The main premise of a bill that would have allowed local governments to regulate pesticide use is that pesticides are responsible for the decline in pollinator populations, which was disputed last week.
Pesticide bill rejected after 9-hour hearing, nearly 100 witnesses
The state Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee resoundingly rejected a bill that would have allowed local governments to regulate pesticide use in their communities, after a nine-hour hearing and 93 witnesses.
The bill’s sponsors, Sens. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D-Longmont, and Kevin Priola, R-Henderson, in an effort to keep the bill alive, tried to water it down, but that didn’t fly with the ag committee either. Senate Bill 22-131 died on a 1-6 vote, with three Democrats voting with the three Republicans against it. The only “yes” vote the bill got was from Jaquez Lewis, the committee’s vice-chair.
SB 131 is intended to protect pollinators, stating that the decline of bees and other pollinators has implications for the state’s food supply and for the health of its citizens.
The March 3 hearing lasted nine hours and drew 93 witnesses, many from the agricultural industry that said local governments don’t have the personnel or the expensive equipment that would be needed to accomplish the bill’s goals. As introduced, the bill also would have limited pesticide use on school grounds and day care centers, allowing only “organic” or “minimum-risk” pesticides to be used.
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