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2007 Legislative Session
With the Governor's enactment of
Public Act 07-162
,
WLA is very excited with the results of its advocacy efforts in 2007. In recent years, farmland preservation efforts in Connecticut have been hampered less by a lack of available funding for the state’s Farmland Preservation Program than by the inability of the program to access authorized funds. Accordingly, Working Lands Alliance’s top priority in 2007 was to create a more predictable and reliable process for funding farmland protection projects.
Public Act 07-162 (formerly Senate Bill 872)accomplishes two very important steps:
1) First, this law allows for 'lump sum bonding' for the Farmland Preservation Program. In effect, this policy ensures that available bond funds will be released to the Department of Agriculture in lump sums of $5 million every 6 months. Rather than wait for the State Bond Commission to approve each individual farm project—a process that has led to significant delays for landowners wishing to sell their development rights -- PA 162 provides the Department with regular, periodic funding to enable them to move forward expeditiously on farmland protection projects. Making the process faster and more predictable is critical to landowner participation in the program.
2) Second, this law creates a Farmland Preservation Advisory Board within the Department of Agriculture to focus specifically on farmland preservation. This advisory board will include farmers and farm and conservation organization representatives, who will help to review and guide the Department’s policies and initiatives on farmland preservation.
2006 Legislative Session
WLA urged leaders to ‘Take A Bite Out of the Backlog’
in 2006 session. The State Farmland Preservation Program
reportedly had 32 farms ‘ready to go’, these farms met the
criteria of the program and required state funding to
purchase the development rights. At the time there was $18 million in unexpended bonding previously authorized by the legislature for the State's Farmland Preservation Program.
WLA’s campaign in 2006 included support for:
1)
1)
Bill 606 – which would have appropriated $30 million for farmland
preservation.
http://www.cga.ct.gov/2006/TOB/S/2006SB-00606-R00-SB.htm
2)
2)
Bill 656 – which would have appropriated $30 million for farmland
preservation, $10 million for open space protection, $15
million for brown fields remediation, and $5 million for
urban parks.
http://www.cga.ct.gov/2006/TOB/S/2006SB-00656-R00-SB.htm
2005 Legislative Session
2005 was
an extremely successful year for WLA. Our advocacy work led
to three major achievements: 1) passage of landmark
legislation (PA 228), 2) increase state bonding for farmland
preservation ($18 million for next 2 years), and 3) passage
of new statutory language to strengthen easements (PA 124).
(Photo:
Governor M. Jodi Rell, Terry Jones (WLA) and Bonnie Burr
(Farm Bureau) at ceremonial signing of PA 228 at Belltown
Orchards, Glastonbury, July 14, 2005; photo credit – Robin
Chesmer)
First,
WLA helped spark the ‘Call to Farms’ campaign that
ultimately led to winning passage of PA 228 (An
Act Concerning Farm Land Protection, Land Preservation,
Affordable Housing and Historic Preservation). By the
end of session this campaign relied heavily on the energy of
grassroots supporters from all four stakeholders named in
the title of the bill. Many other organizations share in
this victory, having dedicated their own lobbyists and
grassroots members to winning PA 228. These include: CT
Farm Bureau, American Farmland Trust, CT Forest & Park
Association, The Nature Conservancy, Trust for Public Land,
Connecticut Fund for the Environment, CT Conference of
Municipalities, Council of Small Towns, Partnership for
Strong Communities, CT Housing Coalition, CT Trust for
Historic Preservation, and CT League of Conservation Voters.
Second,
increasing state bonding levels for farmland preservation
has long been a keystone of our advocacy work. Bonding
levels in the past 5 years have not been higher than $2
million. Bonding is an important funding mechanism used in
many other states for land protection, but it is subject to
fluctuations in the state economy as well as political
willingness to release funds that have been authorized.
At the end of the 2005 legislative session, the CT General
Assembly and Governor agreed on a bonding package that
authorizes $8 million in FY 06 and $10 million in FY07 for
the state’s Farmland Preservation Program.
Third,
WLA helped advocate for PA 124 (An
Act Concerning the Preservation and Use of Agricultural
Lands) that will strengthen agricultural easements held
by the Dept. of Agriculture as well as other easements held
by land trusts and public entities. The bill also empowers
the State Attorney General to defend those easements held by
non-state entities if it is in the public interest. In the
same legislation non-profits are given new permission to
partner with the state Dept. of Agriculture to protect
farmland.
2004 Summer – Farmland Preservation Task Force
Posted 7/8/04
The
Farmland Preservation Task Force was an informal gathering
of legislators and experts working to outline 2 or 3 policy
measures for the 2005 legislative session. Many thanks to
Senators Don Williams and Len Fasano for their leadership in
this collaborative effort.
2004 Legislative Session
WLA had
a fairly successful 2004 Legislative Session!
First,
through the "Keep It Growing" campaign the Department of
Agriculture was reinstated as an independent, stand-alone
agency. (The Dept. of Agriculture had been scheduled for
elimination and all of its programs would have been merged
with the Dept. of Consumer Protection.)
Second,
the Bond Commission approved funding for 7 farms to purchase
the development rights in late April. Although this could
have taken place at any time during the year, legislators
did help put pressure on the Governor's office to fund the 7
farms.
Third,
the Bonding Subcommittee decided to restore funding to the
PDR program at a level of $2 million for FY05. This was an
increase from an earlier level of $1.5 million. The Bond
package passed the Senate and is expected to pass the House
during special session.
"Get the Inside Dirt" Fact
sheet
2003 Legislative Session Summary
WLA's
principal legislative measure during the 2003 session was
Bill 1044 (formerly Bill 656).. This measure would have
increased appropriations for the state's Farmland
Preservation Program up to $10 million per year until 2007.
Bill 1044 would have given Connecticut an unprecedented
opportunity to use state funds to leverage Federal matching
dollars for farmland preservation. Bill 1044 also means more
farms can participate in the Farmland Preservation Program
so that more acres of farmland are saved for the future. WLA
also submitted testimony in response to Bill 15
which proposed to merge the Dept. of Agriculture with
the Dept. of Consumer Protection. The proposed merge
represented a savings of less than $1 million dollars over
two fiscal years.
