WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor
Preamble

WHEREAS, Maryland has received national recognition for its foresight in
establishing the Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation and for the Foundation's
success in preserving agricultural land; and

WHEREAS, Since the inception of the Agricultural Land Preservation
Foundation in 1977, approximately 79,482 acres of agricultural land have been
preserved, financed primarily through the agricultural land transfer tax; and

WHEREAS, The 1989 Maryland General Assembly appointed the Joint
Subcommittee on Program Open Space and Agricultural Land Preservation during the
1989 Interim to reassess, reevaluate, and improve Maryland's efforts to preserve
farmland; and

WHEREAS, The General Assembly finds that development pressure comprises
a threat to Maryland's agricultural resources such that: (1) a total of 194,125 acres of
prime farmland have been lost to development since 1982; and (2) the Office of
Planning estimates that the agricultural property loss by the year 2020 will amount to
another 400,000 acres, thereby bringing Maryland's total farmland production acreage
to roughly 2.15 million acres—an amount of acreage that the American Farmland Trust
warns is dangerously close to the 2 million acres needed in Maryland to sustain a viable
agricultural industry; and

WHEREAS, The General Assembly finds that participation in Maryland's
Agricultural Land Preservation Program is impacted by prices offered by developers for
farmland; and

WHEREAS, Certain counties have developed their own innovative programs
that seek to protect farmland; and

WHEREAS, The General Assembly finds that counties able to effectively
preserve farmland on the local level should be given the resources to do so out of
existing Foundation funds; and

WHEREAS, The General Assembly reasserts its strong commitment to
preserving agricultural land in Maryland on a perpetual basis due to: (1) the positive
economic contribution of the agricultural industry; and (2) the important role of
farming in creating a quality environment; and

WHEREAS, The 1990 Maryland General Assembly sets forth in this Act a
comprehensive legislative proposal designed to enhance and strengthen Maryland's
agricultural preservation efforts, consistent with and responsive to the findings of the
Joint Subcommittee; now, therefore,

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That the Laws of Maryland read as follows:

Article - State Finance and Procurement

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