What’s Happening with State Policy?
- On April 21, 2021
Sometimes in policy development, it’s what doesn’t happen that’s most significant. To date, nine states have wrapped up their 2021 sessions. Several others have adjourned, but have come back into special sessions to address specific unfinished issues.
Key bills that didn’t pass:
- Iowa: two bills banning the use of neonicotinoids; a bill that would have banned dicamba; and another would have established an agriculture climate adaptation advisory task force and provided for an agriculture climate adaptation report.
- New Mexico: a bill that would have restricted the use of neonicotinoid pesticides.
- West Virginia: a bill that would have provided the protected right to cultivate vegetable gardens.
Key bills that likely won’t have time to go through process:
- Arizona: two bills to restrict and/or limit the use of neonicotinoids.
- Montana: under the auspices of a pollinator protection act, a bill would ban the use of neonicotinoids; another bill would change the state seed law rules on cleaning and conditioning seed, thus loosening the intellectual property rights of a seed breeder.
ASTA will continue to monitor the bills above from Arizona and Montana, as there is always the potential for last-minute amendments. In the next edition of Seed E-News, we’ll provide an overview of the bills that have passed this session.
