by Margy Eckelkamp, The Scoop magazine
Springfield, IL — Illinois lawmakers have passed a bill to amend the pesticide applicator licensing process. In what’s expected to be in place by 2027, the current exam renewal required every three years will be replaced instead with continuing education requirements.
“It’s finally good to be on offense down at the Illinois State Capitol rather than being on defense,” says Kevin Johnson, president of the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association, the organization which initiated the legislation.
The bill passed the Illinois Senate 50-4 and the state house 116-0.
“That’s not usual. Many ag bills in the state of Illinois don’t get those kind of kind of numbers, so we’re proud of that,” Johnson says. Now, it’s on to Gov. Pritzker’s desk for consideration to be signed into law; he has 90 days to act.
There are more than 36,000 registered pesticide applicators in Illinois — of which 11,000 are farmers.
In the potential new process, for the initial license issued by the state’s department of agriculture, a first-time applicant would need to pass the 100-question exam. Then, going forward, they could renew their status via the continuing education requirement.
“We have been an outlier for quite a few years. A lot of states have done this for 20 years,” Johnson says. “Our applicators are specifically asking for this, and so this has been a thing that we’ve worked on many years.”
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