On February 28, 2024, Associate Policy Director Dominic Butchko submitted written testimony to the House Environment and Transportation Committee in support of HB 929- Agriculture- Nuisance Insects. This bill requires the Secretary of Agriculture to implement a program to eliminate nuisance insects if a county or municipality agrees to pay for 50% of the program’s costs.
HB 929 is a commonsense bill that aligns state and local resources in order to better manage out-of-control nuisance insect populations.
As the climate becomes warmer, insect breeding and feeding seasons become longer, and the chilling effects of the winter months become less potent. As insects do not respect jurisdictional boundaries, actors at multiple levels of government must coordinate on certain mitigation efforts. HB 929 encourages that coordination and requires MDA to be more active in areas where they can.
HB 929’s cross-file, SB 854, was heard on March 8, 2024 in the Senate Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee. Dominic Butchko submitted written testimony in support of this bill.
SB 854 was heard in the opposite chamber, the House Environment and Transportation Committee, on March 27. MACo submitted testimony in support.
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