“Seed Libraries” bill passes Illinois Senate

By Ryne Turke on April 25, 2016 at 12:47pm

The Illinois Senate has passed legislation to protect gardeners from what is being called government overreach.

Sponsored by Senator Sam McCann, Senate Bill 3130 would exempt free-to-use seed libraries from regulations developed for large-scale commercial seed companies. This would include seed testing, record keeping and labeling, according to a press release.

An amendment to Senate Bill 3130 was added by McCann stating, “seed libraries may adopt labeling/record keeping standards, but shall provide this information at the request of the Department (of Agriculture) if an investigation into an alleged violation has occurred.”

McCann feels this bill will help protect gardeners without increasing the threat of spreading weeds.

The legislation now heads to the Illinois House for consideration.