FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Rep. Raymond Smith Votes to Bankrupt Family Farms

Raleigh – Today Rep. Raymond Smith sponsored an amendment to Senate Bill 605, the 2021 Farm Act, that would impede family farms from safely cleaning up waste by adding unnecessary costs to comply with regulations.

In 2019, Rep. Smith walked off the floor from voting for the 2019 Farm Act, but not before he unsuccessfully voted to amend it to make it easier for out-of-state trial lawyers to sue family farms, bankrupting those farms in the process.

North Carolina Republican House Caucus Director Stephen Wiley said, “Since being elected in 2018, Rep. Raymond Smith has demonstrated time and again his disdain for the thousands of farmers he represents in Raleigh. At least today he had the decency to put his name on an amendment to drive up costs on farmers rather than hide in a hallway the first time a difficult vote came up in 2019.”