Support Seed Sharing Activities – Keep Agribusiness & Government Out of Seed Exchanges
The Illinois Stewardship Alliance has been trying to pass legislation exempting seed sharing activities from requirements of the commercial seed law.
On April 29th the Illinois state Senate Bill 3130 just passed and now is off to the House and has been assigned to Agriculture & Conservation Committee. The bill looks to have strong support but needs your dilligent oversight to insure passage in the House.
This issue arose when, in 2014, Pennsylvania and Minnesota cracked down on seed libraries, making gardeners really worried around the country. Since then, both states reversed course, but it still has gardeners on high alert. ISA is standing up to proactively declare our rights to share seeds before anyone tries to encroach upon us here.
You can track the status of bill SB3130, here. The ISA has all the details on their web site here.
Anyone involved in seed saving exchanges and interested in keeping both agribusiness and state government out of the sharing of seeds among gardeners should contact their Illinois state House Representative and express your support for SB 3130 and please alert all others interested in this important matter.