TALLAHASSEE --- Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson’s wide-ranging “farm bill” is now ready for the Senate floor, without controversial language to expand the ability of farmers to pursue legal damages over the “disparagement” of agricultural products.
The Rules Committee on Tuesday backed the proposal (SB 290) after several changes were made, particularly the removal of a section on the “agricultural disparagement” law.
The language had raised concerns from conservationists and individuals backing the “Make America Healthy Again” initiative of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.
“This was muzzling MAHA. It shouldn't happen in the free state of Florida,” Aimee McBride, Executive Director of the Global Wellness Forum, told the committee. “The MAHA tenants are transparency and informed consent and reducing chronic exposure. So, any law that prohibits that or chills free speech in the process goes against both the federal objectives of MAHA and the wonderful state objectives that (First Lady) Casey DeSantis and Surgeon General (Joseph) Ladapo have been leading.”
The current law allows farmers and agriculture groups to pursue damages for “willful or malicious” public dissemination of false information about perishable food items not being safe for human consumption.
The proposed disparagement language expansion, which remains in the House version of the bill (HB 433), would have gone beyond perishable food items.
Bill sponsor Sen. Keith Truenow, R-Tavares, who didn’t support the removal of the disparagement language, said after the meeting that work will continue on the overall bill.
“We didn’t get where we wanted to go today, but we’re still in a good spot,” Truenow said.
A concern among those opposed to the expansion is that the bill would protect manufacturers of insecticides used on produce.
Fort Myers Republican Sen. Jonathan Martin said people can’t lie about agricultural products and expect there to be no consequences. But in putting forward the amendment, Martin said he “didn’t want to have a situation where people felt they couldn’t tell the truth and engage in discussions.”
Simpson, who has promoted the bill as “protecting freedom, family, and Florida’s farmers,” raised issues with Rules Committee Chairwoman Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, two weeks ago when the bill stalled over a couple issues, most notably penalties for contractors who fail to timely compensate their subcontractors and suppliers.
The contractor and subcontractor issue was amended in the bill on Tuesday.
The bill also includes such things as preventing local bans on gas-powered farm and landscape equipment and directing the Department of Environmental Protection to determine if any state-owned conservation lands purchased after January 1, 2024, are suitable for bona fide agricultural purposes.
The measure, which addresses numerous issues at the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, also would prohibit commercial solicitation on properties with “no solicitation” signs, add criminal penalties for receiving or providing unauthorized assistance on commercial driver’s license exams and repeal a 2016 program designed to financially aid grocery stores in underserved or low-income communities.
The House version of the bill has one more stop, State Affairs, before it can appear on that chamber’s floor.
— News Service broadcast journalist Mike Exline contributed to this report.
