New York State Assembly

 
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A08492 Summary:

A08492 Actions:

A08492 Committee Votes:

Committee:AGRICULTURE   Chair:Magee      
DATE:06/19/2017AYE/NAY:20/0  Action: Favorable refer to committee Ways and Means        
Magee
Aye
Blankenbush
Aye
Lifton
Aye
Butler
Aye
Gunther
Aye
Crouch
Aye
Benedetto
Aye
Finch
Excused
Rosenthal
Aye
Hawley
Aye
Jenne
Aye
Lopez
Aye
Bronson
Aye
Rivera
Excused
Simanowitz
Excused
Skartados
Aye
Barrett
Aye
Stirpe
Aye
Santabarbara
Aye
Sepulveda
Aye
Skoufis
Aye
Woerner
Aye
Jones
Aye

Committee:WAYS AND MEANS   Chair:Farrell      
DATE:06/19/2017AYE/NAY:34/0  Action: Favorable refer to committee Rules        
Farrell
Aye
Oaks
Aye
Lentol
Aye
Crouch
Aye
Schimminger
Aye
Barclay
Aye
Gantt
Aye
Fitzpatrick
Aye
Weinstein
Aye
Hawley
Aye
Glick
Aye
Malliotakis
Aye
Nolan
Aye
Walter
Aye
Pretlow
Aye
Montesano
Aye
Perry
Aye
Curran
Aye
Colton
Aye
Ra
Aye
Cook
Aye
Cahill
Aye
Aubry
Aye
Hooper
Aye
Thiele
Aye
Cusick
Aye
Ortiz
Aye
Benedetto
Aye
Moya
Aye
Weprin
Aye
Rodriguez
Excused
Ramos
Aye
Braunstein
Aye
McDonald
Aye
Rozic
Aye

Committee:RULES   Chair:Heastie      
DATE:06/20/2017AYE/NAY:27/0  Action: Favorable         
Heastie
Aye
Kolb
Aye
Gottfried
Aye
Oaks
Aye
Lentol
Aye
Butler
Excused
Farrell
Aye
Crouch
Aye
Gantt
Aye
Finch
Excused
Nolan
Excused
Barclay
Aye
Weinstein
Aye
Raia
Aye
Hooper
Aye
Hawley
Aye
Ortiz
Aye
Pretlow
Aye
Cook
Aye
Glick
Aye
Morelle
Aye
Aubry
Aye
Englebright
Aye
Dinowitz
Aye
Colton
Aye
Magnarelli
Aye
Perry
Aye
Galef
Aye
Paulin
Aye
Titus
Excused
Peoples-Stokes
Aye

A08492 Floor Votes:

A08492 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
 submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)



 
BILL NUMBER: A8492
 
SPONSOR: Magee

 
TITLE OF BILL:
 
An act to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to the
financial security requirements for small business milk dealers and
increasing the minimum farm products sales threshold for requiring a
farm products dealer license and security
 
 
PURPOSE OF THE BILL:
 
The purpose of this bill is to modify the Agriculture and Markets Law
(AML) to relieve unnecessary licensing and financial security require-
ments for small business milk and farm products dealers. The bill would
eliminate nuisance fees for milk receiver and testing licenses; and
revise the financial security requirements for small business milk deal-
ers. The bill would also increase the minimum sales threshold for
licensing and security under the farm products dealer provisions of AML
Article 20 from $10,000 to $20,000.
 
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
 
Section 1 of the bill amends AML § 57(4) to remove nuisance license fees
of $2.00 and $5.00 for a milk receiver's license.
 
Section 2 of the bill amends AML § 57-a to remove nuisance license fees
of $2.00 and $5.00 for a milk testing license.
 
Section 3 of the bill amends AML § 244(2)(b) to increase the minimum
sales threshold for licensing and security under the farm products deal-
er provisions of AML Article 20 from $10,000 to $20,000.
 
Section 4 of the bill amends AML § 250(1)(b) to remove the farm products
sales category of $10,000 - $19,999 and the corresponding fee of $100.

Section 5 of the bill amends AML § 258-b(1) by adding a new paragraph
(d) to authorize the Commissioner to, upon an application of a small
milk dealer (i.e., one who purchases less than 100,000 pounds of milk
per month), waive the security requirements of AML § 258-b (Milk Produc-
ers Security Fund). The new paragraph would also allow claims to be
filed against such milk dealers under the same process currently
provided for in § 258-b; provided, however, any claims that are certi-
fied for payment shall be paid from license fees collected under AML §
258-a. Defaulting small milk dealers would continue to be liable for
reimbursement of claims paid as provided for in § 258-b.
 
 
JUSTIFICATION:
 
 
SMALL BUSINESS MILK DEALERS -
 
The Department charges Milk Receivers a $5.00 fee for a five-year
license, and a $2.00 renewal fee for each five-year license after that.
The administrative costs to collect and process these fees exceed the
fees. These fees should, therefore, be eliminated.
 
Small business milk dealers that purchase a relatively small amount of
milk from New York State producers or cooperatives are required to
provide financial security. The administrative effort required of these
dealers and the Department is significant, and provides little addi-
tional benefit to New York producers. Waiver of the security requirement
for small dealers, and authority to utilize license fee revenues to
provide this security in place of these small contributions, would
improve the efficiency of the program. Producer claims are rare occur-
rences, and claims from small dealers are even rarer. The Department
would still be able to seek restitution from the defaulting dealer in
the unlikely event of a claim.
 
 
SMALL BUSINESS FARM PRODUCTS DEALERS - The purchase threshold for a
farm products dealer license was increased from $3,000 to $10,000 in
1997, almost 20 years ago. The existing law requires low volume, low
risk Farm Products Dealers to submit to an extensive, detailed licensing
process, imposing burdens on both the dealers and the Department. By
increasing the minimum purchase threshold, dealers would save time and
money; and the program would be able to operate more efficiently due to
a lower intake of license applications from dealers that do not contrib-
ute a substantial amount to the fund and are generally considered low
risk. Currently, there are only 20 licenses in the entire state that
fall in between $10,000-$20,000 in annual purchases. Since 2010, there
has not been a single claim filed against a dealer in this purchase
range.
 
There would be no added costs of implementing this change. It would
result in increased efficiency, which should lower the administration
fees charged to the program.
 
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new proposal.
 
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
 
None expected.
 
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
The amendments take effect upon enactment.

A08492 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          8492
 
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                      June 16, 2017
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M. of A. MAGEE -- (at request of the Department of Agri-
          culture and Markets) -- read once and referred  to  the  Committee  on
          Agriculture
 
        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  agriculture and markets law, in relation to the
          financial security requirements for small business  milk  dealers  and
          increasing  the  minimum farm products sales threshold for requiring a
          farm products dealer license and security
 
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. The opening paragraph of subdivision 4 of section 57 of the
     2  agriculture  and  markets  law, as amended by chapter 596 of the laws of
     3  1986, is amended to read as follows:
     4    Application for a license, or licenses  shall  be  made  upon  a  form
     5  prescribed by the commissioner. The applicant shall furnish satisfactory
     6  evidence of good moral character, and shall give proof of his ability to
     7  perform  the  functions for which a license is applied, to the satisfac-
     8  tion of the commissioner. [The applicant shall pay a license fee of five
     9  dollars to the commissioner for remittance to the state  treasury.]  The
    10  commissioner, in his discretion, may combine in one license authority to
    11  perform any of the functions for which a license is required pursuant to
    12  the  provisions  of  subdivisions one, two and three of this section.  A
    13  license shall be for a period not  exceeding  five  years,  and  may  be
    14  renewed,  in  the discretion of the commissioner, for successive periods
    15  of not exceeding five years each [upon payment of a license fee  of  two
    16  dollars to the commissioner for remittance to the state treasury].
    17    §  2. The first undesignated paragraph of section 57-a of the agricul-
    18  ture and markets law, as amended by chapter 149 of the laws of 1969,  is
    19  amended to read as follows:
    20    No  person  shall  test  milk  and/or  cream in order to determine the
    21  bacterial or leucocyte count or make other tests to determine the  pres-
    22  ence or absence of abnormal milk, where the results of such test affects
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD09990-02-7
        A. 8492                             2
 
     1  the  rate  of  payment  to  the producer for such milk and/or cream, the
     2  classification of milk and/or cream as received from  the  producer,  or
     3  the acceptance or rejection of such milk and/or cream by the operator of
     4  a  milk-receiving or manufacturing plant, unless licensed by the commis-
     5  sioner.  Application  for  such  license  shall  be  made  upon  a  form
     6  prescribed by the commissioner. The applicant shall furnish satisfactory
     7  evidence  of  good moral character, and shall demonstrate his ability to
     8  make such tests by an examination under the direction of the commission-
     9  er. [The applicant shall pay a  license  fee  of  five  dollars  to  the
    10  commissioner  for  remittance to the state treasury.] A license shall be
    11  for a period not exceeding five years. A license may be renewed  in  the
    12  discretion  of  the commissioner, without an examination, for successive
    13  periods of not exceeding five years each [upon payment of a license  fee
    14  of  two  dollars  to the commissioner for remittance to the state treas-
    15  ury].
    16    § 3. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 of section 244 of the  agriculture
    17  and markets law, as added by chapter 367 of the laws of 1996, is amended
    18  to read as follows:
    19    (b)  The  licensing, bonding and stated grape price provisions of this
    20  article shall not apply to:   (i) any person whose  annual  dealings  in
    21  farm products do not exceed the sum of [ten] twenty thousand dollars; or
    22  (ii)  any agricultural cooperative with respect to the receipt, process-
    23  ing and marketing of grapes or grape products of its producer members or
    24  non-members of  such  cooperative  on  the  basis  of  their  patronage,
    25  provided,  however,  that the annual purchase of grape or grape products
    26  from non-members of such cooperative shall not exceed  the  sum  of  one
    27  hundred thousand dollars; or (iii) a charitable not-for-profit organiza-
    28  tion which receives for distribution donated farm salvage, as defined in
    29  section two hundred seventeen of this chapter.
    30    §  4. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 250 of the agriculture
    31  and markets law, as added by chapter 367 of the laws of 1996, is amended
    32  to read as follows:
    33    (b) In addition to the bond or letter of credit  required  by  section
    34  two  hundred forty-eight of this article, a fee for deposit in the agri-
    35  cultural producers security fund shall be paid annually to  the  commis-
    36  sioner  at the time application is made for a license. Such fee shall be
    37  determined on the basis of the annual dollar volume of purchases of farm
    38  products as shown in the application for license under this  article  in
    39  accordance with the following schedule:
    40             Annual Volume                    Fee
    41        $5,000,000 and over               $2,500
    42         3,000,000 - 4,999,999             1,750
    43         1,000,000 - 2,999,999             1,000
    44           500,000 - 999,999                 750
    45           300,000 - 499,999                 500
    46            50,000 - 299,999                 300
    47            20,000 - 49,999                  200
    48            [10,000 - 19,999]               [100]
    49    § 5. Subdivision 1 of section 258-b of the agriculture and markets law
    50  is amended by adding a new paragraph (d) to read as follows:
    51    (d)  Upon  an  application  of  a  dealer, and pursuant to regulations
    52  promulgated to effectuate the provisions of  this  paragraph,  a  dealer
    53  that  purchases  less than one hundred thousand pounds of milk per month
    54  shall not be subject to bond or assessment under the security provisions
    55  of this section when the commissioner waives such provisions.   Notwith-
    56  standing  such  waiver,  a claim may be filed and pursued against such a
        A. 8492                             3

     1  dealer as provided for in this section; and any claim that is  certified
     2  for  payment  by  the commissioner shall be paid from funds derived from
     3  license fees assessed upon milk dealers pursuant to section two  hundred
     4  fifty-eight-a of this article.
     5    The defaulting dealer shall be liable for reimbursement to the commis-
     6  sioner for the value of the claim in the same manner as if the claim was
     7  paid  out  of  the milk producers security fund as provided for in para-
     8  graph (e) of subdivision five of this section.
     9    § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.

A08492 LFIN:

 
NO LFIN