FARFA is making our mark for local foods at the Texas Legislature, thanks to the combination of our strategic lobbying work and the voices of small farmers, ranchers, and consumers!  With eight weeks left to go in the session, five of our priority bills have had committee hearings and one has already passed the Senate!  They all still face long roads with multiple barriers, but this is extraordinary for grassroots bills.

YOU can help keep them moving!  Check out the summaries below and pick the 2-3 bills that impact you.  Look up your state legislators and call each of them.  Tell them you are a constituent and urge them to co-author the bills!  Share why you care about them in just a few sentences when you call.

The top news is local meat. Our bill to allow farmers and consumers to more easily use custom-exempt processors (and thus increase access to affordable, local meat) passed the Senate on Monday!  We had an amazing committee hearing last week, with witnesses coming to Austin from as far away as the Panhandle and the Valley.  The powerful testimony, on top of the behind-the-scenes work by FARFA and the bill sponsor, Senator Kolkhorst, pushed the bill forward at lightning speed. SB 691 will now head to the House, where we will again go through the committee hearing process. Read our fact sheet HERE.

The cottage foods bill – our fourth expansion of this great law to help rebuild local food systems – is also making rapid progress.  As was expected, the sanitarians’ association opposed the bill, but we had wonderful farmers and home bakers testifying at the Senate Health & Human Services committee hearing last week.  The committee unanimously approved an amended version of SB 829  that contains all of our key asks: allowing for indirect sales so that cottage food operators can sell to co-ops and small mom & pop grocers; increasing the sales cap to $100,000; providing an alternative to putting your home address on the label; adding refrigerated baked goods; and providing a mechanism to stop local health departments from requiring permits or fees.  The Senate is expected to vote on the bill this week, after which it will head to the House to go through the process there. Read our fact sheet HERE.

Our bill to allow farmers to sell ungraded eggs to restaurants and retailers also had a great committee hearing, this one in front of the House Agriculture Committee.  The Poultry Federation and Egg Council testified against it, trying to claim that grading is a safety issue – which it is NOT.  FARFA’s Executive Director’s testimony explained the gaping holes in the industry’s position, and the testimony from multiple farmers drove home the points for the committee members. (You can watch the hearing online, starting at 52 minutes, with Judith McGeary’s testimony starting at 1 hr 23 min.) Thank you to the 95 people who submitted written comments – an impressive turnout, given that the other bills being heard that day got an average of just 2 comments submitted each! HB 2945 was left pending in committee, and we anticipate a modified version (providing for free registration for farmers selling eggs wholesale) to be approved by committee this week.  Read our fact sheet HERE.

The Home Food Security & Resilience bill was one of the very first bills on any topic to make it out of a House committee!  This common-sense bill protects people from city or homeowner associations bans on having gardens, rabbits, or poultry to raise food for oneself, as well as protecting the right to collect rainwater, have solar panels, and a backup generator to provide water and electricity.  But the Home Builders lobby, which wants to maintain the “image” of new developments to maximize their profits, is opposing it and has slowed the bill down, so far preventing it from coming to the floor of the House for a vote. HB 92 has gained several co-authors, and we are working to create pressure to keep it moving forward. In the meantime, HB 276, which has all the food-related provisions, is scheduled for a committee hearing on Wednesday.  You can submit written comments to the committee through this link.  Read our fact sheet HERE.

The bill to rein in Texas Department of Agriculture’s overreach and intrusion onto small produce farms rounds out the list of great committee hearings. HB 3373 would clarify that the TDA cannot require registration or physical entry onto farms that are exempt under the federal rule that the agency is supposed to be administering.  There was no opposition to the bill, and 60 people submitted excellent written comments in addition to the ones FARFA provided.  The bill sponsor is working to address concerns from the large produce growers, and we anticipate that the bill will be approved by committee soon.  Read our fact sheet HERE.

The sole bill to not yet have a hearing is the Fair Taxes for Small Farmers bill. SB 1455/ HB 3857 would help small farmers get the same property tax treatment as large one, but faces an uphill fight due to opposition from the cities that fear loss of tax revenues.  Read our fact sheet HERE.

Remember that the system is designed more to kill bills than to pass them – especially grassroots bills.  Most grassroots groups are lucky to pass even a single bill in a session (and many pass none).So while we have made incredible progress early in the session this year, nothing is guaranteed.  We will need to your help to keep fighting for all of these bills – making calls, submitting comments, and coming to the Capitol for lobbying days and committee hearing.

One of the most effective things you can do to help is calling your state legislators.  Pick the 1, 2, or 3 bills that matter to you and briefly explain why.  The call can be just a couple of minutes long, and it truly makes a difference!  Look up your state legislators here!