Today’s decision by the Department of Labor’s Farm Laborer Wage Board to maintain the 60 hour overtime threshold until at least next November is welcome news for farmers, farmworkers, and consumers across New York who have suffered greatly during this pandemic. Recent legislative action from Albany Democrats has already added significant new burdens to ailing family farms across our state. The last thing these farms needed were new costs that would drive more of our agriculture industry out of business.

While today’s announcement is positive, the reality is our farms are still under great strain. The Senate Republican Conference believes a vibrant agriculture industry is critical to the economic success of our state. We urge Leaders in Albany to reject any new burdens on our family farms and work with our Conference to advance solutions that will help grow this critical part of our state’s economy.

I thank the hundreds of farmers, farmworkers, and supporters who took the time to advocate on this issue and look forward to working with them to support New York agriculture in the future.