Bill Text: NY S04486 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Requires school districts to purchase food products that are grown, produced, harvested or processed in New York state; allows waiver if price of such local food products is not reasonably competitive; allows waiver if such food products are not available in sufficient quantity.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT [S04486 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-S04486-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                         4486--A
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    February 15, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sens.  MONTGOMERY,  KENNEDY,  LATIMER  -- read twice and
          ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on
          Local  Government  --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended,  ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
        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:
     1    Section  1. Subdivision 9 of section 103 of the general municipal law,
     2  as amended by chapter 269 of the laws of 2004, paragraph (a) as  amended
     3  by  chapter  62  of the laws of 2016, and subparagraph (ii) of paragraph
     4  (a) as amended by section 39 of part YYY of chapter 59 of  the  laws  of
     5  2017, is amended to read as follows:
     6    9.  Notwithstanding  the  foregoing  provisions of this section to the
     7  contrary, a board of education [may] shall,  on  behalf  of  its  school
     8  district,  [separately  purchase  eggs,  livestock, fish, dairy products
     9  (excluding milk), juice, grains, and species of fresh fruit and  vegeta-
    10  bles  directly from New York State producers or growers, or associations
    11  of producers and growers] require that essential components of all  food
    12  products purchased are grown, produced or harvested in New York state or
    13  that  any  processing  of  such  food  products take place in facilities
    14  located within New York state, provided that:
    15    (a) (i) [such] a board of education may only  purchase  food  products
    16  from an association of producers or growers that produces or grows eggs,
    17  livestock,  fish,  dairy  products  (excluding milk), juice, grains, and
    18  species of fresh fruit and vegetables, is  comprised  of  ten  or  fewer
    19  owners  of  farms  who  also operate such farms and who have combined to
    20  fill the order of a  school  district  as  herein  authorized,  provided
    21  however,  that a school district may apply to the commissioner of educa-
    22  tion for permission to purchase from an association  of  more  than  ten
    23  owners  of such farms when no other producers or growers have offered to
    24  sell to such school; or
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07918-03-7
        S. 4486--A                          2
     1    (ii) [such] a board of education may only purchase food products  from
     2  an  association  of  producers  or  growers that produces or grows eggs,
     3  livestock, fish, dairy products (excluding  milk),  juice,  grains,  and
     4  species  of  fresh fruit and vegetables, is comprised of owners of farms
     5  who  also  operate  such  farms and have combined to fill the order of a
     6  school district, and where such order is for fifty thousand  dollars  or
     7  less  as herein authorized, provided however, that a school district may
     8  apply to the commissioner of education for permission to purchase orders
     9  of more than fifty thousand dollars from an  association  of  owners  of
    10  such  farms  when  no other producers or growers have offered to sell to
    11  such school;
    12    (b) [the amount that may be expended  by  a  school  district  in  any
    13  fiscal year for such purchases shall not exceed an amount equal to twen-
    14  ty  cents  multiplied  by  the  total  number of days in the school year
    15  multiplied by the total enrollment of such school district;
    16    (c)] upon determination by a board of education that the cost of  such
    17  food  products is not reasonably competitive, the specifications requir-
    18  ing such purchase shall be waived for that specific food  product  until
    19  the next contract for such food product is let out for bid. For purposes
    20  of this subdivision "reasonably competitive" shall mean that the cost of
    21  the  New York state grown, produced, harvested or processed food product
    22  does not exceed a cost premium of ten percent above the cost of a compa-
    23  rable product that is not grown, produced, harvested or processed in New
    24  York state.
    25    (c) upon determination by a board of education that such food products
    26  are not available in sufficient quantity for purchasing, the  specifica-
    27  tions  requiring  such  purchase  shall be waived for that specific food
    28  product until the next contract for such food product  is  let  out  for
    29  bid.
    30    (d)  all  such purchases shall be administered pursuant to regulations
    31  promulgated by the commissioner of education. Such regulations shall: be
    32  developed in consultation  with  the  commissioner  of  agriculture  and
    33  markets  to accommodate and promote the provisions of the farm-to-school
    34  program established pursuant to  subdivision  five-b  of  [the]  section
    35  sixteen of the agriculture and markets law and subdivision thirty-one of
    36  section  three hundred five of the education law as added by chapter two
    37  of the laws of two thousand [two] one; ensure that the prices paid by  a
    38  district for any items so purchased do not exceed the prices of compara-
    39  ble  local  farm  products that are available to districts through their
    40  usual purchases of such items; ensure that all producers and growers who
    41  desire to sell to school districts can  readily  access  information  in
    42  accordance  with  the  farm-to-school  law; include provisions for situ-
    43  ations when more than one producer or grower  seeks  to  sell  the  same
    44  product  to a district to ensure that all such producers or growers have
    45  an equitable opportunity to do so in  a  manner  similar  to  the  usual
    46  purchasing  practices of such districts; develop guidelines for approval
    47  of purchases of items from associations of more  than  ten  growers  and
    48  producers;  and,  to the maximum extent practicable, minimize additional
    49  paperwork, recordkeeping and other similar requirements on both  growers
    50  and producers and school districts.
    51    §  2.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall apply to the
    52  academic school year commencing on or after July 1, 2017; provided that,
    53  effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule
    54  or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effec-
    55  tive date are authorized and directed to be made  and  completed  on  or
    56  before such effective date.