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Senate committee backs pollinator task force bill after bipartisan testimony from beekeepers and conservationists
Summary
Senate Bill 2,850 would create a governor-appointed task force to study pollinator health, habitat loss and best practices; witnesses including commercial beekeepers and environmental groups urged support while stressing education and habitat programs.
The Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture & Rural Affairs reported Senate Bill 2,850 favorably after hearing testimony from beekeepers, conservation groups and environmental advocates who urged creation of a pollinator task force to study habitat loss and recommend state actions.
Senator Mendez, the bill author, told the committee pollinators underpin Texas agriculture and face threats from habitat loss, weather changes, pesticides and urbanization. He said beekeepers lost ‘‘two thirds of their colonies this past year’’ and noted pollinators support hundreds of millions of dollars in crop value annually.
Erica Thompson, founder of Texas Bee Works and the invited witness, told the committee the task force would propose practical, bipartisan solutions to sustain pollinator populations and their services to agriculture and ecosystems. "I'm here today to speak for the bees and to express my strong support of Senate Bill 28 50," Thompson said. She told senators the task force would operate on a volunteer basis and, in her testimony, described the measure as fiscally responsible with no cost to the state for the volunteer work proposed.
Sofia Dreslinski of Environment Texas described habitat-loss drivers and highlighted existing state and private efforts — including TxDOT seeding native flowers along highways and private projects such as H-E-B's pollinator initiatives — as examples the task force could study. Dodie Stillman, past president of the Texas Beekeepers Association, offered to serve as a resource to the panel.
Committee members discussed potential task-force outputs, including public education, recommendations for state projects to include pollinator habitat (for example on solar sites and public landscaping), and study of programs in other states. Several senators emphasized educating youth and local groups and leveraging existing programs such as local conservation organizations and school projects that teach pollinator-friendly planting.
The committee voted 7–0 to report the bill favorably to the full Senate and recommended it for local and uncontested calendars. Sponsors said they would work with stakeholders on specifics of membership and charge for the task force before floor consideration.
