Senate Bill S8708

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Requires that certain transportation facilities operated by public authorities implement traveler-friendly concession pricing

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Transportation 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

Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 07, 2026	referred to transportation

2025-S8708 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Transportation
Law Section:: General Business Law
Laws Affected:: Add §397-c, Gen Bus L

2025-S8708 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires that certain transportation facilities operated by public authorities implement traveler-friendly concession pricing which is no more than the average retail price of such items at similar commercial establishments within a certain radius; authorizes the office of the comptroller to conduct random audits and to enforce such pricing requirements.

2025-S8708 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8708

SPONSOR: HINCHEY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the general business law, in relation to requiring
certain transportation facilities operated by public authorities to
implement traveler-friendly concession pricing policies

 
PURPOSE:

To require all vendors in publicly operated transportation facilities to
use street pricing for the products that they sell to the general
public.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 adds a new section 397-c to the general business law requiring
all transportation facilities operated by a public authority to create
policies requiring vendors to use "traveler-friendly concession pric-
ing." For the purposes of this bill, "traveler-friendly concession pric-
ing" is defined as no more than the average street price of the item

sold at similar commercial establishments within a 10-mile radius of the
facility. This section also requires public authorities to submit an
annual report to the comptroller detailing average concession prices,
comparable local market prices and evidence of compliance by vendors.

Section 2 states the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The cost of traveling has climbed in recent years. Flights, hotels and
transportation have all become more expensive, but these are costs that
people can anticipate, plan for, and seek out options to fit their budg-
ets. One cost they can't avoid is the price of food and drinks at travel
facilities, especially in airports where people cannot exit once they've
gone through security. There have been reports of extreme price gouging
such as people being charged as much as $27 for a single beer at
airports,* Pricing like this drives up costs for people who are simply
trying to get from one place to another, whether commuting or for
personal travel.

The Port Authority has taken steps to curb this unfair practice: in 2022
they issued guidance to limit airport concession prices to 10% of the
street price in the surrounding area. This bill continues this common-
sense position by putting this requirement into statute and expanding it
to cover all transportation facilities in the state that are operated by
public authorities, including train stations and thruway rest stops. By
requiring prices to be closer to street value, this legislation will
help make travel more affordable for everyone.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Minimal.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law.
*https://www.cbsnews.com/news/beer-airport-27-laguardia-org/

2025-S8708 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8708
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              January 7, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. HINCHEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation
 
 AN ACT to amend the general  business  law,  in  relation  to  requiring
   certain  transportation  facilities  operated by public authorities to
   implement traveler-friendly concession pricing policies

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section
 397-c to read as follows:
   §  397-C. TRAVELER-FRIENDLY CONCESSION PRICING. 1. FOR THE PURPOSES OF
 THIS SECTION, THE FOLLOWING TERMS SHALL HAVE THE FOLLOWING MEANINGS:
   (A) "TRANSPORTATION FACILITY" SHALL MEAN ANY RAPID  TRANSIT,  COMMUTER
 RAILROAD,  OMNIBUS, MARINE, AIRPORT AND AVIATION FACILITY OR ANY THRUWAY
 REST AREAS, SERVICE AREAS OR WELCOME CENTERS WITHIN THE STATE.
   (B) "TRAVELER-FRIENDLY CONCESSION PRICING" SHALL MEAN THE  PRICING  OF
 FOOD  AND  BEVERAGES  AT  RATES NO MORE THAN THE AVERAGE RETAIL PRICE OF
 SUCH ITEMS AT SIMILAR COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS WITHIN A TEN-MILE  RADI-
 US.
   (C) "SIMILAR COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENT" SHALL MEAN A VENDOR NOT LOCATED
 WITHIN  THE  TRANSPORTATION  FACILITY THAT IS COMPARABLE WITH THE VENDOR
 LOCATED  WITHIN  THE  TRANSPORTATION  FACILITY  IN  TERMS  OF   CONCEPT,
 LOCATION, PRICE RATING, AND CATEGORY DESIGNATION.
   2.  (A)  ANY  TRANSPORTATION  FACILITY  THAT  IS  OPERATED BY A PUBLIC
 AUTHORITY SHALL BE REQUIRED  TO  ADOPT  A  TRAVELER-FRIENDLY  CONCESSION
 PRICING POLICY.
   (B)  SUCH PRICING POLICY SHALL APPLY TO ALL FOOD AND BEVERAGES SOLD BY
 VENDORS WITHIN THE FACILITY TO THE PUBLIC.
   (C) EACH PUBLIC AUTHORITY OPERATING A  TRANSPORTATION  FACILITY  SHALL
 SUBMIT  AN  ANNUAL  COMPLIANCE  REPORT TO THE OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER,
 DETAILING:
   (I) AVERAGE CONCESSION PRICES;
   (II) COMPARABLE LOCAL MARKET PRICES; AND
   (III) EVIDENCE OF COMPLIANCE BY VENDORS WITH THE STREET PRICING MODEL.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14222-03-6

 S. 8708                             2
 
   (D) THE OFFICE OF THE  COMPTROLLER  SHALL  BE  AUTHORIZED  TO  CONDUCT
 RANDOM AUDITS AND ENFORCE THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
 it  shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be  made  and
 completed on or before such effective date.

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.

Find your Senator and share your views on important issues.

Do you support this bill?

Senate Bill S8708

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Transportation Committee

Actions

2025-S8708 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S8708 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S8708 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S8708 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Do you support this bill?

Get Status Alerts for 2025-S8708

Senate Bill S8708

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Michelle Hinchey

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Transportation Committee

Actions

2025-S8708 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S8708 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S8708 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S8708 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments