Bill Text: NY A05020 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Expands the FreshConnect program, which provides rebates for the purchase of local produce to certain people, to include local produce sold in supermarkets and grocery stores.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-2)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-06-10 - substituted by s1780a [A05020 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A05020-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         5020--A

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 27, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. HYNDMAN, GIBBS, HUNTER, EPSTEIN, WOERNER, LEVEN-
          BERG, SIMON, TAPIA, BLUMENCRANZ,  CHANG,  JACKSON  --  read  once  and
          referred to the Committee on Agriculture -- committee discharged, bill
          amended,  ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
          tee

        AN ACT to incentivize the purchase of local produce in supermarkets  and
          grocery stores through the FreshConnect program

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. (a) For the purposes of this act the following terms  shall
     2  have the following meanings:
     3    (i)  "local  produce" means produce grown by a producer with the pride
     4  of New York symbol of the business claiming the local produce tax credit
     5  within the state of New York, from  seed  or  conception  through  final
     6  product.
     7    (ii)  "producer"  means  an individual, whether acting individually or
     8  through a cooperative, corporation, partnership,  business  association,
     9  or  educational institution, who is a farmer, student farmer or manufac-
    10  turer of foods or goods in  New  York  state.  It  shall  not,  however,
    11  include a wholesaler or distributor.
    12    (iii) "supermarket" or "grocery store" means a retail store at a given
    13  location  devoted  to  the  sale of foods, food stuffs and groceries for
    14  human consumption regularly and customarily sold in a bona  fide  manner
    15  for  consumption off of the premises. The following shall not be consid-
    16  ered supermarkets or grocery  stores  for  the  purposes  of  this  act:
    17  hotels,  motels, restaurants, cafeterias, bakeries, caterers, hospitals,
    18  assisted  living  facilities,  independent  living  facilities,  nursing
    19  homes,  hospices,  group  homes,  drug stores, educational institutions,
    20  food courts in shopping malls,  food  retailers  at  airports  or  other
    21  transportation  facilities,  gas stations, sports arenas, movie theaters
    22  or any other similar establishments.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04967-02-3
        A. 5020--A                          2

     1    (b) The commissioner of  agriculture  and  markets  shall  expand  the
     2  FreshConnect  program, which improves access to local produce by provid-
     3  ing certain people with two dollar rebates to be used for  the  purchase
     4  of  further  local  produce  for  every  two  dollars  of  local produce
     5  purchased,  to  include  local  produce sold in supermarkets and grocery
     6  stores.
     7    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
     8  it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition,  amend-
     9  ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
    10  tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made on or
    11  before such date.