What’s In It for Agriculture: 2024 NY State Legislative Session Wrap Up
Offering a quick recap of some of the most interesting bills passed - and held - during this year’s legislative session.
Note: state Assemblymembers and state Senators are each elected to two year terms, and this year is the second in the two-year legislative cycle. This means any bill that was introduced in the last two years but not yet passed into law is wiped, and, if they are re-elected, returning legislators must resubmit these bills from scratch next year. Given the historic reaction to Governor Hochul’s “indefinite pause” on congestion pricing in New York City, there is a chance that the chambers could meet for an emergency session before the end of this calendar year. Primaries are scheduled for June 25.
Citing the New York Public Interest Research Group, Politico reported that the state Legislature collectively passed 805 bills this session, a drop from 896 bills passed last year.
Agriculture committee bills that passed in both chambers
The Assembly and Senate jointly passed 10 bills from their respective Agriculture committees this year.
A1234 (Lupardo)/ S1752 (Hinchey): Expands the definition of crops, livestock and livestock products to include cannabis
● A simple but necessary bill clarifying that cannabis is an agricultural product in New York and that cannabis growers are eligible for agricultural assessments and other protections afforded to agricultural producers. These protections include reductions in property tax. Cannabis growers in New York have continued to face hurdles with agriculture assessors since the passage of the 2019 bill legalizing recreational cannabis, and this bill would alleviate the administrative burden on these growers.
A9259 (Lupardo)/ S8690 (Hinchey): Expands the definition of surplus agricultural products and processed products for the purposes of the Nourish New York program
● Nourish New York is a boon for New York producers seeking markets for surplus product, and this bill specifically clarifies that milk may be included in this program. Given the importance of the dairy industry in New York, and the relative pricing of fluid milk compared to other dairy products, this clarification creates real opportunity for the NY dairy industry.
A9043 (Kelles)/ S7849 (May): Establishes the native plant seed supply, development and enhancement program
● A cool bill seeking to address shortages in the availability of native seeds in New York and encouraging the use of native plants in State projects where possible. Because this bill passed outside the state budget process, no funding is currently allocated. We’ll have to see if the governor is aligned with the administrative and financial requirements on the responsible executive agencies.
All other committee bills that passed in both chambers
A7264A (Peoples-Stokes)/ S6955A (Hinchey): Provides that certain purchase contracts to purchase food can be awarded to a qualified bidder who fulfills certain standards when such bid is not more than 10% higher than the lowest responsible bidder
● The “Good Food Purchasing” Bill allows public institutions to prioritize procurement from vendors who meet certain values-based requirements, so long as they charge no more than 10% more than the lowest responsible bidder. Currently, public institutions like hospitals and prisons must initiate contracts with the lowest bidding (cheapest) vendor in an effort to protect public dollars, but these contracts do not take into account potential negative externalities of low-bid contracts to the community, nor the potential positive externalities of investing in certain vendors who cannot match the low prices of large corporate vendors. The list of values includes those pertaining to local economies, environmental sustainability, racial equity, valued workforce, farmers first, animal welfare, and nutrition.
● The good food movement has been gaining momentum across the country, and organizations like the Center for Good Food Purchasing are reporting policy changes across the country which are similar to this bill.
● Challenges with implementation may hold this bill up with the governor. The devil is in the details like how each of these values are defined at a practical level. For example, according to the bill, achieving “environmental sustainability” requires that a producer meet a long list of criteria, including “contributing to improved soil health and increased carbon sequestration and storage, and achieving net short-term and long-term greenhouse gas benefits.” How will these things be measured, and by whom? Additionally, what kind of documentation will be required by vendors and by municipalities to prove that “good food” has been purchased, thereby triggering the 10% budget bump? Will that 10% bump be worth the paperwork?
A3132A (Lupardo)/ S2852A (Skoufis): Authorizes the direct intrastate and interstate shipment of alcoholic beverages
● In full transparency, I worked on this bill as a graduate intern with Assemblywoman Lupardo’s office. It’s a simple bill creating parity for direct-to-consumer shipping across alcohol industries. New York wine producers have had the freedom to direct ship their wine for years, and direct-to-consumer shipping of liquor was authorized during the COVID-19 pandemic without incident. This bill faced heavy opposition from distributors and some retailers, claiming the move would hurt sales. Direct-to-consumer shipping is expensive, especially considering shipping costs, making it unlikely that New York consumers will replace their regular runs to the liquor store (no shipping fees required); rather, direct-to-consumer shipping will allow for the expansion of the tourism economy when visitors make a special purchase at a favorite New York distiller or cidery (yes, cider is now authorized for shipping as part of this bill, as well). Direct-to-consumer shipping authorizes New York producers to now also sell to consumers outside of New York, so long as those states have parity laws. Post-prohibition era liquor law in the United States prevents a state from authorizing direct-to-consumer purchase in-state only (a violation of interstate commerce law).
● Less of a pure ag bill, but this bill supports the New York beverage market, including cideries, and distillers that have been hurting since COVID. Distributors may still kill the bill by lobbying for a veto from a governor, but if enacted into law, this bill could give distillers and cideries a necessary boost that may allow them to expand their investments in New York grown grains and apples, respectively.
A9711 (Zebrowski)/ S8898 (Krueger): Enacts the tropical rainforest economic & environmental sustainability act and establishes the supply chain transparency assistance program
● The TREES Act, or “Tropical Rainforest Economic & Environmental Sustainability Act”
● Very curious to see if this survives a veto. This bill’s agricultural impact relates primarily to agricultural producers in regions with tropical rainforests and those companies which sell these products to New York State. These products might include beef, for example, which is taken from cattle ranged on rainforest land that was razed and converted to grazing land. It is notoriously difficult for some companies with complex supply chains to truly know if their products are coming from specific plots of land - a beef importer may know that the beef comes from Brazil, but not from what plot of land in Brazil, for example.
A9403A (Santabarbara)/ S9797 (Parker): Relates to the use of property in a land bank for community gardens
● Updates New York code to specifically include “community gardens” as a recommended use for land made available through public land banks. Reading the bill memo, it’s interesting to see the impact that the recent surge in awareness and appreciation for urban agriculture is having on lawmakers.
Related & timely policy issues
Congestion pricing
Governor Kathy Hochul dropped a metaphorical bomb during the last week of session, famously already the busiest week for legislators outside of budget season. Congestion pricing would charge a toll to drive below 60th Street in Manhattan - during peak hours that toll would be $15 for passenger vehicles and up to $36 for commercial trucks depending on their size. There’s no denying that these fees would have been felt by the agriculture sector, at least as a result of higher fees incurred by distributors. The governor placed a “temporary pause” on the program mere weeks before its planned implementation, potentially killing the program and retaining the status quo for distributors and producers.
Cannabis
Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) Executive Director Chris Alexander formally submitted his resignation to Governor Hochul the Friday before the final week of session. OCM has been plagued by missteps, delayed, and blame cast at its leaders for poor management. In a recent example, this article, published on June 11, outlines concerns raised by the OCM about predatory lending schemes being offered to future cannabis retailers.
OCM was charged with the roll out of New York’s cannabis law legalizing recreational cannabis consumption, passed in 2019. Today, OCM’s website reports only 132 legal dispensaries across the entire state while potentially thousands of illicit shops proliferate. This slow roll out has limited the market for New York’s cannabis growers and retailers, many of whom qualify as economically or socially disadvantaged in the eyes of the state or who suffered from cannabis convictions prior to the 2019 law (the exact people the law intended to help with its specific social equity provisions). Many of New York’s growers, especially smaller producers, are struggling with costs incurred trying to increase production of a crop they are now sitting on with no place to sell.
The following bills did not pass both chambers this year, but may be resurrected as new bills during the 2025 - 2025 legislative session.
Passed the Senate, not the Assembly
A5322 (Glick)/ S4246 (Harckham): Enacts the "packaging reduction and recycling infrastructure act"
● Also called “extended producer responsibility,” this bill is openly opposed by the Farm Bureau, stating “the bill would be an economic burden on dairy processors.”
A4424B (Reyes)/ S213 (Myrie): Relates to food and food product advertising
● This bill intends to protect children from junk food companies targeting them with false or misleading advertisements. The original law amended in this bill (subdivision 1 of section 2599-b of the public health law) is clearly aligned with corporate food producer emphasis on balanced diets that do not describe any one food as better than another. Changing this approach would upend decades of industry lobbying and funding, and I applaud the effort; however, more grassroots mobilization and coalition-building may be necessary before this bill sees the light of day in the Assembly or on the governor’s desk.
A3786A (Gunther)/ S1056 (Hinchey): Relates to land used in agricultural production
● Current agricultural assessment law requires a farming enterprise to be in operation for 2 years before being awarded an agricultural assessment and commensurate benefits. This bill would allow farmers in their first and second year to receive the agricultural assessment and only lose it if, on the third year, they have failed to reach revenue thresholds. This bill could lower the barrier to entry for new farming ventures, but will require careful implementation by the Department of Agriculture and Markets.
A6613 (Cruz)/ S2415 (Bailey): Establishes the office of urban agriculture
● Would develop a new office within the Department of Agriculture and Markets devoted to urban agriculture issues. I envision this as being similar to the work done by the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production at the USDA. Challenges lie in funding such an office to give it real power to support urban growers above and beyond the existing Ag and Markets team based in NYC. However, better coordination across the Department is required for urban agriculture to reach its true potential in New York, as outlined in Recommendation 2 of the New York State Urban Ag report I co-authored, published in 2023.
A5919 (Barrett)/ S4270 (Parker): Relates to establishing a carbon farming tax credit for farmers
● Agricultural carbon markets are a hot topic right now and could create real benefits for farmers, though questions remain related to the offsets that might be required if the total emissions of the agricultural sector were counted and considered. Keeping my eye on this topic.
Passed neither chamber
A6353A (Glick)/ S237C (May): Relates to returnable bottles; repealer
● The “Better Bottle Bill” would increase the bottle deposit from the current 5-cents to 10-cents, potentially doubling the funds from unclaimed deposit returns that go to the State’s Environmental Protection Fund (EPF). These funds can then be used to finance sustainability initiatives. This bill expands the program to include wine, spirits, hard cider, and most non-carbonated beverage containers. Advocates for the bill argue that deposit rates have not kept up with inflation, limiting the year-over-year impact of the EPF. But New York-based alcoholic beverage producers are crying foul - keeping my eye on this one as well.
Sources:
Jack O’Donnell’s June 3 Monday Morning Memo: https://memo.odonnellsolutions.com/p/june-3-2024
New York Times, June 3: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/03/nyregion/albany-legislature-plastics.html?u2g=i&unlocked_article_code=1.w00.WSxG.BogRBY9A93CV&smid=url-share
For coverage of chemical industry lobbying from NY Focus: https://nysfocus.com/2023/06/08/chemical-industry-steps-up-lobbying-as-new-york-weighs-major-waste-bill
Assembly Spikes Biggest Climate Proposal in New York Budget, April 2024: https://nysfocus.com/2024/04/19/new-york-heat-act-state-budget
NY Farm Bureau discusses end of session bills :https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/politics/2024/05/24/new-york-farm-bureau-discusses-end-of-session-bills
New York May Be First State to Have Values-Based Food Purchasing: https://foodtank.com/news/2022/07/new-york-may-be-first-state-to-have-values-based-food-purchasing/
More of the Better Bottle Bill from Surfrider: https://nyc.surfrider.org/better-bottle-bill