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2.5 Million Land Conservation Bond Approved for November Ballot
 Governor Carcieri's proposed budget (in February) included a $5 million bond referendum for the farmland protection and other land connservation programs, which was dropped from the budget by the House Finance Committee in June. When the House debated the budget on June 18th, Representatives Walsh and Loughlin proposed amendments to reinsert a small bond referendum. The amendments were defeated by a vote of 37 to 31, with the following voting yes: Representatives Ajello, Amaral, Caprio, Coaty, Ehrhardt, Ferri, Flaherty, Gallison, Gorham, Handy, Kennedy, Long, Loughlin, McManus, Menard, Moffitt, Mumford, Pacheco, Palumbo, Rice, Savage, Segal, Singleton, Smith, Story, Sullivan, Ucci, Walsh, Wasylyk, Watson, Winfield.
The state budget, with no bond referendum for land conservation,was then approved by the House on June 18th and the Senate on June 19th. The failure to enact a land conservation bond referendum this year would have effectively ended the state's farmland protection program, jeopardizing the protection of more than 20 farms currently on the program's waiting list.The loss of state farmland protection funding would have also meant the loss of millions of dollars in federal matching funds, as well as the opportunity to leverage private conservation dollars thanks to the recent extension of a federal land conservation tax incentive.
However, in response to calls, emails and letters -- including those from AFT --Rhode Island legislators had a change of heart. Thanks especially to the efforts of Representatives Walsh, Malik, Naughton, Loughlin, and Gorham and Senators Sosnowski, Algiere and Blais, stand-alone legislation mandating a $2.5 million land conservation bond referendum was introduced and passed by both the House and Senateon June 21st.
Please be sure to thank those state Representatives and Senators that supported continued state investments in farmland protection. And please be sure to vote this fall for the land conservation bond referendum that will be on the ballot this November!
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