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Bill to Beat Citrus Greening Clears Senate Panel


A US Senate panel has approved legislation that would set up a trust fund to fight greening and other citrus diseases that have cost Florida billions of dollars.

Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson sponsored the measure that cleared the Senate Finance Commission Wednesday.

The trust fund would provide money mainly for research and development of ways to fight or cure citrus greening. It would be financed by tariffs on citrus imports that now go into the general treasury.

A University of Florida study released earlier this year said greening has cost the state's industry about $3.6 billion and about 6,611 jobs since 2006. Greening has hit crops in Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, Georgia, California and Texas.

Nelson says the next step will be to get the bill through the full Senate.

 

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