Posts tagged healthcare
Legislative Update 04.24.23

This year's legislative session is nearing completion with the second week of May marking the current target to adjourn. In this week's update, we focus on bills that intersect with agriculture that we haven’t written about much before, namely the childcare and paid leave bill. We’re also including a head’s up about more new legislation that got some initial attention prior to the 2024 session. Most importantly, there’s a few updates that come with a last minute action alert. Stay tuned for the full end-of-session update with a comprehensive overview coming up soon!

Intersectional Highlights

Access to physical and mental health care and child care are directly connected to farm viability and quality of life. Rural Vermont recognizes that our advocacy to advance and the viability and diversity of and on farms intersects with the ability of those working on farms to meet their basic needs. That also includes all the issues around housing so that we use the opportunity here to share info about an open comment period to the Housing and Urban Development plan that guides relevant decision making in that realm. 

S. 56 - Childcare Bill

Update: This bill aims to increase access and quality of child care services. It creates a study committee to undertake a stakeholder engagement process and to make recommendations on how to expand prekindergarten education. It aims to increase funds and simplify applications to Child Care Financial Assistance Programs and also establishes noncitizen assistance as part of the program to provide subsidies for children otherwise not eligible due to citizenship status. Furthermore it would codify a parental leave benefit program for a maximum period of 12 weeks per family during the year following birth or adoption. The 12 weeks worth of benefits may be shared between two parents or used by one parent in full.  

S. 56 passed the Senate and just passed the House Committee on Education 4/26 with some amendments. Next station for this bill is the House Ways and Means Committee.

More info: House Committee on Education amendments draft 2.1 here; bill website here; contact representatives that now work on the bill in House Ways and Means here.

H. 66 - Paid family and Medical Leave Bill - Action Alert!

Update: This legislation promises support for tens of thousands of family caregivers that help their parents, spouses, and other loved ones at home by allowing them to continue to earn their pay as employees while taking time away from work to provide that care. While the final details are still being worked out in committee, the House’s proposal suggested funding through a payroll tax of .55% paid at least in half by employers. This would also affect anyone self-employed. The total benefit amount would depend on the length of the leave and the individual's pay rate. The bill capped the pay at the state weekly average wage of about $1,100. Please do reach out to caroline@ruralvermont.org with your thoughts and comments on this legislation.  

More info: Take Action here; bill website here

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Consolidated Plan - Action Alert!

Update: Not a piece of legislation but an important baseline for various decisions around spendings from the federal CARES Act to increase the supply and quality of affordable housing is the so-called Consolidated Plan. The 5-year strategic plan is being realized through Annual Action Plans that describe one-year goals and programmatic changes. We recognize that farms have various kinds of housing and land access issues and highlight that the plan mentions the need for greater availability of housing units affordable for farm workers as an underserved need and a priority housing goal (see p. 112 & 179 of the plan). Speak up and provide public comment in support of the farm housing repair grant program at UVM and Champlain Housing Trust and for funds to be leveraged to improve housing on farms.

More info: official website here. Take Action! The Annual HUD Action Plan is open for comments by Wednesday, May 3, 2023, email your comments to arthur.hamlin@vermont.gov  

New Initiatives

H.128 - Reducing Act 250 Barriers for Farm and Forestry Businesses

Update: An initiative representatives started to learn about in preview of the 2024 session is H.128, An act relating to removing regulatory barriers for working lands businesses. This bill seeks to amend Act 250 definitions around Accessory on Farm Businesses as well as relating to the development of forestry businesses. The purpose of this initiative from the rural caucus is to allow working lands businesses to grow vs costing them a lot of time and money with Act 250 permitting. This would benefit for example small sawmills that currently aren’t Act 250 exempt like logging businesses. Similarly, farming is Act 250 exempt but accessory on farm businesses are not - this bill seeks to change that. 

More info: bill website  

Soil Health Restoration Act Rewrite

Update: The Conservation Districts keep making strides in modernizing their institution with both, increasing their funding as well as planning to take a deep dive into their enabling legislation in the second half of this biennium. Conservation Districts work with landowners to implement conservation projects in various ways. Currently, the one-time funding of $1M included in the House FY24 Budget would cover core services, specialist training, outreach, compensation for boards of supervisors, equipment and facility upgrades as well as leadership and capacity development. 

Good to know! The current enabling statute allows conservation districts to adopt rules governing the use of lands within their district in the interest of conserving soil, controlling soil and stream bank erosion, and promoting conservation of natural resources and drainage. The antiquated provision hasn’t been acted upon in a long time (ever?) but it theoretically allows for hyper local soil health grassroots policy initiatives to petition their district's board of supervisors. 

More info: Recent letter to Senate Approps here; Read the Soil Conservation Act here; Find your Conservation Districts contact info here

Updates

Cannabis

Update:  We had some very positive amendments to H.270 drafted in the Senate Agriculture Committee over the past 2 weeks.  The Committee, with the support of our coalition and Legislative Council, did our best to craft language which would have outdoor cannabis cultivators and cultivation treated in the same manner as agriculture in VT, including: taxation status, value use appraisal qualification (“current use”), exemption from municipal governance, exemption from Act 250 oversight, and provision of the nuisance protections included in the “Right to Farm” statute.  

These amendments were considered in the Senate Economic Development Committee, and Rural VT and the Green Mtn. Patients’ Alliance were able to provide testimony on these amendments and additional changes we seek, on Wednesday, April 26th (our testimony begins at approximately 1:03 into the recording).  Additional proposed amendments were also heard from the Cannabis Control Board and the Senate Health and Welfare Committee.

Unfortunately, the Committee was largely unwilling to address our other concerns and proposed amendments, with a couple caveats.  

  • Social Equity: They have not included language inclusive of long term funding from the excise tax, or otherwise, for the Cannabis Development Fund (serving Social Equity Licensees) - but have included a one-time appropriation to replenish the fund.  We heard from Brynn Hare (CCB) in her testimony that there was a greater need for funding in this first year than the program could afford to support.  More concerning, there continues to be no money or resources from the regulated cannabis economy going towards reinvestment and repair in communities which have been disproportionately harmed by the criminalization of cannabis.    The only potential silver lining here is that although Vice Chair Clarkson was unwilling to consider our proposal given her understanding of this as a “housekeeping bill”, she insisted that this was important and that it would be addressed next session, in the second half of the biennium.

  • Propagation License: The Committee, after hearing opposition from the CCB, was unwilling to support our expansion of the allowance of direct sales of seed to the public, to include the direct sale of immature plants (“starts”) as well.  It was likewise unwilling to consider our recommendations that smaller scales of cultivators be provided this allowance without an additional license.  The CCB’s stance on this is disappointing and their continued efforts to further centralize access for the public to retail licensees under the name of control is in direct opposition to principles and outcomes of market equity and decentralization of power, genetics, and wealth generation.

  • Medical: The Committee was not conclusive on its stance in relationship to our medical proposals. We expect to learn more soon - though we are not very hopeful given the significant bias this plant and people who seek to use it medically continue to receive from many policymakers.

  • Equitable Consumption:  We were able to provide some education to committee members with respect to the extreme limitations on legal places for people to actually consume cannabis - and how this is largely dependent upon one’s social economic status and ability to own one’s own home or property.  However, the committee deferred taking action this year.

    H.270 will be in Sen. Economic Development throughout this week, and potentially voted out before the end of the week.  There have been some concerns expressed in relationship to the agricultural exemptions, and though it appears they will likely make it out of Senate Economic Development intact, they will face the threat of removal or compromise in the Senate Finance Committee (where the bill heads next) based on some of the concerns expressed by Sen. Ann Cummings, who Chairs Senate Finance, in the Economic Development Committee.  Rural Vermont will be providing testimony in the House Agriculture Committee on H.270 this Friday April 28th by invitation, and our coalition has also submitted our names for testimony once the bill reaches the Senate Finance Committee.  Depending on the level of disagreement in committee about the bill, it may or may not continue on to other committees - such as Sen. Government Operations.

  • More Info: This continues to be an important time to reach out to the your representatives about this issue, and about this bill.  You can also direct your attention to members of the Senate Finance Committee, and the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs.

H.205 - Small Farmer Diversification and Transition Program

Update: This bill aims to support small producers to transition and diversify their operation. The test-run for this new program was equipped with a lowered appropriation in one-time funds of $350K by the House which would allow approx. 22 farms to access the grants capped at 15K.  While the goal of the legislation is to offer aid to small farms with low bureaucratic entry barriers, competitiveness and oversubscription will remain issues in accessing these funds. 

The Senate Committee on Agriculture rewrote the bill that is currently waiting for consideration by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The unanimous vote in favor of draft 5.1 from 4/13 suggests to couch the new program within the supervision of the Working Lands Enterprise Board instead of within the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets. The Senate Committee on Agriculture also added more specific criteria to grant applications for advancing accessory on farm businesses, farm stands or farm stores - 50% of the annual sales from these business venues need to be from farm products. Presumably, such requirements add entry barriers to develop such venues though adding bureaucratic burdens that would need to be provided in some form of record for related applications. Furthermore the new draft simplifies the definition of “small farmer” to refer to any small farm that’s subject to the Required Agricultural Practices. 

More info: Draft 5.1 from 4/13; VT Digger Article 4/23

H.81 - Right to Repair - Action Alert!

Update: Right to Repair has moved from House Agriculture to the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development where it is being discussed several times this week with a possible vote on the agenda for Friday before noon (right after the floor session of the morning). Would your farm benefit from easier access to the tools needed for equipment owners and repair shops to fix their agricultural equipment? Let the committee know that you are in favor of moving this bill forward!

More info: committee agenda and youtube link here; contact info of committee members here

H.126 - Community Resilience and Biodiversity Protection

Update: The Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy favored an amendment to the bill that, among other things, would specify further what the House included in the bill in terms of reviewing the conservation categories and how they apply to agriculture. Specifically, types of agricultural lands that will qualify as supporting and restoring biodiversity should count towards the natural resource management area category. They also included an appropriation of $150K for the development of the related statewide conservation plan. The bill is now in the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

More info: SNR draft here

H.165 - Universal School Meals

Update: the bill has been moved to Senate Appropriations over a week ago where it's been stuck in the pipeline for consideration. Stay tuned on the committee website for next week's agenda when this should be up.

More info: committee website here

Rural Vermontcannabis, healthcare
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

Rural Vermontcannabis, healthcare, Dairy, URL
Legislative Update 03.13.23

Note that this update is not a comprehensive list of all of the bills or work we are tracking.  This reflects movement on issues and bills since our last legislative update (02.28.23) which you can see here.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LAOB Sunrise Report & Legislative Asks

S.56 - Childcare

H.368 - An act relating to supporting new farmers, veteran farmers, and farmers who are disadvantaged

23-0138 - “Right to Farm” Update

Cannabis Update

Universal School Meals Update

23-0761 - House Miscellaneous Ag Bill

S.115 Senate Miscellaneous Ag Bill

LAOB Sunrise Report & Legislative Asks

In the last couple weeks of February, the Land Access and Opportunity Board (LAOB) released its Sunrise Report.  You can see a presentation about the report and board to the House Committee on General and Housing from February 28th, here.  As summarized on its website, “the Land Access and Opportunity Board was created under Section 22 of Act 182 of 2022 to engage with Vermont organizations working on housing equity and land access "to recommend new opportunities and improve access to woodlands, farmland, and land and home ownership for Vermonters from historically marginalized or disadvantaged communities who continue to face barriers to land and home ownership."”  It is an independent Board made up of BIPOC community leaders and is currently housed within the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB).  

Rural Vermont supports the recommendations of the report - as well as the organizing effort led by Seeding Power Vermont (the organization leading the original effort which led to the creation of the Board) to increase the requested appropriation of $1.2 million to fund the Board to continue its work for one year, to $4.8 million to fund the work of the Board for 4 years.

S.56 - Childcare

S.56 - Childcare: We recently co-facilitated a workshop / listening session about childcare in the agricultural community at the NOFA VT winter conference.  We did this alongside national childcare and ag researcher Florence Becot, and Suzanne Graham of Let’s Grow Kids (LGK) - and heard from approximately 20 people in the room about their experiences, challenges, and what they’d like to see change related to childcare in Vermont..

At the moment there is a piece of legislation, S.56, which proposes investing significantly more money into VT’s childcare sector.  We rely on local and national advocates and researchers, as well as our community members, to help inform us on the needs of our communities - Let’s Grow Kids! is one of those local resources.  Here’s a link to more information about the bill from Let’s Grow Kids - as well as a recent update from VT Digger.  This is also a list of improvements that Let’s Grow Kids is advocating for in relationship to the bill.  LGK anticipates S.56 will pass out of Senate Health & Welfare by the end of this week, and will go next to Senate Finance & Appropriations Committees for further deliberation; then to the Senate floor and on to the House by the end of March.

Please be in touch with Graham@ruralvermont.org if you would like to share your thoughts on this legislation, your interest in providing testimony on childcare, or simply to talk about your experiences with childcare in VT as a member of the agricultural community.

H.368 - An act relating to supporting new farmers, veteran farmers, and farmers who are disadvantaged

H.368: House Ag Committee members Heather Suprenaut, Esme Cole and Josie Leavitt are 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.”

The draft was just introduced to committee on 2/24, so check back for updates or follow along on the statehouse website as conversation and testimony begin.

23-0138 - “Right to Farm” Update

23 - 0138: Each state’s “right to farm” law is a protection for farms against nuisance lawsuits. The idea is that farming can be smelly and loud, but that doesn’t mean anyone who moves near a town should be able to sue a farm that’s not harming anybody. Different state’s right to farm laws have different amounts of strictness, or protection for farmers.  Last year, Vermont’s right to farm  law had been worked on as well, which resulted in the successful expansion of the lists of activities that are now encompassed under the nuisance protection. This year, the Farm Bureau, the Vermont Dairy Producers Alliance and supporting farms have requested changes that expand protection for farms, including new, expanding, and transitioning farms.

It is indeed important to protect farms from unreasonable nuisance complaints and Rural Vermont believes the existing law is adequate, and that the suggested changes are potentially harmful.  Rural Vermont has received clear feedback from our national allies in the National Family Farm Coalition that many expanded “Right to Farm” laws have been used to effectively displace and disadvantage small farms, and to prevent communities from defending themselves and their lands and waters in states such as Missouri, North Carolina, and more.  

Importantly, the bill would remove an exemption which states that farms are not protected from lawsuit if “the activity has a substantial adverse effect on health, safety, or welfare, or has a noxious and significant interference with the use and enjoyment of the neighboring property.” (12 V.S.A. § 5753). The draft also removes language stating that the legal protection shall not “be construed to limit the authority of State or local boards of health to abate nuisances affecting the public health” (12 V.S.A. § 5753). This change also removes a requirement that the practice has been in place for at least a year, and potentially expands protections to practices like biogas digestion. By removing these clauses the new Right to Farm bill would make pressing charges against a farm much harder. 

This change requires an attempt at mediation between plaintiffs and farms before a legal action can be pursued, though this mediation would not extend the 1 year deadline for the plaintiff to file suit. And farms are, importantly, still required to be compliant with the state’s Required Agricultural Practices (RAPs) and Rule of Control of Pesticides, but the latest changes place the burden of proof of non compliance on the plaintiff themselves.

There are even more changes and details in this bill. For more info and up-to-date drafts and testimonies of the bill, you can follow it here.

Cannabis Update

S.71 and H.270:  An act relating to miscellaneous amendments to the adult-use and medical cannabis programs.

H.426:  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

One of the bills we worked to inform prior to the session - H.426 - is now numbered and on the wall in House Government Operations; and we anticipate its companion bill to emerge in Senate Government Operations soon.  We do not support all provisions of H.426 (such as the “social equity delivery license”), some ideas we have brought to the table are not reflected in the bill as we suggested they be authored (such as the direct sales allowances), and some ideas and language we brought were simply not included in the bill (such as scaled direct sales allowances for sales of immature plants and seeds by cultivators to the general public).

Our coalition colleague Geoffrey Pizzutillo of the Vermont Growers’ Association testified to the House Gov. Operations committee on H.270 on February 28th - during which he brought the committee through our coalition’s top 10 priorities and presenced H.426 on the committee’s wall (meaning it is waiting to be addressed by the committee). We have since been told by the Chair of the committee that he does not want to include new subjects in H.270 at this point so close to crossover - but he has also told us that he is committed to having more and broader testimony after crossover when other cannabis related bills come to this committee. For this reason, on Wednesday March 15th, our coalition will also have 2 medical advocates and stakeholders representing the Green Mtn Patients’ Alliance as well as two licensed cultivators providing testimony to the committee on H.270 focusing on the medical provisions as well as the “propagation license” (which currently only allows a propagator to sell immature plants to cultivators - and not to the general public or other licensees).

At this time and going forward, we will need support from the broader community in contacting your representatives, and members of the House and Senate Government Operations Committees, voicing your support for our coalition and its policy priorities.  We may be able to improve H.270 to some extent this week (in particular the medical and propagation aspects), and then in the Senate - but we are hoping that the other bill we worked on prior to the session will be numbered and taken up for discussion soon, such that we can have the opportunity to address more fundamental barriers and inequities in this newly regulated economy.

Universal School Meals Update

H.165 - An act relating to school food programs and universal school meals

Referred to Ways and Means

Rep. Erin Brady w/ Rep. Jana Brown, Rep. Esme Cole & Rep. Josie Leavitt

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.

23-0761 - House Miscellaneous Ag Bill

23-0761

Fair and Field Days Support

The first part of the House’s miscellaneous ag bill states support for Vermont’s various fairs and field days events, and seeks to support them with grant funding. It establishes a new grant program in the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) to fund the associations that host fairs and field days. The size of this fund is as yet unknown.

Meat Processing License Fees

There is a semantic change from “meat cutting operations” to “meat processing operations” in existing statutes that determine things like vendor fees collected by VAAFM.

Livestock Brands

There is a set of laws in the current statute that determines the rules and regulations around branding livestock - it determines the rules for registering unique brands, etc. This change repeals and removes that chapter of the law because the practice is extinct.

Bees & Apiaries 

There are many existing laws that require the registration, reporting and potential inspection of beehives in the state in order to decrease harm done by pests and diseases. There are many proposed changes to that statute (6 V.S.A. § 3023), most of which are small and semantical, but some of which will impact anyone in the state with bees, be they a small backyard colony or a large honey business.

The annual report required by VAAFM will no longer need to include whether the location of an apiary will change into two weeks of report submission. But it now requires reporting for bees that are just passing through the state as well (colonies and equipment that started outside of Vermont and are designed for another place outside of Vermont).

There is also a change in the cadence of inspections for those selling bees: instead of requiring one summertime inspection, it would require inspection within 45 days prior to any sale. This likely shifts the inspection time to just before the springtime sale 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.

There are currently rules requiring a permit to import bees. Three of the exceptions to this rule are proposed to be removed, which would require more import permits. Those exceptions which would no longer be considered exceptions to having to file an import permit are for bees that are  transported out of Vermont for less than 75 miles away for 30 days or less. With this bill, an import permit would be required even if those conditions are met. 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).

Soil Amendments

The definition of “soil amendments” is being expanded to include additives to hydroponic (soil-less) systems, which will expand VAAFM authority for that type of growing.

Nurseries & Pest Survey and Detection 

The state and VAAFM’s definition of “nursery dealer” is proposed to be expanded to those who install (plant) nursery stock for commercial gain (in addition to those who sell or distribute for commercial gain). This supposedly would expand authority of nursery regulations (6 V.S.A. § Chapter 206) to folks like gardeners and landscapers who are paid to plant trees, shrubs or almost anything plant-y other than seeds.

This also tweaks the procedure for when VAAFM orders for plants to be destroyed in a way that will apparently have little impact.

Lastly, there is a proposed chance to remove a clause about compensation for destruction, removing the agency's responsibility to reimburse for trees or plants that are ordered to be destroyed due to infestation.

S.115 Senate Miscellaneous Ag Bill

S.115

Dairy Quarantine

The change expands the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets’ (VAAFM) ability to quarantine livestock  to include dairy cows suspected of producing contaminated or unsafe milk. This was written with potential contamination from drugs and antibiotics in mind.

Eggs Law Update

Most of the the state’s egg laws haven’t been updated since 1973, and these changes would “modernize” them, bringing egg laws on par with many other food regulation statutes. This includes disallowing the sale or donation of adulterated eggs. “Modernization” also includes updating language about how penalties are handled by VAAFM with farmers, but that language change should have little impact on farmers or hen raisers. 

The proposed changes also raise the maximum penalties that VAAFM might assess for violations. It has been over 30 years since the original maximums were changed, and these changes largely restate the maximums given the decades of inflation since.

VAAFM Enforcement

This bill would increase the maximum penalty that VAAFM can assess for a violation from $1k to $5k, and increases the total maximum fees for recurring and multiple violations from $25k to $50k.

Water Quality

These changes slightly curtail municipal authority to penalize stormwater management infractions. It adds 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.” This makes sure 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.

Rural Vermontcannabis, healthcare, Dairy
Universal Primary Care Bill Introduced

A new House Bill was introduced by Brian Cina, the act relating to incremental implementation of Green Mountain Care: This bill proposes to:

  • implement Green Mountain Care, a publicly financed health care program for all Vermont residents, over time, starting with primary care in the first year, adding preventive dental and vision care in the second year, and incorporating additional health care services in later years,

  • establish the Universal Health Care Advisory Group at the Green Mountain Care Board to provide recommendations to the General Assembly regarding the sequencing of and financing for the health care services to be added in the third through tenth years of Green Mountain Care’s implementation,

  • express legislative intent regarding funding sources for Green Mountain Care,

  • prohibit health insurance plans and rates from reflecting duplication of the coverage provided by Green Mountain Care.

Rural Vermont supports this bill, and the full implementation of Act 48. Stay tuned for a bill number, and link to the language when it's available. For more info contact mollie@ruralvermont.org

Rural Vermonthealthcare
2022 End of Session Legislative Recap

Bill statuses updated 6/9/22.

Rarely have we seen as many bills related to agriculture and forestry as in the 2022 session - we covered 19+ bills that were either directly related to our policy priorities, that we supported, provided testimony for, or monitored for you, our constituents, members and supporters. More importantly, these bills have not just been introduced, but the majority of them have made it through passage by the general assembly. Now they are on their way to the Governor's desk as we’re writing this end-of-session recap.

HIGHLIGHTS: 

With an interest in securing markets for clean streams of food residuals that have been separated from their packaging, our farmer stakeholder group initiated the Protect Our Soils Coalition that successfully advocated for a bill (Now H.446) that addresses the increasing consolidation and contamination of this valuable resource by launching a process for regulating depackaging technology. Regrettably, establishing meaningful agricultural access, racial justice, and economic equity in the emerging cannabis market, could not be achieved in the political landscape this biennium but our Vermont Cannabis Equity Coalition succeeded  in having farmers and other community voices heard in testimony on a number of occasions while educating legislators of their challenges and needs.  Emerging issues such as surface water regulations (H.466) were substantially affected by farmers and farming organizations in testimony and in outreach to their representatives, and arrived at a compromise agreeable to all of the agricultural and environmental parties present.

As this is also an election year, this was the last session with some of Vermont’s legislative icons. We say thank you and farewell to progressive leader Senator Anthony Pollina - who co-founded Rural Vermont and served as our very first Executive Director. With fellow Progressive Senator Chris Pearson also leaving the Senate, two of 5 seats of the Senate Agriculture Committee will be available.    Representative Carolyn Partridge is  retiring from her long term Chair position in the House Agriculture and Forestry Committee  - she was a significant supporter of raw milk and on-farm slaughter legislative improvements over the years. The House Agriculture and Forestry Committee will also likely be substantially different next year.

Bill updates:

On-Farm Slaughter Reporting Form Requirement Repeal

Why is this a Rural Vermont policy priority? We center our work on food sovereignty and have advanced the right to slaughter livestock and poultry in Vermont through legislation and grassroots organizing for over a decade. 

Advocacy priority: The goal to repeal the registration and report form requirements for farmers would have mirrored the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) policy shift to more responsibly engage livestock owners in on-farm slaughter while alleviating bureaucratic burdens for farmers. New VAAFM restrictions released via email in January to registered practitioners now require livestock owners to be “present” during on-farm slaughter and to organize hiring itinerant slaughterers and transporting the carcasses for further processing themselves. Farmers testified to the fact that these restrictions impair their status quo of how they engaged and built business models around the practice during the past decade, causing some of them to stop managing livestock.

Status update: Both agriculture committees had a hard time making sense of the new requirements, hearing testimonials from farmers, itinerant slaughterers, and advocacy organizations during our Small Farm Action Day, as well as the federal delegation and Vermont agency staff. Rural Vermont's ask to repeal the form requirements gained over 155 supporters but did not find specific consideration by legislators and was not included in a miscellaneous agriculture bill.

Addressing Contamination Issues with Food Residuals Management

Bill info & status update: H.446, relating to miscellaneous natural resources and development subjects now includes language on regulating depackaging technology from the original H.501. The bill includes a moratorium on further permitting of food depackaging facilities until rules have been adopted. This will not impair the existing facility in Williston Vermont but the expansion of capacity for this new industry. Rules will need to be informed by a collaborative stakeholder process that will recommend a role for depackagers in managing food waste as well as a study on microplastics and PFAS in food packaging and food waste. H.446 was signed into law by the Governor on June 2, 2022, and is now Act 170.

Why is this a Rural Vermont policy priority? We support compost foraging as an innovative agricultural practice where farmers import clean streams of food residuals onto their farms and allow their chickens access to compost piles to forage on while producing valuable soil amendments. The “zero sort” consolidation of waste streams of food residuals creates new resource concerns that the Universal Recycling Law was intended to solve while hindering market development for small scale composters.

Advocacy priorities: The introduction and passage of a pathway for regulating depackaging technology is a success of the Protect Our Soils Coalition that Rural Vermont is a founding member of. We will continue to advocate for regulating the industry with a goal to strictly implement the source separation requirement with a strategic plan, a ban of all non-packaged, easily unpackaged and post-consumer materials from being mixed with packaged materials at depackaging facilities as well as a land application ban from slurries from depackaging facilities.

Just and Equitable Cannabis Cultivation

Why is this a Rural Vermont policy priority? As part of the VT Cannabis Equity Coalition, Rural Vermont is advocating for a cannabis economy in Vermont which is racially just, economically equitable, agriculturally accessible, and environmentally sound. This includes core principles such as:  ongoing funding for the Cannabis Development Fund (which funds the State’s social equity programming related to cannabis), a percentage of the tax revenue from cannabis be allotted to reinvestment in communities disproportionately harmed by the criminalization of cannabis, scale appropriate regulations, all outdoor production be given agricultural status, market equity and direct market access for producers, nurseries and manufacturers for the very products and crops they produce, realistic home cultivation allowances.

Bills & status update: About six bills on cannabis have been introduced this session and our coalition has  largely been focused on one remaining bill the last few weeks, S.188 - related to the outdoor cultivation of cannabis.  After a few back and forths between the House and Senate at the tail end, we are left with a bill which still offers very little agricultural or economic equity that our coalition and members directly advocated for. The current bill includes minimal gains and some losses:

  • Smallest tier of outdoor cultivation license will enjoy the same benefits of agriculture as relates to a number of things: access to current use status (if already enrolled), exemption from municipal bylaw, exemption from Act 250 and similar development laws, exemption from tax retail sales.

  • Cultivators given allowance to sell seeds and live plants to other cultivators (but not directly to consumers)

  • Wholesalers are also given allowance to sell seeds and live plants to cultivators (which we are not in support of)

The final bill also included last minute controversial language leveraged by Rep. Gannon to avoid a committee of conference on particular issues in the miscellaneous cannabis bill , H.548, including THC caps on extracts which our organizational ally the Vermont Growers Association, as well as the Cannabis Control Board, have been in opposition to.  S.188 was signed into law by the Governor on May 31, 2022, and is now Act 158.

Advocacy priorities: Ultimately, we support the agricultural status gains for small cultivators - but feel they cannot be limited to only the smallest tier - and oppose a number of aspects of this bill from the allowances for Wholesalers to the inclusion of these agricultural status gains only for land already in current use (which may disproportionately impact particular farmers, and those without current access to land currently in agriculture).  The most important Social Equity goals of our coalition - and a recommendation of the CCB (Jan. 15th Report, Slide 25) - were disappointingly not addressed by legislators:  

  • bring 20% of excise tax revenue from this market to a “reinvestment fund” to invest in the needs of communities impacted, and disproportionately impacted, by the criminalization of cannabis

  • bring 5% of the excise tax to the Cannabis Development Fund (a fund established by the legislature to fund social equity initiatives largely within the industry, but which has no source of ongoing funding).  

Overall, The primary racial justice, agricultural access, and economic equity goals and proposals we were advocating for remain absent as we see this legislative session end, and the market roll-out begin.  The Vermont Cannabis Equity Coalition will continue to advocate, organize, and educate about the importance of these priorities.  Please be in touch throughout this first year of the regulated market to share your experiences.!

H.626 - Neonicotinoid Pesticides

What is this bill about? This bill has changed substantially from its initial proposal (which included a moratorium on the use of neonicotinoid treated seeds until rules and integrated pest management practices were developed) to its current form as passed by the House and Senate.  At this point, the bill allows the Agency of Agriculture to adopt by rule Best Management Practices (BMPs) and other protocols related to treated articles (seeds and other items treated with pesticides) as recommended by the Agricultural Innovation Board (AIB) - an authority which the Agency already has.  It also requires the Agency of Agriculture, in consultation with the AIB, to adopt by rule BMPs for the use of neonicotinoid treated seeds.  It requires the Sec. of Agriculture to, “work with farmers, seed companies, and other relevant parties to ensure that farmers have access to appropriate varieties and amounts of untreated seed or treated seed that are not neonicotinoid treated article seeds”.  It also now includes a program of monitoring managed pollinator health and developing benchmarks associated with it.  It requires the Agency and AIB submit their proposed rules to the Agriculture Committees and General Assembly in 2024; and in the case of BMPs for all treated article seed (as opposed to neonics alone) to the Ag Committees by February 15, 2023.  Lastly, it provides the Agency with 2 new positions split between different functions germaine and not germane to pesticides.

Rural Vermont position: We are conflicted in relationship to this bill.  Though we did not draft or know of this bill until after the legislative session began, our goal - and those whom we’ve been working most closely with (including NOFA VT) - has been to shape it towards ending the unregulated prophylactic use of neonicotinoid treated seeds (as has been done in many parts of the world based on significant scientific evidence of their detrimental impacts on pollinator and insect health) while providing the support farmers need to implement integrated pest management protocols, and source adequate varieties and amounts of seed not treated with neonicotinoid pesticides.  It is unclear to us if this bill will get us to this point - and based on the language of the bill it largely depends on the work of the Agency of Agriculture, the Agricultural Innovation Board, and the legislature.  A number of VT beekeepers provided compelling and devastating testimony throughout this process which the legislature has not responded to with the kind of support it has with other agricultural industries in crisis; as beekeepers noted to the committees.  It is unclear if the monitoring program in this bill is supported by VT’s apiaries, and particular beekeepers we’ve been in contact with have expressed their significant disappointment and frustrations with this bill.  

Status: H.626 has been signed into law by the Governor on May 27, 2022, and is now Act 145.

H. 466 - Surface Water

What is this bill about? This bill addresses regulation, reporting, and a future permitting process for surface water withdrawals and interbasin transfers in VT.  Currently, surface water withdrawals are governed by “riparian laws” (which allow those who own or have access to land directly adjacent to a surface water to withdraw from those waters) and “de minimis” withdrawal allowances in VT (a particular amount of water allowed to be withdrawn each day based on particular data related to streamflow - but which does not account for cumulative use); yet most States have implemented regulations similar to what H.466 now proposes.  The goal of this reporting is to develop a fairly comprehensive database and understanding of how, where, and for what purposes surface water is currently being used in the State in order to  address climate change, water resource supply, and equity concerns, and to inform a future rulemaking and permitting process.  This bill may affect you if you are a farm, business, or other entity using surface water.  Important features of the final bill for the farming community:

  • “[Beginning in 2023, any] person who withdrew 10,000 gallons or more of surface water within a 24-hour period in the preceding calendar year or 150,000 gallons or more of surface water over any 30-day period in the preceding calendar year shall file a report with the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets. The report shall be made on a form provided by the Secretary and shall include all of the following information: 

(1) an estimate of the total amount of water withdrawn in the preceding calendar year; 

(2) the location of the withdrawals;

(3) the daily maximum withdrawal for each month; 

(4) the date of each daily maximum withdrawal

(5) any other information related to surface water withdrawal required by the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets.

  • An “exception” from the future permitting process for: “surface water withdrawals for irrigation for farming, livestock watering, or other uses for farming, as the term “farming” is defined in 6 20 V.S.A. § 4802”

  • Springs are no longer included in the definition of surface water in this bill.

Rural Vermont position: This bill will affect many farms and agricultural businesses in the State.  lt benefited substantially from the organizing, testimony, and expertise of the VT Vegetable and Berry Growers’ Association and the farmers and farming organizations who testified.  In particular farmers such as Justin Rich and Joseph Dutton (among others) who came out to testify many times, organized on farming listservs, and made the time needed to substantially affect this bill.  The Senate Agriculture Committee also took important steps to work with farming and environmental groups to arrive at a compromise which all parties could agree to - including Rural VT.  

Status: H.466 was signed into law by the Governor on May 24, 2022, and is now Act 135.

S.258 - Senate Miscellaneous Ag Bill, including Right To Farm

What is this bill about? S.258 expands what will be covered under the right to farm law by including a new definition of “agricultural activities” in addition to what already has been protected as “farming”. The miscellaneous agricultural amendments in S.258 also include an across the board good standing requirement for recipients of VAAFM grants; the Secretary's approval prior to transporting non-sewage waste to farms; the extension of the task force to revitalize the dairy industry into 2023;  and some minor tweaks to existing programs. 

Status: S.258 was signed into law by the Governor on June 1, 2022, and is now Act 162.

S.148 - Environmental Justice Bill

What is this bill about? Introduced by Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D-Chittenden), S.148 will set into motion a series of mechanisms and new working groups so that the state government facilitates meaningful participation with its constituents on issues of environmental burdens and benefits in fulfillment of Title XI of the Civil Rights Act.  The goal of this piece of legislation is to ensure that no segment of the population “bear a disproportionate share of environmental burdens or be denied an equitable share of environmental benefits,” and “to provide the opportunity for the meaningful participation of all individuals, with particular attention to environmental justice focus populations, in the development, implementation, or enforcement of any law, regulation, or policy” (S.148, pgs. 8-9).  The bill tasks certain government agencies with reassessing their past investments and to identify where there has not been an equitable allocation of resources at the municipal or census-block level. This assessment would determine where there are communities that do not receive a proportionate amount of environmental benefits and would serve to inform the agencies’ subsequent investments.  Furthermore, S.148 establishes an Interagency Environmental Justice Committee as well as an Environmental Justice Advisory Council — the Interagency Committee would be composed of representatives from the agencies, including ANR and VAAFM, and the Advisory Council would include members of environmental justice populations to represent their community’s interests.  Finally, S.148 sets forth the creation of an environmental justice mapping tool which would assist in the implementation of the environmental justice policy by overlaying different criteria to help identify and depict populations that bear disproportionate environmental burdens.

Status: S. 148 was signed into law by the Governor on May 31, 2022, and is now Act 154.

More info: Much of the bill was informed through work by the R.E.J.O.I.C.E. Project—read more about that initiative here. Environmental Justice in the news on VTDigger here and here AND on VPR here.

BIPOC Land Access and Opportunity Bill

What is this bill about? H.273, An act relating to promoting racial and social equity in land access and property ownership, sought to address systemic barriers to property ownership by creating a fund and board that would, per the the bill’s language, “promote racial and social equity in land access and property ownership by creating grant programs, financial education, and other investments targeted to Vermonters who have historically suffered from discrimination and who have not had equal access to public or private economic benefits due to race, ethnicity, sex, geography, language preference, immigrant or citizen status, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, or disability status” (H.273 as introduced, pg. 1). While H.273 died in committee, the creation of the Land Access & Opportunity Board was included in an amendment to S.226, the VT housing bill, that passed the House last week. The Board would be composed of a diverse set of community members and representatives from racial equity organizations. The amendment included $200K in funds and administrative support by the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (Sec. 22a, p. 36 et al.). It appears that the idea of establishing a fund was tabled for the newly created board to develop related programming in collaboration with VHCB instead.

Status: S. 226 was signed into law by the Governor on June 7, 2022.

More info: Lead organizers for H.273 were Seeding Power, a collective of multi-racial organizers working on systemic changes that center BIPOC self-determination and healing relationships with land and between people. Sign-up for updates from Seeding Power here.

Liability for Poor Workmanship at Utility Construction Worksites

What is this bill about? S.166 started as an effort to set stringent measures to prevent instances of poor workmanship at utility construction worksites where ingestion of debris can cause hardware disease or poisoning like it has occured at two farms in Tunbridge Vermont last year. Instead of setting an obligatory liability of contractors for their subcontractors into statute or requiring the Public Utility Commission (PUC) to issue an order to specify requirements, what remains is Sec. 23a in H.515 (p.98) that now requires the Department of Financial Regulation in consultation with the PUC: “to provide educational risk management guidance to broadband service providers engaged in broadband construction projects to reduce the risk  of harm or injury to Vermonters, generally. It is not the intent [...] to establish new or expand existing rights, obligations, or remedies.” Guidance documents are not legally binding and subject to change at the discretion of the issuing agency. The lack of accountability measures that would establish rights, obligations and remedies is disappointing - given the ongoing efforts to expand broadband in Vermont and the associated risks that surfaced for livestock specifically. 

Status: H. 515 was signed into law by the Governor on May 27, 2022, and is now Act 139.

More info: contact the Vermont Farm Bureau who took the lead on advancing this issue here.

Universal School Meals

What is this bill about? Campaign goal was to secure funding to provide free breakfast and lunch to every student in Vermont for another year. S.100 estimated the cost at $29 million that will be secured out of the state’s close to $100 million education surplus. The passage of S. 100 secures the continuation of the program that would otherwise have ended on June 30 due to limited federal funding. Equity is the core piece of this legislation - providing all kids with free meals to reduce stigmas. 

Status: S.100 was signed into law by the Governor on May 31, 2022, and is now Act 151.

More info: Learn more about this initiative from Hunger Free Vermont here. 

H. 709 - House Miscellaneous Ag Bill

What is this bill about? H.709, An act relating to miscellaneous agricultural subjects, is a miscellaneous bill that includes a number of provisions related to agriculture, with major discussions surrounding the provision about accessory on-farm businesses that resulted in  striking the word “principally” from the phrase “principally produced on the farm” in 24 V.S.A. § 4412’s description of what products are allowed to be sold at an AOFB.  Other provisions in H.709 include no longer requiring that owners or lessees of small farms notify the Agency of Agriculture about changes of ownership; changes to how high-THC hemp products are dealt with; incentives for prioritizing larvicide treatments in mosquito control districts; and granting the Agency of Agriculture the ability to consider of past permit or license violations or allegation when issuing a new permit of license. Furthermore, Section 11 includes a clarification to the Act 250 definition of farming after which “small farms” do not have to certify or meet the minimal numbers of animals like “certified small farms” - an important distinction for farmers that want to diversify into compost foraging and the commercial sales of composts derived from food residuals. A tier of the new emerging VAAFM rules privileges small farms that manage poultry to commercially sell all of their composts derived from food residuals without needing to land-apply the majority of those composts. Without the clarification in law, VAAFM interpreted farmers would need to keep at least 6,250 laying hens instead of only 100 laying hens in this on-farm composting category for poultry farmers.  

Status: H.709 was signed into law by the Governor on June 2, 2022, and is now Act 174.

Clean Heat Standard Bill

What is this bill about? The Clean Heat Standard bill aimed to realize emission reduction goals of the Climate Action Plan in the thermal sector.  We reported on H.715, with concerns regarding the bill's inclusion of biofuels and natural gas as clean heat measures (revisit our blog here). In third reading, Sen. Ram Hinsdale and Pollina offered an amendment (p.54) that would have included sustainability measures to cap and sunset the eligibility of biofuels and renewable gas for clean heat credits. The Senate did not agree to these amendments but the bill still failed due to the Governor's veto and subsequent failure of the House to override the same by one vote (read VTDigger report here). 

Status: Vetoed by Governor - override failed in roll call that needed 100 of 150 (Yeas = 99, Nays = 51).

Forestry & Working Lands Bills

  • S. 234 - An act relating to changes to Act 250

    What is this bill about? This bill functionally acts as a miscellaneous bill that contains a number of updates to Act 250.  The stated purpose of S.234 is to “encourage a municipality to plan for new and infill development in the area including and immediately encircling its designated downtown center [...] in order to provide needed housing and to further support the commercial establishments in the designated center.” (S.234, pg. 1) One of Vermont’s most consequential pieces of land use and development legislation, Act 250’s permitting process, can sometimes impede necessary development — S.234 tries to remedy that by making incentives available to municipalities seeking permits for infill development in their town centers. The bill was controversial because of allowing infill development in “flood hazard areas” provided that the developer institutes a comprehensive series of flood resilience measures.  Many Vemronters remember the consequences of tropical storm Irene well and question how this approach mitigates long term flood projections that are expected to occur with Climate Change. Critics of S.234 also feel the bill does not do enough to ensure that necessary housing projects come to fruition, or even that the bill would further complicate development efforts. 

    Commentary: Initiatives like this may also be seen as a soft version of what’s in geography known as the “central places theory” - a principle that originated in Germany where it is part of the federal building code that resulted in keeping the landscape free from development by prohibiting urban sprawl. Germany’s building code instead only allows for a development project in undesignated outlying areas when it serves agricultural or forestry activities; is for the public supply of electricity, gas, telecommunications services, heat and water or for sewerage, and a very few other permissible uses (see Sec. 35 German Building Code).

    Status:  Vetoed by the Governor on June 1, 2022, because “this bill makes Act 250 even more cumbersome than it is today and it will make it harder to build the housing we desperately need.” Read the Governor’s letter to the General Assembly here. VTDigger reported here.

  • H. 566 - Vermont Forest Future

    What is this bill about? H.566 was about a new initiative through the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund that would have served to “strengthen, promote, and protect the forest products industry of Vermont.” (H.566 as introduced, pg. 1) H.566 would have prompted the development of a Vermont Forest Future Action Plan, which would have identified funding opportunities, recommended measures to support and further develop the state’s forest enterprise workforce, and recommend ways to “maintain access by Vermont forest enterprises to forestland while maintaining the stewardship and conservation of Vermont’s forests as a whole.” (H.566, pg. 5)

    Status (updated 5.24.22): The Forest Future Strategic Roadmap passed the Senate and House through S.11, the workforce development bill (Sec 42-45 of the act, starting on pg 31: https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2022/Docs/BILLS/S-0011/S-0011%20House%20proposal%20of%20amendment%20Official.pdf). S. 11 was signed into law by the Governor on June 8.

  • H. 606 - An act relating to community resilience and biodiversity protection

    What is this bill about? This bill acknowledges the intrinsic value of biodiversity and the continuous rapid threats of extinction of one million species of plants and animals globally and locally. In consequence of the Climate Action Plan, this bill sets conservation targets of 30% of Vermont’s total land area being conserved by 2030 and 50% by 2050 through the development of a mix of ecological reserve, biodiversity conservation and natural resource management areas according to a conservation plan issued by the Secretary of Natural Resources by December 2023. 

    Status: H.606 was vetoed by the Governor on June 2, 2022, backing up the Agency of Natural Resources position stating: “the conservation goals established in H.606 are unnecessarily tied to - and unreasonably limited to - permanent protection. The Agency has repeatedly said that permanent preservation has not been, and cannot be, the state's exclusive conservation tool and this bill, intentional or not, would diminish the existing and successful conservation tools we have.” Read the Governor’s letter to the General Assembly here. VTDigger reported here.

  • H. 697 - An act relating to eligibility of reserve forestland for enrollment in the Use Value Appraisal

    What is this bill about? H.697 paves the way for landowners to enroll their reserve forestland into the Current Use program which assigns a property tax based on the forestry or agricultural production value rather than the market value.  Currently, privately-owned forestland accounts for 80% of Vermont’s total forests.  “Reserve forestland,” as defined in the bill, refers to “land that is managed for the purpose of attaining old forest values and functions in accordance with minimum acceptable standards for forest management.”  (H.697 as passed by the House, pg. 8) Landowners would need to submit a conservation management plan to the Department of Forests, Parks, & Recreation in order to apply for the Current Use Enrollment. 

    Status: H.697 was signed into law by the Governor on May 27, 2022, and is now Act 146.

  • S. 281 - An act relating to hunting coyotes with dogs

    What is this bill about? This bill intends to reduce conflicts between landowners and persons pursuing coyotes with the aid of dogs by reducing the frequency that hunters and their dogs enter onto land that is posted against hunting or where such hunting has not been authorized.

    Status: S. 281 was signed into law by the Governor on June 1, 2022, and is now Act 165.

Other Bills

  • FY23 Budget includes $1 M for development of Payment for Ecosystem Services program

    “$1,000,000 for the development of an agricultural Payment for Ecosystems Services Program to support the work of the Payment for Ecosystem Services and Soil Health Working Group (PES WG) – as authorized by 2019 Acts and Resolves No. 83, amended by 2020 Acts and Resolves No. 129 and 2021 Acts and Resolves No. 47 – to enable Payment for Ecosystem Services Program development to retain facilitation services, contract identified research needs, fund pilot program development, and deliver payments to farmers for quantified ecosystem services.”
    The PES WG continues to meet and is yet undecided about the cornerstones of a pilot program - register here and provide public comment during the May 17th mtg.

  • FY23 Budget includes $4.76 M to AAFM from ARPA funds for climate mitigation

    “$4,760,000 to the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets to provide farms in Vermont with financial assistance for the implementation of soil-based practices that improve soil quality and nutrient retention, increase crop production, minimize erosion potential, and reduce agricultural waste discharges. Assistance may take the form of programs that provide education, training, or instruction to farmers.”

  • H. 730 - An act relating to alcoholic beverages and the Department of Liquor and Lottery

    What is the bill about? A bipartisan effort to clarify the regulatory landscape for Ciders and other alcoholic beverages, H.730 includes a wide range of technical corrections. Among those, Cider will now have its own legal definition and will be taxed like beer when lower 7% ABV at 26 ½ cents per gallon and like wine when alcohol contents exceed 7% ABV.

    Status: H. 730 was signed into law by the Governor on June 7, 2022.

  • S. 285 - An act relating to health care reform initiatives, data collection, and access to home- and community-based services

    What is the bill about? This bill gives the Green Mountain Care Board $4 million+ to come up with a “patient-focused, community-inclusive plan” for setting hospital budgets. The bill falls drastically short of the reforms needed around overall healthcare costs, and provides an incremental step towards hospital budget reform.
    Status: Signed into law by the Governor on June 1, 2022. Read the signing letter here.

  • FY 23 budget includes $8.26M for VAAFM Ag Clean Water Fund Work (Both ARPA and CWF funding sources)

Rural VermontPES, OFS, cannabis, pesticides, healthcare, Healthcare, Cannabis