INDUSTRY
2022 legislative session Full of twists and turns
by Bryan Tolar, Tolar Capitol Partners Lawmakers finished the 2022 legislative session on April 4, wrapping up a productive three months
ahead of a very important campaign and election season. UAC is pleased to serve your member interests through this annual policy process and proud to provide this abbreviated recap on legislation impacting our industry.
Governor Kemp wasted little time putting pen to paper and signing into law many of the bills that made it to his desk. Without question, the winners of 2022 are teachers and state employees that saw much needed pay raises sent their way. The expected growth in tax revenues during FY 2022 and FY 2023 budgets also directed benefits to taxpayers. A personal state tax refund and a gradual reduction in state income taxes will benefit all Georgians – there’s much to like about that! After years of struggling with trying to help farms stave off lawsuits from activists, the Freedom to Farm Act cleared all hurdles and has been signed into law by Governor Kemp. With this new law, nuisance protections for new and expanding farms, forestry, food processing and other such operations and associated facilities have now been updated for the first time in over thirty years. UAC supported the bill even though there are parts that we would have liked to have seen changed. It is unfortunate that all new and expanding farm operations will now be subject to a two-year period to receive nuisance protections. The two-year language was added to address poultry and livestock production nuisance concerns regarding offensive odor lawsuits in Georgia and other states. We believe other areas of
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the law were improved. Time will tell if the new law can indeed provide the protections needed for all farm operations in the state. Efforts to secure a state preemption law for the use of gasoline powered leaf blowers fell short, but our efforts did not go unnoticed as legislators are now keenly aware of this otherwise unknown issue. Agriculture has statewide preemption for outdoor water use, fertilizer, pesticides, and genetically modified crops. Our bill would have added protecting the use of gasoline-powered leaf blowers during hours allowed for all outdoor power equipment. That didn’t happen, but lawmaker sentiment is on our side. Georgia cities looking at banning such equipment are now on high alert as state lawmakers have largely stood with us to protect the use of such equipment. Your continued engagement will be very important to this process. We remain grateful for the contacts made by UAC member companies during the legislative session. This remains an important issue for our members. UAC played a lead role in a resolution passed by House Natural Resources Committee Chair Lynn Smith. HR 1050 featured past statewide policies and future efforts for Georgia to continue leading on water conservation. Chairwoman Smith has been a critical ally on water policy since first elected in 1996. She has also attended UAC events and engaged with our members, so she made sure our interests were included. The role of drought tolerant turfgrass cultivars was part of the resolution and demonstrates the state’s commitment to
