S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
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6132--A
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
February 23, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. LIFTON, CROUCH, LOPEZ, BARRETT -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Education -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to requiring
school districts to purchase food products that are grown, produced,
harvested or processed in New York state
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivision 9 of section 103 of the general municipal law,
as amended by chapter 269 of the laws of 2004, paragraph (a) as amended
by chapter 62 of the laws of 2016, and subparagraph (ii) of paragraph
(a) as amended by section 39 of part YYY of chapter 59 of the laws of
2017, is amended to read as follows:
9. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section to the
contrary, a board of education [may] SHALL, on behalf of its school
district, [separately purchase eggs, livestock, fish, dairy products
(excluding milk), juice, grains, and species of fresh fruit and vegeta-
bles directly from New York State producers or growers, or associations
of producers and growers] REQUIRE THAT ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF ALL FOOD
PRODUCTS PURCHASED ARE GROWN, PRODUCED OR HARVESTED IN NEW YORK STATE OR
THAT ANY PROCESSING OF SUCH FOOD PRODUCTS TAKE PLACE IN FACILITIES
LOCATED WITHIN NEW YORK STATE, provided that:
(a) (i) [such] A BOARD OF EDUCATION MAY ONLY PURCHASE FOOD PRODUCTS
FROM AN association of producers or growers THAT PRODUCES OR GROWS EGGS,
LIVESTOCK, FISH, DAIRY PRODUCTS (EXCLUDING MILK), JUICE, GRAINS, AND
SPECIES OF FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLES, 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 educa-
tion for permission to purchase from an association of more than ten
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07918-04-7
A. 6132--A 2
owners of such farms when no other producers or growers have offered to
sell to such school; or
(ii) [such] A BOARD OF EDUCATION MAY ONLY PURCHASE FOOD PRODUCTS FROM
AN association of producers or growers THAT PRODUCES OR GROWS EGGS,
LIVESTOCK, FISH, DAIRY PRODUCTS (EXCLUDING MILK), JUICE, GRAINS, AND
SPECIES OF FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLES, 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 fifty 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 fifty thousand dollars from an association of owners of
such farms when no other producers or growers have offered to sell to
such school;
(b) [the amount that may be expended by a school district in any
fiscal year for such purchases shall not exceed an amount equal to twen-
ty cents multiplied by the total number of days in the school year
multiplied by the total enrollment of such school district;
(c)] UPON DETERMINATION BY A BOARD OF EDUCATION THAT THE COST OF SUCH
FOOD PRODUCTS IS NOT REASONABLY COMPETITIVE, THE SPECIFICATIONS REQUIR-
ING SUCH PURCHASE SHALL BE WAIVED FOR THAT SPECIFIC FOOD PRODUCT UNTIL
THE NEXT CONTRACT FOR SUCH FOOD PRODUCT IS LET OUT FOR BID. FOR PURPOSES
OF THIS SUBDIVISION "REASONABLY COMPETITIVE" SHALL MEAN THAT THE COST OF
THE NEW YORK STATE GROWN, PRODUCED, HARVESTED OR PROCESSED FOOD PRODUCT
DOES NOT EXCEED A COST PREMIUM OF TEN PERCENT ABOVE THE COST OF A COMPA-
RABLE PRODUCT THAT IS NOT GROWN, PRODUCED, HARVESTED OR PROCESSED IN NEW
YORK STATE.
(C) UPON DETERMINATION BY A BOARD OF EDUCATION THAT SUCH FOOD PRODUCTS
ARE NOT AVAILABLE IN SUFFICIENT QUANTITY FOR PURCHASING, THE SPECIFICA-
TIONS REQUIRING SUCH PURCHASE SHALL BE WAIVED FOR THAT SPECIFIC FOOD
PRODUCT UNTIL THE NEXT CONTRACT FOR SUCH FOOD PRODUCT IS LET OUT FOR
BID.
(D) all such purchases shall be administered pursuant to regulations
promulgated by the commissioner of education. Such regulations shall: be
developed in consultation with the commissioner of agriculture and
markets to accommodate and promote the provisions of the farm-to-school
program established pursuant to subdivision five-b of [the] section
sixteen of the agriculture and markets law and subdivision thirty-one of
section three hundred five of the education law as added by chapter two
of the laws of two thousand [two] ONE; ensure that the prices paid by a
district for any items so purchased do not exceed the prices of compara-
ble local farm products that are available to districts through their
usual purchases of such items; ensure that all producers and growers who
desire to sell to school districts can readily access information in
accordance with the farm-to-school law; include provisions for situ-
ations when more than one producer or grower seeks to sell the same
product to a district to ensure that all such producers or growers have
an equitable opportunity to do so in a manner similar to the usual
purchasing practices of such districts; develop guidelines for approval
of purchases of items from associations of more than ten growers and
producers; and, to the maximum extent practicable, minimize additional
paperwork, recordkeeping and other similar requirements on both growers
and producers and school districts.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to the
academic school year commencing on or after July 1, 2017; provided that,
effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule
or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effec-
A. 6132--A 3
tive date are authorized and directed to be made and completed on or
before such effective date.