NY State Senate Bill S6731

Archive: Last Bill Status Via A6182 - Signed by Governor

Introduced
In Committee
On Floor Calendar
- Passed Senate
- Passed Assembly
Delivered to Governor
Signed by Governor

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Actions

view actions (12)

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jun 08, 2016	approval memo.2 signed chap.62
May 27, 2016	delivered to governor
May 24, 2016	returned to assembly passed senate 3rd reading cal.824 substituted for s6731
May 24, 2016	substituted by a6182
May 18, 2016	advanced to third reading
May 17, 2016	2nd report cal.
May 16, 2016	1st report cal.824
Feb 11, 2016	referred to local government

Votes

Co-Sponsors

S6731 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A6182
Law Section:: General Municipal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §103, Gen Muni L
Versions Introduced in 2013-2014 Legislative Session:: A9946

S6731 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Authorizes school districts to order from certain farmers without requiring a waiver.

S6731 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

 BILL NUMBER:  S6731

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation to authorizing
school districts to order from certain farmers without requiring a
waiver

 PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL :

This bill amends General Municipal Law to allow school districts to
purchase from associations of ten or fewer producers or growers or to
make purchases of less than 25,000.00 without applying for permission
from the Commissioner of Education.

 SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS :

Section 1 - amends the General Municipal Law to allow school districts
to purchase from an association of growers or producers of ten or
fewer farm owners or to make a purchase of $25,000.00 or less without
applying for permission from the Commissioner of Education. In the
situation the association is greater than ten producers or growers and
no other producers or growers have offered to sell to the school, then
the school district may apply for permission from the Commissioner of
Education. In addition, if the purchase is greater than $25,000.00 and
no other producers or growers have offered to sell to the school, then

the school district may apply for permission from the Commissioner of
Education.

 JUSTIFICATION :

This bill encourages schools to purchase local food products. Not only
does this help local growers and producers, but it also grants
students access to healthier and fresher foods. Further, it allows
schools to act in a more socially and environmentally conscious
manner, while uniting with the regional community.

New York State agriculture is primarily comprised of small farms, as
defined by the United States Department of Agriculture. This diversity
of smaller farms and thus smaller product yields means that in order
to sell to institutions like a school district, the farmers must
collaborate to aggregate their products and thus have the higher
volume for an extended season that school districts prefer. This
cooperation is supported by the State of New York. In 2013 New York
State backed the development of food hubs, which encourage farmers to
work together cooperatively to grow and produce food to lower
production and distribution costs. This bill fosters the development
of our smaller farms by allowing these collaborating family farm
operations to sell to local school districts by making the process
clearer and more efficient.

The current General Municipal Law requires that school districts apply
for permission from the Commissioner of Education to purchase food
such as eggs, livestock, fish, or dairy products from separate growers
and producers if there are more than ten growers or producers in the
association. This application process can be burdensome to smaller
school districts and contradicts current food hub programming by
discouraging purchases from cooperatives or food hubs.

Current law makes purchasing locally difficult and fails to promote
the current farm-to-school program. By amending current law to allow
schools to make purchases of less than $25,000.00 from groups of
growers and producers of more than ten without applying for
permission, schools will have easier access to local agricultural
products. This amendment will help New York State continue to meet its
goal of maximizing investment in the agricultural sector.
 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

New bill.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately.

S6731 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  6731

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            February 11, 2016
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  RANZENHOFER -- read twice and ordered printed, and
  when printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government

AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in  relation  to  authorizing
  school  districts  to  order  from certain farmers without requiring a
  waiver

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 9 of section 103 of the gener-
al  municipal  law,  as  amended  by chapter 269 of the laws of 2004, is
amended to read as follows:
  (a) (I) such association of producers or growers is comprised  of  ten
or  fewer  owners  of  farms  who  also  operate such farms and who have
combined to fill the order of a school district  as  herein  authorized,
provided  however,  that a school district may apply to the commissioner
of education for permission to purchase from an association of more than
ten owners of such farms when no other producers or growers have offered
to sell to such school; OR
  (II) SUCH ASSOCIATION OF PRODUCERS OR GROWERS IS COMPRISED  OF  OWNERS
OF FARMS WHO ALSO OPERATE SUCH FARMS AND HAVE COMBINED TO FILL THE ORDER
OF  A  SCHOOL DISTRICT, AND WHERE SUCH ORDER IS FOR TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND
DOLLARS OR LESS AS HEREIN AUTHORIZED, PROVIDED HOWEVER,  THAT  A  SCHOOL
DISTRICT  MAY  APPLY  TO THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION FOR PERMISSION TO
PURCHASE ORDERS OF MORE THAN TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS FROM AN  ASSO-
CIATION  OF OWNERS OF SUCH FARMS WHEN NO OTHER PRODUCERS OR GROWERS HAVE
OFFERED TO SELL TO SUCH SCHOOL;
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.



 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD09853-01-5

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The New York State Senate

senate Bill S6731

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status Via A6182 - Signed by Governor

Your Voice

Actions

Votes

May 24, 2016 - floor Vote

Floor Vote: May 24, 2016

May 16, 2016 - Local Government committee Vote

Local Government Committee Vote: May 16, 2016

Co-Sponsors

S6731 (ACTIVE) - Details

S6731 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S6731 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S6731 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

senate Bill S6731

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Sponsored By

Michael H. Ranzenhofer

Archive: Last Bill Status Via A6182 - Signed by Governor

Your Voice

Actions

Votes

May 24, 2016 - floor Vote

Floor Vote: May 24, 2016

May 16, 2016 - Local Government committee Vote

Local Government Committee Vote: May 16, 2016

Co-Sponsors

Fred Akshar

Patrick M. Gallivan

Terrence Murphy

Robert G. Ortt

S6731 (ACTIVE) - Details

S6731 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S6731 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S6731 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments