Long before legislators filed back to the Minnesota Capitol this spring, political analysts were predicting that not much progress would be made in this year\u2019s legislative session. With split control of the legislature and a short eleven weeks to get their work done, folks across the political spectrum anticipated gridlock. So as the dust settles after the end of session this week, how did things shake out for food and pesticide policy here in Minnesota?<\/p>\n
No surprise, the session had its share of ups and downs overall.<\/p>\n
Advocates for robust and sustainable transportation systems, racial justice and statewide infrastructure called out all the unfinished business our legislators left undone as session closed this week. Those of us who work to build a more just and sustainable food system saw some important progress, some big disappointments, and \u2014 perhaps most importantly \u2014 encouraging momentum to hold our decisionmakers accountable to local communities.<\/p>\n
Minnesotans are fired up to protect pollinators \u2014 on their farms, in their gardens and bee yards, and in local communities. The state has passed a few important policies<\/a> in recent years, but decisionmakers have a ways to go to truly protect pollinators from harmful pesticides.<\/p>\n This year, PAN and our partners worked on a \u201cpollinator-friendly farming\u201d bill that would offer grants to farmers who transition away from using bee-harming neonicotinoids (neonics), and create pollinator habitat in their fields. Since the vast majority of the corn and soybean seed available to farmers is coated with neonics \u2014 even when these pesticides are not needed in the field<\/a> \u2014 it\u2019s going to take policy change to give farmers more seed options and reduce neonic use. Our bill aimed to do just that.<\/p>\n We made good progress. Two Senate committees heard supportive testimony from conventional and organic farmers, beekeepers and pollinator experts. The legislation sailed through both committees with bipartisan support. Unfortunately, in spite of our strong advocacy legislators in the House didn\u2019t make the bill a priority, and as the House and Senate negotiated their final omnibus bill, our legislation didn\u2019t make the cut. <\/p>\n Our bee-friendly farming bill wasn\u2019t the only policy in motion for pollinators. Pollinator champions also introduced several amendments that would keep neonics off public lands in Minnesota, as U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has done<\/a> on their wildlife refuges nationwide. While these amendments didn\u2019t pass, they\u2019re an important model for both future legislation and regulatory action. The legislature also authorized new funding to create habitat for pollinators along state roadsides.<\/p>\n Since I started working on this issue, more legislation focused on pollinators has been introduced every year. Why? Minnesota legislators know that voters are concerned about bee declines, and that those constituents expect action.<\/p>\n This is good news. But as pollinators continue to take center stage at the Capitol, they also continue to die-off at unprecedented rates. We need to keep pushing elected officials who call themselves pollinator champions to tackle the pesticide problem head-on. Those decisionmakers who greenlight new pollinator habitat projects but fight to keep bee-harming pesticides on the market? They’re missing a key part of the problem.<\/p>\n\n\tPineland Sands<\/strong><\/h3>\n