Policy Efforts

• Campaign Archives (2003-2009)

 

Farms, Food, and Jobs Bill Passes Unanimously in Connecticut General Assembly

Thanks to support from members of the Working Lands Alliance coalition, a bill offering new market opportunities for Connecticut farmers recently passed the legislature with overwhelming support. The Farms, Food, and Jobs bill (now Public Act 10-103) allows on-farm production of acidified foods such as pickles, tomato sauce and salsa and their sale at farm stands and farmers markets; allows turkey and poultry producers to process their birds and sell directly to consumers and restaurants; and authorizes funding for marketing Connecticut-grown dairy products. The bill is now on the governor's desk.

COMMUNITY INVESTMENT ACT

Talking Points for CIA

1. CIA is a dedicated fund fueled by a deed fee; it is NOT a part of the General Fund.
2. CIA is an innovative source of funding for affordable housing, open space, historic preservation, and agriculture.
3. CIA provides $1 million funding annually for the CT Agriculture Viability Grants Program, $100,000 annually for CT-Grown marketing program, $75,000 for the CT Farm-Link Program.
4. Between 2009-2011, CIA funds will be a vital source of dairy support funding that will help keep over 70,000 acres of farmland in active agricultural use.
5. CIA pays for 3 of 5 staff in the CT Farmland Preservation Program. Without these staff the program will fall back to its historically slow pace of processing applications.
6. CIA pays for surveys and appraisals (non-capital expenditures) required to process farm applications.
7. Provides a small but reliable source of funding, unlike erratic bonding commitments.

• BROCHURE - Community Investment Act
• Town-By-Town investments from Community Investment Act
• Funds Leveraged by Community Investment Act
• 2006-2009 Agriculture Viability Grants (paid for with CIA $$)
• Courant 3/23/09 - "State's Community Investment Funds in Jeopardy"
• Courant Op-Ed 3/8/09 – “Hands Off Preservation, Farm Fund”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------2009 Legislative Session Summary

$10 million/year for Farmland! In late September the bonding package that leaders agreed to included critical funding for the State Farmland Preservation Program. As a result, the state will continue to invest $10 million per year in the purchase of development rights on prime and important soils (which it has done since 2007). WLA's advoacy work to secure these funds was absolutely critical to this success! WLA enthusiastically applauds Senate President Pro Tem Donald Williams for his leadership in restoring $12.5 million to the captial bonding package, addressing a shortfall in earlier bond package proposals that would have jeaopardized an equal amount of federal match funding for farmland preservation. WLA is also grateful to Governor Rell who contiues to keep her promise to future generations of farmers by steadfastly releasing $5 million in capital bonds every six months to the CT Farmland Preservation Program.

There were two additional significant legislative victories for farmland in 2009.

1) Signed into law on July 5, Bill 1082 requires the state Farmland Preservation Advisory Board to review all state-held farm parcels (about 1300 acres total) and make recommendations, if appropriate, on how to permanently conserve each for agricultural use. WLA expects this bill will lead to the conservation of up to 1200 acres of productive but vulnerable farmland owned by the state.  To see the full text of the legislation see Special Act 09-8.

2) On July 17th at Hytone Farm in Conventry, Governor Rell enacted Bill 891 - AN ACT CONCERNING MILK PRODUCERS, MILK AND MILK PRODUCTS, AGRICULTURAL NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND THE MODERNIZATION OF CONNECTICUT FERTILIZER LAW. The nationally recognized Community Investment Act (CIA)* was amended by this law to assist dairy farmers (who currently lease over 83,000 acres in cropland, of which 30,000 acres of that is preserved farmland). This expanded CIA will expire in two years. Under the new law, the fee increases from $30 to $40 and allots 20 percent each to the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism for historic preservation, CT Housing Finance Authority for affordable housing, and Dept. of Environmental Protection for open space protection.  The remaining 40 percent will be used for a mix of agriculture viability programs, including quarterly payments to dairy farmers to help them stay in business.  As a result of this law, approximately $3 million in annual funding for the state Farmland Preservation Program will be suspended for two years, although funding remains intact to cover the cost of administering the program (which currently includes 3 full-time staff, support staff from the Attorney General's office, and the cost of real estate appraisals and boundary surveys). To see the full text of the legislation see Public Act 09-229.

* WLA was the lead advocate for the original version of this law in 2005 which provided steady funding for farmland protection; WLA worked very hard in 2009 to defend against multiple proposals to raid the account to address state budget deficits. 

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Campaign Archives

2008 Legislative Session

There were three critical successes for farmland preservation policy in 2008. All of the following new laws can be found in Public Act 08-174

1) NEW Community Farms Program: WLA successfully advocated for the establishment of the new Community Farms Preservation Program at the Dept. of Agriculture which will purchase development rights on smaller parcels (below 30 acres) and farms that where community's have a demonstrated commitment to keeping in agriculture. The CT Dept of Agriculture and the Farmland Preservation Advisory Board are developing criteria and regulations for this program. There is no funding for this program yet, but WLA will advocate for funding in 2009.

2) $20,000 cap/acre: WLA successfully advocated for raising an unofficial agency cap/acre from $10,000 to $20,000, subject to appraisal. The new law simply gives the Commissioner of Agriculture the ability to pay up to $20,000 per acre for the purchase of development rights. Landowners will still have to negotiate with the state to determine price and all negotiations will be based on certified appraisals.

3) Face of Connecticut Account & Face of Connecticut Steering Committee: WLA joined over 50 other organizations in the Face of Connecticut campaign for a second year. At the end of the session the campaign successfully legislated the creation of a new account that will hopefully serve as focal point for preservation funding (for brownfields, farmland, open space, and historic preservation). A formal Steering Committee to oversee distribution of funds in this new account was established, consisting of state agency commissioners and several stakeholder representatives. Campaign supporters hope that these two structures will provide an opportunity in the future to improve strategic investment in our state's distinctive landscapes and village/city centers.

 

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)     Bill 606 – which would have appropriated $30 million for farmland preservation. 

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. 

 

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).

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 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. 

 

2003 Legislative Session

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.