Food Fight Fund to help state battle lawsuit
MONTPELIER – When Gov. Peter Shumlin signed the first-in-the-nation genetically modified food labeling law, he also launched a first-of-its-kind fund, designed to help fight the anticipated lawsuit that foes filed last week.
As of Friday afternoon, people from around the country had chipped $17,225 into the "Vermont Food Fight Fund," said Sarah Clark, deputy finance commissioner. There was a slight uptick in interest Friday following the filing of the lawsuit, she said.
In hopes of giving the fund another spurt, Shumlin plans to speak at a Food Fight Fund rally Monday afternoon at the Ben & Jerry's shop on Church Street in Burlington. The Vermont Right to Know Coalition urged supporters Friday via social media to donate.
Vermont has a variety of special funds to pay for state programs, but this one is unusual. Never before has the state set up a fund to take donations to defend a law.
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"I'm not aware of anything along these lines," said Administration Secretary Jeb Spaulding. "It's essentially a defense fund to help pay for the cost of defending the state in a lawsuit. I think it's a pretty clever idea the Legislature had."
Lawmakers established the fund as part of the labeling law after hearing that people around the world wanted to help Vermont fight any legal challenge the law might face.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents more than 300 food companies, last week joined with the Snack Food Association, International Dairy Foods Association and the National Association of Manufacturers, to sue Vermont over a law they argue will make them label products counter to their own beliefs. Attorney General Bill Sorrell has estimated defending the law could cost up to $8 million.
The lawsuit cites the fund as fodder for opponents of the law. "The State's unwillingness to use its own funds to administer and defend Act 120 is express confirmation that Vermont does not have a 'state' interest in the survival of the law," the lawsuit said.
While legislators came up with the idea for the fund, the Shumlin administration jumped on it. As Shumlin signed the bill into law May 8, he simultaneously unveiled a website where people could donate and tagged the fund with a catchy, if tongue-twisting, name.
"We thought, hey, we need to be a little marketing savvy," Spaulding said.
At a gathering on the Statehouse steps to sign the bill, Shumlin encouraged supporters to join the food fight by donating at www.foodfightfundvt.org.
"We're proud today, in addition to signing this bill, to launch the Vermont Food Fight Fund," Shumlin said. "We are asking people all across America and all across the great state of Vermont to go to foodfightfundvt.org and make a donation so that we can win the Vermont food fight fund fight not only for Vermont but for America."
The website allows contributors to donate by credit card and provides an address where people may send a check to the state. Clark said some would-be donors have had trouble with the online system, but state officials hope they have that worked out.
In creating the fund, legislators specified that the money could be used to pay for the state's defense against a lawsuit but also to administer the law, which includes work the Attorney General's Office is doing to establish rules for the labeling of products. The law states that the attorney general should detail the money needed for implementing the law in next year's budget request.
As of July 2018, any money collected from the donations that turns out to be unnecessary for legal defense must be used for agricultural purposes, according to the law. Spaulding said that makes it pretty clear the administration can't raid the fund for other uses.
The law also calls for the fund to receive up to $1.5 million in legal settlements that the Attorney General's Office collects and are not already targeted elsewhere in state government. The Legislature may also appropriate money from the General Fund.