Rural Vermont's Legislative Preview 2020
Another significant influence in the 2020 session is the impact of vigorous and passionate activism, primarily by young Vermonters, urging the legislature and the Governor to take immediate and meaningful action to address the climate change crisis. Rural Vermont supports the demands of the VT Youth Climate Congress.
Rural Vermont is working to build on our successes from the 2019 session and continue to support a broad range of policy efforts that extend well beyond those at the Statehouse to address the needs and challenges faced throughout the agricultural community. All of our work requires grassroots support to be effective so please stay alert to our “calls to action.” Once again we will be hosting monthly Small Farm Action Days - learn more about the events here.
LEGISLATION TO WATCH
The 2020 session kicked off with the introduction of over 30 new bills related to Rural Vermont's policy priorities, some of which you can browse below. A comprehensive list of all the bills we are following is available on the Rural Vermont website and will be updated regularly. It's unclear which of these bills will gain traction in the legislature at this time, but we will keep you informed with additional updates as the session progresses. Please contact caroline@ruralvermont.org for more information or to get involved.
ADVOCACY AND ORGANIZING- Bills for which Rural Vermont is advocating for and organizing our constituency around
Pesticides
H.759 & S.266 – “An act relating to the use of neonicotinoid-treated article seed”
The Pesticide Coalition succeeded in 2019 with Act 35 in making neonicotinoid pesticides “restricted use” pesticides thereby limiting their use to trained and licensed applicators. However, agricultural seeds treated with neonicotinoids were exempted from the Act 35 registration requirement. These bills propose to prohibit the sale, offer for sale, distribution, or use of neonicotinoid-treated article seeds in the State beginning July 1, 2023 and require authorization to use neonicotinoid-treated article seed from the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets upon a showing of a “need”. Rural Vermont is advocating with the Pesticide Coalition for passage of this bill as the next step to reduce the use of pesticides in Vermont.
Food Residuals
S. 265 & H. 830 – “An act relating to the use of food residuals for farming”
Beginning on July 1, 2020, the Vermont Universal Recycling Law (URL) will require every household to separate and recycle all of their food residuals. Rural Vermont advocates with the Don’t Waste Food Coalition for these identical bills that will allow for local and decentralized systems that close the nutrient loop and return food scraps to farms where they serve as a chicken forage, a composting compound, and finally, a soil enhancer. Learn more about these bills and support our efforts during the “No Food Waste Day” on January 29th at the State House.
Hemp
S. 194 – "An act relating to standards for the sale of hemp seeds"
After cultivators complaints about the quality of hemp seeds, especially occurrences of almost 50% male seed, this bill establishes standards for the sale of hemp seed in the State that also entail certification or germination standards set by rule.