Texas Call to Action:  Tell legislators to reduce permit burdens on small farmers and local food producers

Do you know how many permits the small farmer or value-added producer you buy your food from at the farmers' market has to get?  Even if they have a permit from the state health department, they have to get another permit -- and pay fees -- from every single local jurisdiction in which they sell.  Those fees and paperwork burdens can add up to hundreds every year and discourage farmers from attending smaller or newer markets where they don't know if they can make the money back.

Texas HB 5459 would allow small farmers and food businesses who have a permit from the state health department to sell anywhere in the state.

The bill has been set for a House committee hearing next week.  Will you add your voice in support?

**Want an update on all the bills?  Scroll down to the end of this alert!**

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TAKE ACTION TODAY!

1. If you are a resident of Texas, you can submit written comments online anytime between now and when the bill is heard (we don't have an exact time, so plan to submit by 9 am on Monday 4/28 to be safe).

Go to House Public Comment, fill out your info, then scroll down to Public Health April 28, and choose HB 5459 by Wilson, “Relating to food service establishment, temporary food service establishment, and retail food store permits for certain small-scale businesses."

• Tip: keep your comment short and simple.  Start by stating that you urge the legislators to vote yes on the bill and then share why this matters to you.

2. Call your State Representative and urge them to co-author the bill!  You can find out who represents you here: Who Represents Me?

Sample script: Hi, my name is ___ and I am a constituent.  I am calling to ask my Representative to co-author HB 5459, to reduce the permitting burdens places on small farmers and food businesses.

Share why this matters to YOU in a few sentences.  Keep it short, but personal!

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Please consider joining or making a donation to FARFA to help us keep working on this bill and the many other reforms we need to support small farms and local foods!  Go to Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance to learn more about bills this session, track their progress, and stay involved!

With your help, we can expand the opportunities for farmers and access to healthy food for consumers!

In solidarity,

Judith McGeary, Founder & Executive Director

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BILL UPDATES:

There is a lot happening!  Next week is the last week when a House bill can be heard and still have time to be voted on ... so literally thousands of bills are dying at this moment.  Many of them are bills we supported --- but five of our priority bills are still alive and making good progress, while several others that we have supported are also moving.

Cottage foods: SB 541 to raise the cap on sales, allow perishable baked goods, address local health department abuses, and open the door for limited wholesale sales has passed the Senate unanimously!  Now on to the House.

Cottage foods #2: HB 2588, which does everything SB 541 does and more, was approved 10-1 by the House Public Health Committee.  Now it goes to Calendars to wait to be scheduled for a House vote.

Small farm egg sales: SB 1864 by Senators Johnson, Hughes, and Sparks (a very unusual bipartisan lineup!) unanimously passed the Senate yesterday.  The bill would allow small farmers to sell ungraded eggs to restaurants and retailers, significantly reducing the barriers for these producers.  Now on to the House, and we expect a tough fight there.

Regenerative agriculture research: We had an amazing hearing on HB 5339 on Tuesday, and the committee approved the bill by a 10-0 vote within 2 days!  Now on to Calendars.

Those are our top priority bills, but they're not the only ones we're involved with or monitoring:  Check out:

Home Food Security: HB 294 would protect people's rights to have front yard gardens and backyard chickens from unreasonable HOA restrictions. It was approved by committee and is awaiting a vote.

Water:  Rep. Gerdes has filed three good bills to help protect people's "domestic wells" for personal use and address permits for exporting groundwater out of the area.  HB 1633, HB 1689, and HB 1690 all passed the House on April 23 and are heading to the Senate.

School Nutrition: HB 1290/ SB 314 would ban several food dyes and harmful additives from government-subsidized school meals; SB 314 has passed the Senate and is already through House committee.

Nutrition Guidelines: SB 25/ HB 25 would create an advisory committee without ties to pharmaceutical or food companies to develop nutritional education to be taught at Texas medical schools and more.  It has passed the Senate and been approved by the House Public Health Committee.

Compost: As we reported before, SB 2078 was originally a very damaging bill to the ability to compost in Texas, but has now been amended to essentially require that cities that mandate food waste recycling find a way to compost that waste within their own county.

 

And the rest ... the bills for fair taxes for small farmers, to ban glyphosate on school grounds, require country of origin labeling, stop the use of PFAS-contaminated sewage sludge, allow the sale of raw milk at farmers markets ... these are among the many casualties this legislative session.  Remember that only about a quarter of the bills filed ever make it through the whole way.  And many grassroots groups never get a bill passed, or perhaps only one bill out of multiple sessions. Making change is a long, challenging process, and we are in it for the long haul!  Thank you for being part of this fight.