A bill seeking to codify the Soil Health Initiative, a WSU partnership with the Washington State Department of Agriculture and Washington State Conservation Commission, cleared another hurdle today being voted off the Senate floor unanimously.
Senate Bill 6306 establishes scope for the Initiative. “The goals and objectives of the initative are to improve the viability of our agricultural sector, improve nutrition, and improve environmental function” said the bill sponsor, Senator Marko Liias, in his floor speech. “We are applying the best science and the best practices and working with our great folks at Washington State University to come up with innovations and working with the Conversation Coalition and others to share those innovations.”
The legislation also establishes reporting requirements for WSU, WSDA, and the Commission to provide progress reports every other year on the state of the soil to the Legislature and the Governor beginning October 1, 2020.
Senator Judy Warnick also spoke in support of the bill, “For us to be able to work with the land grant university, WSU, and others to identify best practices I think is a good thing – especially for our agriculture producers.”
The bill now moves to the opposite chamber in the House. You can view the full floor debate on the bill below.