You bet I wanna' contact my rep!
FW: from local WI farm list:
Blackmailed
Unless the residents of rural Wisconsin act today, our legislature and
governor are going to be blackmailed into passing a very poor piece of
legislation which could cost Wisconsin farmers at least $ 5 million a year.
At issue is the proposal to establish a pesticide use database.
The Joint Finance Committee, (under pressure from special interest
groups) decided to pass a bill costing $250,000, requiring DATCP to develop
a
pilot program within 12 months and a fully operation program by December 31,
2002.
It will take an estimated $4 million per year in users fees and taxes
to maintain this database and require the hiring of 30 additional staff
people. In addition, it will cost Wisconsin Agriculture alone an estimated
$2
million to comply with the reporting requirements. That doesn't include the
cost to lawn and garden centers, homeowners, schools, local governments,
etc.
New York and California currently have the only similar database
systems and both have accuracy problems. California's is only around 80%
accurate and New Your officials (who have spent $ 7 million since 1993 to
develop a less comprehensive database that of WI proposal) have cautioned
against making decisions based on their database information because it is
unreliable. Wisconsin is in danger of spending a great deal of money for a
system that the CA and NY experiences show will produce useless information.
This is all because a few special interest groups don't trust the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Americans pay millions of tax dollars
to the EPA to ensure pesticides are safe, when used according to the label.
The chemical companies, spend around $8 million and test each product for up
to 12 years before they release a product to consumers. Then, the EPA
continues to monitor the product in the real world uses.
Wisconsin currently has one of the best statistical pesticide use
reporting systems in the United States and improving this system is an
option
that needs to be considered. It will definitely be a more reliable way to
obtain the needed data and almost certainly would be less expensive, but if
the proposed legislation is passed
we will never know for sure.
How can the legislature and governor be blackmailed into passing this
expensive, unreliable and poorly designed system? I've been told at the next
election, their opponents may run ads that say; "This legislator voted
against protecting your children from pesticides" or "this legislator voted
against a bill that would provide pesticide use information to medical
researchers", BULL! The best studies show that children are healthier now,
than they where 50 years ago. The special interest groups, want you to spend
"your tax money"
for "their agendas".
Do the voters of Wisconsin want to spend millions on a useless
program or do they want to spend the money on education, health service, or
tax breaks. Call your legislator today and ask if she/he supports spending
(wasting) $5 million per year in fees taken from your pocket on a database
system that experience shows won't work.... Tell them NO!
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