The provision in question, which seeks to block some lawsuits against pesticide companies, has emerged as a major flashpoint among some Republicans in recent months.
House GOP leaders are aiming to bring the farm bill across the finish line this week, but Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will likely face a tough time mustering up support for it on the floor, as a number of Republicans are vowing to oppose the legislation unless the pesticide provision is removed. While some moderate Democrats may cross the aisle to support the farm bill, the same provision has also alienated many on the party’s left flank, too.
The provision would prevent states and courts from penalizing pesticide makers for failing to include warnings on their labels about health effects that go beyond those formally recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) warned on the social platform X Monday that “we will slaughter the farm bill” unless certain provisions — including the pesticide measure — are stripped from the legislation. She also pointed to two other provisions that would seek to bar localities from adding regulations that go beyond those that are imposed by the states or the EPA, and that block the need for additional permits for pesticide use.
“I have a little boy, and the amount of articles I have seen on pesticides and herbicides popping up in children’s products (to include organic) is very bad. On behalf of all the moms and dads that aren’t in office, I am not going to be bullied into supporting a bill that is providing protections and immunity to corporations that are responsible for giving children and adults cancer,” Luna wrote on X Tuesday.
Asked whether he would oppose the farm bill if the pesticide measure is still in it, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) said, “That’s correct.” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said, “I probably would,” oppose the bill when asked the same question.
“People (are) dying from cancer, and I know this stuff causes cancer, and protecting big corporations is not what I came to Congress for. I'd rather protect small farmers, and it seems that we just bend over backwards for the [corporations] of the world, but the mom and pop people are struggling, and we need to look out for them,” Burchett said.
Read more when the story runs online tomorrow from The Hill’s Sudiksha Kochi, Mike Lillis and me.
