Help Stop Florida Bills (SB 290 / HB 433) Attacking Free Speech on Pesticide Harms!

Action Inactive—

Section 48 was stripped from SB 290 after a hearing in the Senate Rules Committee on February 10, 2026. Section 47 was stripped from HB 433 on February 24, 2026.

Thank you for taking action! [For Florida residents]

Help stop legislation in Florida (SB 290/HB 433) that will disempower members of the public from speaking out against the potential hazards of pesticide and fertilizer products!

Beyond Pesticides is a national, grassroots organization that represents community-based organizations and people nationwide seeking to eliminate the use of petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers while promoting alternative pest management strategies.

Section 48 of SB 290 was added to this piece of legislation on January 15, 2026, and Section 47 of HB 433 was added on January 17, 2026.

While Section 48 was stripped from SB 290 after a hearing in the Senate Rules Committee on February 10, 2026. HB 433 was reported out of the Agriculture & Natural Resources Budget Subcommittee on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, despite public scrutiny. The bill was referred to the House State Affairs Committee, with a hearing likely at a moment's notice!

Update [February 25, 2026]—HB 433 was amended on February 24, removing Section 47. SB 290 was officially amended on February 12, removing Section 48, and subsequently kept out of the final version that was passed in the Senate (referred to formally as “In Messages”) and transmitted to the House on February 19. Thank you to those who took action!

The bill will subject people to defamation lawsuits and discussion of the hazards of pesticide residues on food.

If this legislation were to pass, it would strike a blow for consumer safety, scientific integrity, and free speech. As we all know, there is broad disagreement among regulators and scientists about the adverse effects of pesticides and the inadequacy of the regulatory review process to fully assess harm. For example, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified Roundup/glyphosate as a Group 2A “probable” carcinogen (see Daily News here); in contrast, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has maintained the position that it is not. (See Daily News here.) This poses just one example of how this bill will open the door to frivolous litigation.

There is extensive scientific literature on EPA's deficiencies in evaluating for endocrine disruption, mixtures and synergistic effects, impacts on vulnerable populations, multigenerational effects, and disproportionate risk. Industry allies regularly cite the EPA regulatory process as the gold standard among national regulatory bodies while simultaneously disparaging or disregarding the independent scientific literature process. The contradictions have been made even clearer with the retraction of a seminal academic paper on November 26, 2025, that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cited in 2017 when reviewing the human health assessment and carcinogenicity classification for the herbicide active ingredient, which is slated for a final review in 2026. (See Daily News here.)

The problem at hand is the inclusion of Section 48 in a modified version of the bill as of January 15, 2026 (and Section 47 of HB 433 as of January 17, 2026), changing the definition of "agricultural food product" to also include "any agricultural practices used in the production of such products." Public health and environmental advocates harken back to attempts in other states, like Colorado in 1991, to change libel law to punish free speech for those concerned about vegetable production.

This effort is indirectly related to German-owned Bayer-Monsanto and other petrochemical-based pesticide manufacturers' intensifying efforts following last year's introduction of bills in twelve states. We mobilized last year, and we were able to defeat bills in ten states. A broad coalition, including Beyond Pesticides and over fifty organizations, coalitions, businesses, and leaders, continues to call on Congress not to include Section 453 language in any piece of federal legislation in the upcoming fiscal year. As of January 26, 2026, bills have been introduced in six states while decision-makers in D.C. follow the industry's playbook in federal legislative packages as well as in front of the Supreme Court.

The focus of Sections 48 and 47 are to protect corporations, not Floridians, at a time when health care and grocery costs are skyrocketing while people continue to get sick. Talk about the dangerous precedent of shooting the messenger, rather than the message itself!

>> Please ask your state Senator to OPPOSE Section 48 of SB 290 and Representative to OPPOSE Section 47 of HB 433 by clicking here.

Thank you!

The Targets for this Action are Senators and Representatives in the state legislature of Florida.

Thank you for your active participation and engagement! The Action is a multi-step process, so please click submit below to proceed to step two, where you will be able to personalize comments before final submission. The comment maximum limit is 4,000 characters, so it may be necessary to delete some of our prepared message text if editing.

Letter to Florida Senate: [Updated on February 11, 2026]

I am writing to ask you to urge your colleagues in the House to oppose inclusion of Section 47 of HB 433, that attacks the right of concerned consumers to speak out about peer-reviewed, independent science on the adverse health effects of pesticides.

If this bill were to pass, it would strike a blow to free speech on food safety and First Amendment rights more broadly. The contradictions have been made even more clear with the retraction of a seminal academic paper on November 26, 2025, that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cited in 2017 when reviewing the human health assessment and carcinogenicity classification for the herbicide active ingredient, which is slated for a final review in 2026.

If these bills were to pass, it would strike a blow for consumer safety, scientific integrity, and free speech. As we all know, there is broad disagreement among regulators and scientists about the adverse effects of pesticides and the inadequacy of the regulatory review process to assess harm. For example, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified Roundup/glyphosate as a Group 2A “probable” carcinogen; in contrast, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has maintained the position that it is not. This poses just one example of how this bill will open the door to frivolous litigation. Talk about the dangerous precedent of shooting the messenger, rather than the message itself!

The focus of Section 47 is to protect corporations, not Floridians, at a time when health care and grocery costs are skyrocketing while people continue to get sick.

Please urge your colleagues to oppose Section 47 of HB 433 and ensure that those who are harmed by toxic products are able to hold chemical companies accountable for the potential harms their products cause.

Thank you!

Letter to Florida House Committee on State Affairs: [Updated on February 4, 2026]

I am writing to ask you to oppose inclusion of Section 47 in HB 433, that attacks the right of concerned consumers to speak out about peer-reviewed, independent science on the adverse health effects of pesticides. As a member of the House State Affairs Committee, you have the opportunity to take a stand to ensure that this bill is not passed with language that is an attack on free speech.

The focus of Section 47 is to protect corporations, not Floridians, at a time when health care and grocery costs are skyrocketing while people continue to get sick.

Please oppose Section 47 of HB 433 and ensure that those who are harmed by toxic products are able to hold chemical companies accountable for the potential harms their products cause.

Thank you!

Letter to Florida House: [Updated on January 26, 2026]

The focus of Section 47 is to protect corporations, not Floridians, at a time when health care and grocery costs are skyrocketing while people continue to get sick.

Please oppose Section 47 of HB 433 and ensure that those who are harmed by toxic products are able to hold chemical companies accountable for the potential harms their products cause.

Thank you!

Letter to Florida Senate: [Updated on January 26, 2026—Deactivated on February 11, 2026]

The focus of Section 48 is to protect corporations, not Floridians, at a time when health care and grocery costs are skyrocketing while people continue to get sick.

Please oppose Section 48 of SB 290 and ensure that those who are harmed by toxic products are able to hold chemical companies accountable for the potential harms their products cause.

Thank you!

Letter to Florida Senate Rules Committee: [Updated on January 26, 2026—Deactivated on February 11, 2026]

I am writing to ask you to oppose inclusion of Section 48 in SB 290, that attacks the right of concerned consumers to speak out about peer-reviewed, independent science on the adverse health effects of pesticides. As a member of the Senate Rules Committee, you have the opportunity to take a stand to ensure that this bill is not passed with language that is an attack on free speech.

The focus of Section 48 is to protect corporations, not Floridians, at a time when health care and grocery costs are skyrocketing while people continue to get sick.

Please oppose Section 48 of SB 290 and ensure that those who are harmed by toxic products are able to hold chemical companies accountable for the potential harms their products cause.

Thank you!