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Thank you to the over 800 people who submitted testimony on HB 6916!

We were heard loud and clear!

UPDATE 3/24/25: 

Thank you all also for sending comments supporting SB9 which is a large bill that includes a section on restricting neonics on lawns, golf courses (all turf grass) and gardens. The bill was voted out of the Environment Committee, which is good!

The problem is the language is weaker than what is proposed in HB 6916, the original bill which follows New York and Vermont in including corn and soybean seeds treated with neonics. And there is always a risk that chemical industry pressure could succeed in having neonics chopped off SB9 before it goes to the floor of the House and Senate for a vote. That would leave us with no bill, which seems like a real possibility right now.

The Environment Committee has not voted the stronger bill HB6916 out of committee and the deadline is the end of this week.

Please ask the Environment Committee to vote to move HB6916 forward. The list of members is here. If any of your legislators is on the list, contact them. The chairs are Senator Rick Lopes and Representative John Michael Parker.

Let them know you want to see the strong language of HB 6916 pass to protect Connecticut's birds, pollinators, rivers, wildlife and people from wasteful uses of this "exquisitely" toxic pesticide, as the EPA has called it.

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We must take steps to reverse the dramatic loss of bees, butterflies, mayflies, caterpillars, other invertebrates, and birds from harmful pesticides. Research and data, from large academic institutions (Cornell, UConn) to government agencies (USGA, EPA), link the disappearance of pollinators and wildlife to pesticides.
 

Background: 
For the 2025 legislative session in Hartford, our focus is on neonicotinoids, a category of pesticide linked to dramatic declines in bird, butterfly, bee and other insect populations as well as harms to aquatic life and threats to human health.

We are working with state legislators to enact a law, HB 6916, that would restrict high harm, low benefit uses of neonicotinoids including 1) cosmetic uses on lawns, golf courses, and ornamental landscape planting, and 2) seed treatments for corn, soybeans and wheat -- shown to not increase yields or provide economic benefit to farmers. Learn how you help.