Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Right To Farm topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate adopts conference report on S.45 to limit nuisance suits against farms
Summary
The Senate voted to accept the conference committee report on S.45 (linked to H.45), a measure described as protecting agricultural activities from nuisance suits, and moved the measure to the governor.
Senate members voted to accept and adopt the committee of conference report on S.45, a measure described in the chamber as "an act relating to protection from nuisance suits for agricultural activities," and instructed the clerk to message the action to the governor.
The conference report was taken up after the Senate suspended its rules to consider the document immediately. "At this time, I've moved that the senate suspend its rules in order to take up the conference report from S 45, commonly known as the right to farm bill," said the Senator from Chittenden. The motion carried by voice vote.
The senator from Franklin, a Senate conferee, summarized concessions made in conference and outlined changes agreed with the House. He said the conferees offered an amendment labeled S.45, C.1 and described the standard in one provision as requiring that an agricultural activity "has a substantial adverse effect on health, safety, or welfare based upon objective documented medical or scientific evidence that agricultural activity was approximate cause of the alleged effect." He added that the bill sets a separate standard that "a reasonable person would find that the agricultural activity was a approximate cause of noxious and significant interference with the use and enjoyment of the neighboring property." The Franklin senator said the conference committee reported the measure by a 6-0 vote.
The Senator from Orleans, who said this was the first bill she introduced in her first term, thanked the conference committee and urged colleagues to approve the report so the bill could reach the governor. "I really hope that the vote that we take makes it over that line and brings it to the governor's desk for Vermont farmers," she said.
After debate and the voice vote to accept and adopt the conference report, the Senate also approved a subsequent motion to "message the actions just taken on S 45 ... to the governor forthwith," carried by voice vote.
The record shows the Senate took the procedural steps necessary to finalize the conference report and transmit it to the governor; the transcript does not record individual roll-call vote tallies for the chamber-wide adoption, only that the "ayes have it."
