By Staff Report
Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson’s wide-ranging “farm bill” is headed to the Senate floor without controversial language that would have expanded farmers’ ability to pursue legal damages over the “disparagement” of agricultural products.
The Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday approved the proposal, SB 290, after several changes were made — most notably the removal of a section involving the state’s agricultural disparagement law.
The proposed expansion had drawn opposition from conservationists and supporters of the “Make America Healthy Again” initiative associated with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“This was muzzling MAHA. It shouldn’t happen in the free state of Florida,” Aimee McBride, executive director of the Global Wellness Forum, told the committee. “The MAHA tenets are transparency and informed consent and reducing chronic exposure. So any law that prohibits that or chills free speech goes against both the federal objectives of MAHA and the state objectives that (First Lady) Casey DeSantis and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo have been leading.”
Current law allows farmers and agricultural groups to seek damages for the willful or malicious public dissemination of false information claiming perishable food items are unsafe for human consumption.
The proposed expansion — which remains in the House version of the bill, HB 433 — would have extended beyond perishable food items.
Bill sponsor Sen. Keith Truenow, R-Tavares, who opposed removing the language, said after the meeting that work will continue on the overall measure.
“We didn’t get where we wanted to go today, but we’re still in a good spot,” Truenow said.
Opponents of the expansion expressed concerns it could shield manufacturers of insecticides used on produce.
Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, said people should not be able to spread falsehoods about agricultural products without consequences. However, in offering the amendment to remove the language, Martin said he did not want to create a situation in which people felt unable to speak truthfully or engage in open discussion.
Simpson, who has promoted the bill as “protecting freedom, family and Florida’s farmers,” had raised concerns two weeks ago with Rules Committee Chairwoman Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, when the bill stalled over issues including penalties for contractors who fail to promptly pay subcontractors and suppliers.
The contractor and subcontractor provisions were amended Tuesday.
The bill also includes provisions that would prevent local governments from banning gas-powered farm and landscape equipment and would direct the Department of Environmental Protection to determine whether certain state-owned conservation lands purchased after Jan. 1, 2024, are suitable for agricultural purposes.
The measure, which addresses numerous issues within the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, also would prohibit commercial solicitation on properties displaying “no solicitation” signs, add criminal penalties for receiving or providing unauthorized assistance on commercial driver’s license exams and repeal a 2016 program aimed at financially assisting grocery stores in underserved or low-income communities.
The House version of the bill has one remaining committee stop — State Affairs — before it can reach the House floor.
– News Service broadcast journalist Mike Exline contributed to this report.
AMBER PATINO 
Ali Moreland