bill mandates to be developed by the Secretary of Natural Resources (deadline December 31, 2024) and for the plan to inform a comprehensive strategy towards conserving agricultural land that would “increase access to protected and conserved lands and land-based enterprises as well as recommendations to increase funding in the working lands more broadly.” The bill is currently in the Senate Committee on Natural Resources where they spend the whole day on hearings about this bill on the day of this update .
More info: find the recordings from the 4/13 hearings on H.126 on the committees YouTube page here
Miscellaneous Agriculture Bills
The two miscellaneous agriculture bills, S.115 and H.472, have each crossed chambers and are being discussed in the other respective Committees on Agriculture. Below we want to highlight two sections of the bills that have changed – for a full summary of the many issues touched upon, please see our 3/12 and 3/27 legislative updates.
Municipal Stormwater Management in S.115
When this bill left committee, the section on stormwater management prohibited municipalities from assessing stormwater fees on farms on the basis that the state currently handles agricultural stormwater, so farms in some towns are not being double-penalized. This change passed the Senate but only after adopting changes recommended by the Committee on Finance that mandates that the agencies of Natural Resources and Agriculture compile a report assessing the impact of making such a change. In the meantime, this latest draft does put a temporary halt on municipal stormwater fees for farms between 7/1/23 and 7/1/24, effectively staying true to the earlier drafts but with a plan for reassessment before making the change permanent.
Bees and Apiaries - H.472
April 5th testimony from the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets made clear that even the more substantive changes to the state’s bee and apiary legislation are only intended to bring the statute into alignment with existing agency practices and policy. For example, there is a change to require an inspection in the 45 days before selling bees instead of “at least once each summer season,” but the agency already requires an inspection within the 45 days prior to selling bees. Still, there is some ambiguity in the current law about whether import permits are needed when bees are brought into the state from within 75 miles away, and the proposed changes would close that loophole, adding the requirement (or, making clear the existing requirement…) that beekeepers register their bees when crossing state lines, even if they are not for sale and are not traveling more than 75 miles.
H.165 - Universal School Meals
Update: Universal School Meals made the crossover deadline and is currently in the Senate Committee on Education. The bill is on a good trajectory as the committee already had a walk-through from the legal council, and got the overview from the new Rep. Esme Cole from Hartford and heard from some parents and students as well. A possible vote is scheduled for later this week.
More info: look into the Senate Committee of Education agenda on their website for the next scheduled hearings and listen in on Friday, 4/13 for the possible vote at 2:45pm (the livelink to YouTube for that is in the agenda)
PFAS and Composting Food Scraps on Farms News
After numerous farms in Maine have been confronted with loads of PFAS contamination and continue to deal with the dire consequences of their livelihoods being disrupted in consequence - the Maine delegation is introducing a bill to support farmers affected by PFAS. The excess contamination levels originated in sludge that was spread as fertilizer. The bill would authorize grants to affected farmers, expand monitoring and testing, remediate PFAS, or even help farmers relocate.
Rural Vermont is involved to address some issues around PFAS through our work on the management of food waste with a goal of keeping plastics, including PFAS, out of waste streams by holding agencies accountable to requiring source separation and advocating for a precautionary approach. We most recently submitted comments as part of the Protect Our Soil Coalition to the Agency of Natural Resources draft policy on the matter. Key aspect of our recommendations is to define appropriate uses of the organic output from depackaging facilities which cannot include the land application on agricultural fields or use as gardening soil. Due to the mechanical separation of packaging and organics through depackaging, we believe there’s a greater likelihood for outputs to contain high levels of contamination. Research is on the way and a study on microplastics and PFAS in food packaging and food waste is mandated to be reported on to the legislature January 2024.
Attention: If you are a farmer or want your local farm to engage in community scale composting of food waste and want to work with the local community on getting clean loads and learning together about how to create valuable soil amendments, then VORS will interest you! The Vermont Organics and Recycling Summit (VORS) on May 2nd (1-2:30pm) will feature the first virtual presentation from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets with a status update on rulemaking endeavors about on-farm composting of food scraps. Register now and learn more about what rules and best practices in composting food scraps on farms will apply.
Read the 4/11 press release of Maine Congresswoman Pingree here.
Read the ANR draft policy for Source Separation of Food Residuals & Heavily Packaged Food here
Read the Protect Our Soils Coalitions comments to the ANR draft policy here
Register for the Vermont Organics Recycling Summit here
Budget Updates
Advocates that support the Land Access and Opportunity Board can sign-on here and share their testimonials. This advocacy aims to appropriate one-time funds to more sustainably fund important positions for the Board and to more effectively sustain the efforts to “support access to land, housing, opportunity and enterprise for individuals, families, and cooperatives from historically marginalized and disadvantaged Communities” and to “structure its investments [...] to build a future of food and land sovereignty.” Before crossover, the LAOB had requested the House to include their request for $4.8M in the budget to more sustainably fund their important work but they got sent over to the Senate with their baseline funding of $1.2M for the next year only.
Secretary Tebbetts and the Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets shepherd a juicy $14M package of appropriations proposed by the Governor to support working lands investment needs, with a focus on getting from $5 to 10M for meat and poultry, maple and produce sectors and increasing the Working Lands Program to $4M from the total $2M that were included in the House (correction from 3/27 update - there were 1M in one-time funds in addition to 1M in baseline funding included in the budget as passed by the House). Check-out this great overview about the planned Future of Agriculture Economic Development Grant Program and the impacts of the Working Lands Program. Especially the Working Lands funding has traditionally been oversubscribed and in great demand, so that the Secretary addressed the issue in a letter to the chairs of the Senate Agriculture and Appropriation committees as follows: “Without the ability to invest the requested appropriation in Vermont businesses, fewer working lands entrepreneurs will be equipped to grow their food, farming, forestry, or wood manufacturing ventures, and our working lands and rural communities will bear the consequences.[...]. The Governor’s proposed investments are critical to preserving our heritage and maintaining and growing a strong local food system. I understand the challenge of managing competing priorities, but respectfully ask you to consider the relative importance of Vermont agriculture and our working lands businesses, and to please restore the requested appropriations so we may help these diligent Vermonters shape our shared future.”