ISSUE 1114
CANKER
ERADICATION PROGRAM KILLED, EMINENT DOMAIN PASSED The
state House of Representatives voted unanimously Wednesday (May 3) to kill the
citrus canker eradication program. The “Citrus Canker Bill” would also
require that all Florida citrus nurseries grow replacement trees only in state-approved
greenhouses, and would allow the Florida Citrus Commission to both approve new
tax rates by a simple majority vote and to remove a restriction that limits expenditures
on marketing programs to 24 percent of its budget. The
Legislature also gave the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
permission to replace eradication with the new Citrus Health Response Plan, currently
being crafted. The bill, which Governor Bush must still sign, would set aside
more than $26 million to fund the new program. In
another bill of interest to the Florida agriculture industry, on Thursday (May
4), the Senate passed SB2168, an FFVA-supported eminent domain reform bill. The
bill limits the power of local governments to use eminent domain. The House version,
HB 1567, passed last month. For
updated information on this and other legislation enacted In the final days of
the Florida legislative session, see this week’s Capital Rap bulletin,
mailed with the print edition of the Rap-Up newsletter and posted
here (restricted to members only). ALSO IN THIS WEEK'S RAP-UP (Members-Only articles are indicated in bold.) | |
