NY State Senate Bill 2019-S7925

Senate Bill S7925

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Relates to establishing a farm-to-school task force and requiring all public schools to provide fresh foods to students in a manner that supports local agriculture

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Agriculture Committee

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

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Mar 03, 2020	referred to agriculture

2019-S7925 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Agriculture
Law Section:: Agriculture and Markets Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §16, Ag & Mkts L; amd §305, Ed L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2021-2022: S1907
2023-2024: S337

2019-S7925 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Establishes a farm-to-school task force and directs the commissioner of education to develop a program to require all public schools to provide fresh foods to students in a manner that supports local agriculture.

2019-S7925 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S7925

SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to estab-
lishing a farm-to-school task force; and to amend the education law, in
relation to requiring all public schools to provide fresh foods to
students in a manner that supports local agriculture

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this legislation is to create a task force for urban and
rural agricultural regions to work with school food providers and farm-
ers to develop recommendations that will provide fresh foods in all New
York State public schools while supporting local agriculture.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 establishes a task force that will study and make recommenda-
tions on how to provide fresh foods in all school districts in New York

while supporting local agriculture. The task force will consist of 9
members who shall possess expertise in issues relating to the work of
the task force. The task force members shall be appointed as follows: 2
members by the governor, 2 members by the speaker of the assembly, 2
members by the temporary president of the senate, 1 member by the minor-
ity leader of the assembly, 1 member by the minority leader of the
senate, and the commissioner, or their designee, of the Department of
Agriculture and Markets. The commissioner, or their designee, shall
serve as the chairperson of the task force.

Section 2 amends Subdivision of Section 305 of the Education Law by
requiring the commissioner of the State Education Department to develop
a program based on the findings of the task force to require all school
districts to provide fresh foods to students in a manner that supports
local agriculture.

Section 3 is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

This bill will build a bridge between our state's schools and the bounty
of New York's farms. It will help us accomplish three major goals:
first, provide the best quality fruits and vegetables available to
schools in every school district in our state; second, help establish
healthy eating habits for children in their formative years; and third,
help guarantee the future of farming in New York.  This will be a
win/win situation for students, educators, school districts, and the
state's agricultural community.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
STATE AND LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of January succeeding the date
on which it shall have become a law.

2019-S7925 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7925
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               March 3, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Agriculture
 
 AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation  to  estab-
   lishing  a  farm-to-school task force; and to amend the education law,
   in relation to requiring all public schools to provide fresh foods  to
   students in a manner that supports local agriculture

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision 5-b  of  section  16  of  the  agriculture  and
 markets law is amended by adding a new paragraph (d) to read as follows:
   (D) ESTABLISH A TASK FORCE TO STUDY AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW TO
 PROVIDE  FRESH FOODS IN ALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN THE STATE WHILE SUPPORT-
 ING NEW YORK LOCAL AGRICULTURE. SUCH TASK FORCE  SHALL  BE  COMPOSED  OF
 NINE  MEMBERS WHO SHALL POSSESS EXPERTISE IN ISSUES RELATING TO THE WORK
 OF THE TASK FORCE. TWO MEMBERS SHALL BE APPOINTED BY THE  GOVERNOR,  TWO
 MEMBERS  SHALL  BE APPOINTED BY THE SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY, TWO MEMBERS
 SHALL BE APPOINTED BY THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE, ONE  MEMBER
 SHALL  BE  APPOINTED  BY THE MINORITY LEADER OF THE ASSEMBLY, ONE MEMBER
 SHALL BE APPOINTED BY THE MINORITY LEADER OF THE SENATE AND  ONE  MEMBER
 SHALL  BE  THE  COMMISSIONER OR HIS OR HER DESIGNEE. THE COMMISSIONER OR
 HIS OR HER DESIGNEE SHALL  SERVE  AS  CHAIRPERSON  OF  THE  TASK  FORCE.
 MEMBERS  OF  THE TASK FORCE SHALL BE APPOINTED NO LATER THAN ONE HUNDRED
 TWENTY DAYS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS PARAGRAPH. VACANCIES  SHALL
 BE  FILLED  WITHIN  THIRTY DAYS IN THE SAME MANNER PROVIDED FOR ORIGINAL
 APPOINTMENTS. NO LATER THAN ONE YEAR AFTER ALL INITIAL APPOINTMENTS HAVE
 BEEN MADE THE TASK FORCE SHALL MAKE A REPORT TO THE GOVERNOR, THE LEGIS-
 LATURE AND THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION OF  ITS  FINDINGS,  CONCLUSIONS
 AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
   §  2.  Subdivision 31 of section 305 of the education law, as added by
 chapter 2 of the laws of 2001, is amended to read as follows:
   31. The commissioner shall cooperate with the commissioner of agricul-
 ture and markets in establishing a farm-to-school program and coordinat-
 ing New York Harvest For New York Kids Week as described in  subdivision
 five-b  of  section  sixteen  of  the  agriculture  and markets law. The
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14389-03-0

 S. 7925                             2
 
 commissioner's responsibilities shall include, but not  be  limited  to,
 DEVELOPING A PROGRAM BASED ON THE FINDINGS OF THE TASK FORCE ESTABLISHED
 PURSUANT  TO  PARAGRAPH  (D) OF SUBDIVISION FIVE-B OF SECTION SIXTEEN OF
 THE  AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS LAW, TO REQUIRE ALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN THE
 STATE TO PROVIDE FRESH FOODS TO STUDENTS IN A MANNER THAT  SUPPORTS  NEW
 YORK  LOCAL  AGRICULTURE,  compiling  information  for the department of
 agriculture and markets from  school  districts  and  other  educational
 institutions  under the department's jurisdiction interested in purchas-
 ing New York farm products and  disseminating  to  those  districts  and
 institutions  information from the department of agriculture and markets
 about the availability of New York farm products, and  contact  informa-
 tion  for  farmers  and  other  businesses  marketing such products. The
 commissioner shall report to the legislature about the need for  changes
 in  law to facilitate the purchase of such products by schools and other
 institutions.
   § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of January next  succeed-
 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.