Idahoans Deserve Accountability, Not Pesticide Immunity
Across the United States, an alarming legislative movement is gaining steam: bills that would grant legal immunity to pesticide manufacturers and shield them from certain lawsuits. While the corporations behind these bills are trying to frame the measures as a way to protect farmers and ensure access to pesticides, in reality the measures would undermine public health safeguards, erode individual rights, and take accountability off the table for pesticide manufacturers.
Idaho is no stranger to these bills. For years, ICL has fought tooth and nail to stop pesticide immunity legislation from passing in Idaho. With a proud agriculture heritage and economy, and with rural communities on the front lines of pesticide exposure, Idahoans should care deeply about what this effort means for the health and rights of our residents. Let’s dive into the potential impacts and the latest on what’s happening nationwide and here in Idaho.
What are Pesticide Immunity Bills?
Pesticide immunity bills are essentially designed to limit or eliminate the ability of individuals to sue pesticide manufacturers for harm caused by their products. There is an emphasis on products that carry labels approved under federal law, with most of these bills focusing on what’s known as “failure to warn” claims—lawsuits claiming that a company did not inform users about the health risks posed by their product. These claims are a vital tool for holding companies accountable when their products harm people.
What do these bills mean for public health?
One of the most immediate concerns this bill raises is around public health. Growing evidence links long-term exposure to various pesticides with serious health consequences, such as Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Parkinson's disease. When individuals, workers, or community members are harmed by these chemicals, the court system offers one of the few ways for real accountability and compensation. When immunity laws block these court claims, these people have nowhere to go. But it does more than help corporations avoid liability—it removes incentives for companies to revise labels or disclose emerging health risks and new scientific data becomes available.
What do these bills mean for individual rights?
Pesticide immunity bills also pose a threat to the rights of individuals to pursue justice. The right of individuals to pursue legal claims against companies where they are harmed is a cornerstone of society, and reinforces corporate accountability. Immunity laws would take away those rights, placing an additional burden on victims instead of the corporations that cause the harm.
When more power is taken away from everyday Idahoans and put into the hands of large corporations, the voices of our community members most directly exposed to pesticides—farmers, farmworkers, rural neighbors and families—are silenced.
What’s Happening Nationwide?
These bills are moving quickly across states and nationally. Legislatures in North Dakota and Georgia have already enacted laws effectively shielding pesticide manufacturers from some lawsuits. Similar proposals have also arisen in legislatures in Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Iowa, Missouri, and others.
At the federal level, H.R. 7567—the latest Farm Bill—contains a provision that would shield pesticide manufacturers nationwide from failure-to-warn lawsuits. The Farm bill is due to be voted on by the House of Representatives in the coming weeks. If it passes the House, it will move on to the Senate. Our focus here is clear: stop H.R. 7567.
Meanwhile, on February 18, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled “To Promote the National Defense BY Ensuring An Adequate Supply of Elemental Phosphorous and Glyphosate-Based Herbicides.” It calls for increased glyphosate production, which is significant; glyphosate sits at the center of roughly 180,000 failure-to-warn lawsuits against Bayer. ICL believes our government—both at the federal and state level—would be better protecting the rights and health of Americans, rather than giving corporations a get-out-of-jail card when their products knowingly harm people.
The Story in Idaho
Idaho was one of the first states where pesticide immunity bills were introduced. Legislation was introduced in both the 2024 and 2025 legislative sessions. However, all bills failed to pass due to opposition from both sides of the political spectrum.
To no one’s surprise, the pesticide industry did not disappear with this setback—they doubled down. ICL and our partners warned that similar bills would be reintroduced in future legislative sessions, and the issue remains alive today.
What Comes Next for Idaho?
So far no pesticide immunity legislation has been introduced in the 2026 session of the Idaho Legislature, but we remain concerned that a bill could be introduced and passed with very little notice.
Idaho’s fight against pesticide immunity legislation mirrors one seen across the country, where pesticide manufacturers secure the votes they need by financing political campaigns. We are in a critical stage, and Idahoans should pay close attention. This issue goes beyond farming—it impacts one’s right to seek justice, how we protect public health, and whether local communities keep their voice. Idaho has a choice: choose immunity for pesticide manufacturers, or choose the health and rights of Idahoans. To ICL, it’s a no brainer. We choose Idaho every single time. Tell your legislators to do the same.
Take Action at the national level! Tell decision makers to oppose the pesticide liability shield in the 2026 Farm Bill (HR 7567):
Take Action in Idaho! Protect Idahoans Public Health and tell your legislators to protect the public health of Idahoans:
