Kentucky General Assembly Helps CFA, Local Farmers, Create L.I.F.E.

With the 2008 Legislative Session of the Kentucky General Assembly all wrapped up, CFA can't help but celebrate. After a long and interesting few months, we are grateful that BOTH our pieces of legislation have been signed by the presiding legislative officers and sent to Governor Beshear for his signature! Congratulations and Thank You to all those members who helped CFA lobby for these legislative victories! Your hard work and dedication as well as your emails, phone calls, and personal visits to legislators made this session a successful one for CFA and for Kentucky's family farmers, proving that Real Change Comes From the Ground Up!

Special thanks go to Representative Dwight Butler and his intern Brittany Dowell for their inspiring work on HB 484, as well as to co-sponsors Rep. Charlie Hoffman, Tom McKee, C.B. Embry and Jeff Greer.

A world of gratitude to Rep. Rick Rand, Johnny Bell, and Jeff Greer for the success of HB 495! Thank you for being true champions for Kentucky's family farmers!

HB 495: Limits the Implementation of the National Animal Identification System in Kentucky.
Sponsor: Representative Rick Rand
Co Sponsors: Representative Johnny Bell and Representative Jeff Greer

What Will House Bill 495 Do?
· HB 495 prohibits the state of Kentucky from mandating the National Animal Identification System in the absence of a federal law requiring compliance with the USDA program. In the event that NAIS does become mandatory at the federal level, HB 495 ensures that Kentucky's compliance can be no more stringent than federal policies.
· HB 495 also prevents the state from penalizing any farmer or withholding goods, services, licenses, permits, grants or other benefits based on non-participation in any phase of the National Animal Identification System.

What House Bill 495 Does NOT Do:
· HB 495 does not prevent Kentucky from establishing or participating in disease control programs specifically designed to address a known disease in a specific species of livestock.
· HB 495 does not prohibit private agricultural industry organizations from establishing voluntary source verification programs for their own members or others who elect to participate.


Why is This Necessary?
Though NAIS is currently voluntary and expected to remain voluntary at the federal level, USDA is funding state departments of agriculture that agree to implement the program. Kentucky has recently been promoting the program and requiring participation in certain phases of the system to qualify for certain services. HB 495 will stop us from going any further. Until USDA can get the program mandated, Kentucky should back away from it also, for the sake of our family farmers. The program is intrusive, costly, and burdensome to the family farmer and tilts the scales heavily in favor of corporate agribusiness. HB 495 is the necessary step to stop N.A.I.S. in Kentucky!

What Happened with HB 495?
HB 495 passed unanimously out of the House Agriculture Committee, unanimously off the House floor with a vote of 95-0. The bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Agriculture committee, and unanimously off the Senate floor. It has now been delivered to Governor Beshear where it awaits his signature.


John Logan Brent, Henry County Judge Executive and Beef Cattle Producer
"I am very appreciative of my Representive Rick Rand for sponsoring this bill and for Community Farm Alliance and all of there hard work in seeing it through. Our legislature got this one right. HB 495 is a common sense bill designed with the farmer in mind, not the corporation and that is definately refreshing in today's Agriculture."

Steve Smith, CFA member and farmer in Trimble County
"This bill is a true victory for our family farms. Special thanks go to Representatives Rick Rand and Johnny Bell, and to the people of Community Farm Alliance for all of their hard work for farmers in Kentucky on this issue."

HB 484 – Local Food for State Universities
Sponsor: Representative Dwight Butler
Primary Co Sponsor: Representative Charlie Hoffman
Other co-sponsors: Representative Tom McKee, Representative C.B. Embry, Representative Jeff Greer

What Will House Bill 484 Do?
HB 484 amends KRS 164A.575 to require state funded universities to purchase agriculture products from local producers.

Why is This Necessary?
This legislation partnered with HB 669 from the 2006 legislative session ensures that Kentucky institutions are supporting a local farm economy and secures yet another market venue for Kentucky's family farmers. Now, not only will patrons of Kentucky's state parks and institutions be eating locally grown, so will our state universities' faculty, staff, and students!

Whats Happened with HB484?
HB 484 passed unanimously out of the House Ag Committee and out of the House of Representatives. It was sent to the Senate Education Committee, rather than the Senate Agriculture Committee, where it was met by Senator Ken Winters who would not agree to hear the bill unless it was amended to be an encouragement for universities to purchase Kentucky grown agriculture products rather than a mandated requirement. The bill then passed unanimously out of the Senate Education Committee with the Committee Substitute. Though the committee substitute reduced the bill to an encouragement rather than a mandate, it still contained a requirement for all food service contracts entered into by a university with a food service distributor to contain the purchase of Kentucky grown agriculture products. After two readings on the Senate floor, one shy of passage, Senator Brett Guthrie added a Senate Floor Amendment that removed that requirement, gutting the bill to a simple encouragement.

Brittany Dowell, Legislative Intern for Rep. Butler and student at the University of Kentucky studying political science, also a member of Community Farm Alliance.
"Representative Butler and I were disappointed by the Senate floor amendment, but we have been encouraged by the Community Farm Alliance's commitment to enforcing the legislation and holding Universities accountable."

Commissioner of Agriculture Richie Farmer
“This bill will provide another market for Kentucky farmers to sell their Kentucky Proud products,” Commissioner Farmer said. “This will create economic activity in many rural Kentucky communities and help keep farmland in agriculture. "