Bill Text: NY S00584 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Enacts the "food retail establishment subsidization for healthy communities act" (FRESH Communities); provides loans, loan guarantees, interest subsidies and grants to businesses, municipalities, not-for-profit corporations or local development corporations for the purpose of attracting, maintaining or permitting the expansion of food retail establishments in underserved areas.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-07-22 - referred to economic development [S00584 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S00584-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         584--A

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 9, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced by Sens. KENNEDY, CARLUCCI, METZGER -- read twice and ordered
          printed,  and  when printed to be committed to the Committee on Corpo-
          rations, Authorities and Commissions -- recommitted to  the  Committee
          on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions in accordance with Senate
          Rule  6,  sec.  8  --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended,  ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the New York state urban development corporation act, in
          relation to enacting the food retail establishment  subsidization  for
          healthy communities (FRESH Communities) act

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

     1    Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may  be  cited  as
     2  the  "food  retail  establishment  subsidization for healthy communities
     3  act".
     4    § 2. Legislative intent. The legislature finds that the lack of access
     5  to fresh foods is a problem  of  growing  concern  in  many  communities
     6  across  the state. Substantial increases in urban land values and rents,
     7  limited access to financing and other economic pressures have left  many
     8  lower-income residents in urban and rural areas underserved by supermar-
     9  kets  and other food retail establishments. The resulting lack of access
    10  to a variety of fresh food retailers makes it more difficult and  expen-
    11  sive  for  these residents to maintain a nutritionally balanced diet and
    12  leads to increased public health costs,  dilutes  the  value  of  public
    13  assistance  for food purchases, leads to greater travel times and energy
    14  expenditures to obtain fresh food, and deprives the state's  farmers  of
    15  markets for their products. Providing access to financial assistance for
    16  urban  and  rural  supermarkets  in  underserved areas will remedy these
    17  adverse conditions, create employment opportunities and help to revital-
    18  ize and stabilize currently underserved neighborhoods.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02774-02-0
        S. 584--A                           2

     1    § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 16-m of section 1 of chapter 174 of  the
     2  laws  of  1968, constituting the New York state urban development corpo-
     3  ration act, is amended by adding a new paragraph (o) to read as follows:
     4    (o)  Loans,  loan  guarantees,  interest subsidies and grants to busi-
     5  nesses, municipalities, not-for-profit corporations or local development
     6  corporations for the purpose of attracting,  maintaining  or  permitting
     7  the  expansion  of food retail establishments in underserved areas.  The
     8  corporation shall consider the economic viability of the project and the
     9  potential impact on the community when evaluating applications for  such
    10  loans,  loan  guarantees, interest subsidies and grants. The corporation
    11  shall establish performance indicators to assess  the  progress  of  the
    12  projects receiving monies pursuant to the authorization provided in this
    13  paragraph,  and  track and publish this information on its website.  For
    14  purposes of this paragraph, "underserved areas"  shall  include  low  or
    15  moderate-income census tracts, areas of below average supermarket densi-
    16  ty  or  having  a supermarket customer base with more than fifty percent
    17  living in low-income census tracts, or other areas demonstrated to  have
    18  significant  access limitations due to travel distance, as determined by
    19  the corporation, and "food retail establishments" shall  include  super-
    20  markets and other grocery retailers that operate on a self-service basis
    21  and  sell  a  minimum  percentage,  as determined by the corporation, of
    22  produce, meat, poultry, seafood, baked goods and/or dairy  products  and
    23  which:
    24    (i) participate in the New York grown and certified program;
    25    (ii)  accept  payment  from  electronic  benefit  transfer through the
    26  supplemental  nutrition  assistance  program  and  through  the  special
    27  supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children;
    28    (iii) do not charge a membership fee; and
    29    (iv)  hire residents living within a twenty mile radius of such retail
    30  food establishment.
    31    § 4.  This act shall take effect on the first of April next succeeding
    32  the date on which it shall have become a law; provided, however that the
    33  urban development corporation shall be immediately  authorized  to  take
    34  any  and  all  actions  necessary  to  fully  implement the provision of
    35  section three of this act on or before such effective date; and provided
    36  further, that the amendments to section 16-m of  the  urban  development
    37  corporation  act  made by section three of this act shall not affect the
    38  expiration of such section and shall be deemed to expire therewith.