Kentucky Medical Freedom Coalition - SB199: What Happened in Kentucky

SB199: What Happened in Kentucky

May 13, 2026 12:06 PM | Kentucky Medical Freedom Coalition (Administrator)

During the 2026 legislative session, the Kentucky General Assembly unfortunately passed SB199 an act relating to pesticide labeling. The passage of SB199 makes Kentucky the third state in the nation to pass some version of this legislation following North Dakota and Georgia.

SB199 provided immunity to pesticide manufacturers against “failure-to-warn” claims. In its original form, SB199 applied to any substance deemed a pesticide by the EPA, which is nearly 60,000 products, including a multitude of household cleaners and sanitizers, rodent control, and much more. After heavy pushback, the bill was amended to apply to products that contain an agricultural use requirements label, and this is the version that passed into law. It is unclear how much the “agricultural use” label requirement limits the scope of the bill, but it presumably at least somewhat reduces the number of applicable substances.

The bill’s primary sponsor was Senator Jason Howell (R) chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee and co-sponsored by Senator Craig Richardson (R).

Once the bill was assigned to the Senate Agriculture committee on February 27, it was extremely fast-tracked through the legislative process. It was heard at the very next Senate Agriculture Committee meeting on March 3, had three separate readings on the floor, and passed on the Senate floor on March 5. It was assigned to the House Agriculture Committee on March 9, and passed out of that committee March 11. It had its three readings and passed on the House floor on March 17 with an amendment. The Senate concurred with the House amendment on March March 19. The governor has up to 10 days to decide whether or not to veto a bill, and Governor Andy Beshear vetoed SB199 on March 31. The Senate overrode the governor’s veto on the same day, and the House overrode the veto the following day, April 1.

This bill was never discussed during the interim period between legislative sessions when legislators take time to study issues, yet it was deemed important enough to move through the legislative process at lightning speed.

So how did this bill gain passage in Kentucky?

An entity known as Modern Ag Alliance has championed pesticide manufacturer immunity in states around the country as well as at the federal level. Modern Ag Alliance was founded by Bayer (owner of Monsanto) in 2024. Bayer has a vested interest in this legislation after being hit with hundreds of lawsuits regarding their product Round-Up. On Bayer’s website under “Managing the Roundup Litigation,” it plainly states:

“Bayer has joined together with a diverse coalition of more than 360 grower and industry groups at the federal level and 85+ supporters of the Modern Ag Alliance, a coalition of agricultural groups at state level, to advocate for the uniformity of labeling laws. Bayer will continue to engage with policymakers to achieve legislative certainty around the force of labeling regulations in the U.S. Federal and state governments should pass legislation which stands by federal labeling laws and honors the rigorous scientific analysis of the safety of agricultural products conducted by the EPA. Farmers rely on Roundup, a critical tool they have used for 50 years and has consistently been found to be safe by independent regulatory bodies worldwide. Without additional legislative certainty, the efforts of the litigation industry threaten to drive up food costs and potentially impact Bayer’s leading R&D programs and other important investments which are essential to solving some of the world’s most important problems.”

Gaining immunity against “failure-to-warn” claims by convincing states to pass legislation is literally part of Bayer’s publicly stated strategy to deal with their massive amounts of litigation.

Modern Ag Alliance registered to lobby in Kentucky from January 2026 through August 2026, reporting expenses paid for their executive director to lobby in the Commonwealth from January through the end of April. Their largest expense was reported in March 2026, the same month that SB199 began rapidly advancing though the legislature.

The Strategy

While Modern Ag Alliance was present in Kentucky, additional pressure on legislators came from the Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation (KFBF) and individual farmers activated by KFBF. One of the organization’s stated policy objectives for 2026 was, “Support labeling legislation for agricultural inputs to ensure availability of products that have been approved by EPA.” Translated: protect pesticides at all cost, even if it means farmers will be left with no recourse when harmed by known, undisclosed dangers of the products.

From KMFC’s perspective, it appeared that KFBF activated their network of farmers around the state and asked them to make direct contact with state legislators. Agriculture is a major industry in Kentucky, and legislators listen when farmers call them. Legislators repeatedly stated that they were hearing from farmers in their districts that they MUST have this bill passed or else their entire livelihoods would be decimated if they were to lose access to “crop protection tools,” with Roundup being the only “tool” mentioned specifically by farmers. Essentially, the story was that if Bayer kept being sued and having to pay out millions upon millions in settlements, the company may eventually stop making Roundup accessible to farmers. This, in turn, would decimate farming in Kentucky which has apparently become wholly reliant on this chemical. These cries from farmers came despite statements Bayer was making to its shareholders about its plans to maintain dominance in the Americas market.

It sounded an awful lot like someone had convinced Kentucky farmers that Bayer was being sued unjustly, and that Bayer was going to take Roundup off the market in the USA. Hmmmm.

Several legislators shared with KMFC what they were hearing directly from the mouths of farmers. When some legislators asked farmers if they knew that the bill did not apply JUST to Roundup, but applied to nearly 60,000 products regulated by the EPA, the farmers had no idea. The Kentucky farming community was spoon-fed talking points by a trusted source, and they accepted that what they were being told was accurate.

At the end of this post, we have linked to all of the testimony that was presented on SB199 so that you can hear the claims for yourself.

How Legislators Voted

Below we have included information on the committee and floor votes on SB199.

Full Floor Vote History

Senate Agriculture Committee Vote - 3/3/26

9 Yea, 3 Nay, 0 Pass

Yea (9)

Sen. Gary Boswell
Sen. Jared Carpenter
Sen. Matthew Deneen
Sen. Matt Nunn
Sen. Aaron Reed
Sen. Craig Richardson
Sen. Robin L. Webb
Sen. Mike Wilson
Sen. Jason Howell (Chair)

Nay (3)

Sen. Gary Clemons
Sen. Shelley Funke Frommeyer
Sen. Reginald L. Thomas

Pass: none

Senate Floor Vote - 3/5/26

PASS SB 199 — Yeas 23, Nays 13, Not Voting 2

Yeas (23)

Boswell, Carpenter, Carroll, Deneen, Douglas, Elkins, Girdler, Givens, Howell, Madon, McDaniel, Meredith, Mills, Nemes, Nunn, Reed, Richardson, Smith, Stivers, Webb, Williams, Wilson, Wise

Nays (13)

Berg, Chambers Armstrong, Clemons, Funke Frommeyer, Herron, Neal, Raque Adams, Rawlings, Storm, Thomas, Tichenor, West, Wheeler

Not Voting (2)

Higdon, Mays Bledsoe

House Agriculture Committee Vote - 3/11/26

13 Yes

Ryan Bivens
Daniel Fister
Chris Freeland
David Hale
Kim King
Matthew Koch
Shawn McPherson
J.T. Payne
Michael Pollock
Nancy Tate
Walker Thomas
James Tipton
Myron Dossett (Chair)

5 No

Chad Aull
Anne Donworth
Adam Moore
Sarah Stalker
Joshua Watkins

2 Pass:

Kim Holloway
Candy Massaroni

2 Did not vote (absent):

Mark Hart
Felicia Rabourn

House Floor Vote- 3/17/26

Pass — Yeas 53, Nays 37, Abstained 0, Not Voting 1

Yeas (53)

Bauman, Bivens, Blanton, Bowling, Branscum, Bratcher S., Bray, Bridges, Dossett, Dotson, Elliott, Fister, Flannery, Freeland, Fugate, Gooch, Gordon, Griffee, Hale, Hampton, Hart, Heavrin, Holloway, Huff T., Imes, Jackson, Johnson, King, Koch, Lewis C., Lewis D., Lewis S., McCool, McPherson, Meade, Meredith, Miles, Neighbors, Nemes, Osborne, Payne, Petrie, Pollock, Raymer, Rudy, Sharp, Smith, Tate, Thomas, Tipton, Truett, Upchurch, Williams

Nays (37)

Aull, Baker, Banta, Bojanowski, Burke, Camuel, Chester-Burton, Clines, Dietz, Doan, Donworth, Fleming, Gentry, Grossberg, Grossl, Hancock, Kulkarni, Lawrence, Lehman, Lockett, Maddox, Marzian, Moore, Moser, Proctor, Rabourn, Roberts, Roarx, Stalker, Stevenson P., Tackett Laferty, Thompson, White, Willner, Wilson, Witten

Abstained: none

Not Voting (10)

Brown, Calloway, Decker, Duvall, Hodgson, Massaroni, Riley, Watkins, Wesley, Whitaker

These entities supported SB199.

Entities that Lobbied SB199

These are entities that reported lobbying in some way regarding SB199. Reports do not list whether the lobbying was for or against a particular bill. (KMFC isn't listed because we don't currently have a registered, paid lobbyist. There were possibly other organizations not listed for the same reason.) We have placed an asterisk * by each entity that we know lobbied against the bill.

Kentucky Conservation Committee*

Kentucky Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co

Kentucky Resources Council*

Kentucky Thoroughbred Association

Sierra Club*

Weston A Price Foundation*

Commonwealth Agri-Energy

Farm Credit Mid-America

H&R Agri-Power

Kentucky Association of Electrical Cooperatives

Kentucky Justice Association*

Kentucky Poultry Federation