By Rick Zimmerman and Margaret Laggis
State legislatures commenced for the 2022 session on the first week of January, and will operate for four to six months depending on the state. In New York and Vermont, Governors Hochul (NY) and Scott (VT) delivered their State of the State address on the same day, and both offered optimistic outlooks towards the new year. Now that the partying and platitudes are over, the respective state legislatures get down to the hard part of creating a budget and implementing their legislative agendas. The push and pull between the Governor’s office and the legislature is an expected element in this democratic process.
In New York, Gov. Hochul offered three tax credits as a boost to New York farmers. Doubling the workforce retention tax credit to $1200 per employee, and increasing the investment tax credit for farmers to help soften the blow of trying to farm in a high tax state such as New York. In addition, Gov. Hochul proposed a tax credit to offset overtime wage payments to farmworkers if the overtime threshold falls below the current 60 hours per week. This new, unorthodox approach to addressing a very controversial issue (see overtime article in this newsletter) is being evaluated by the agriculture community, while the Farm Laborers Wage Board continues its hearings on the overtime threshold question.
In the meantime, the proposed state budget for the new fiscal year beginning April 1, 2022, was released by the Governor’s office. Legislators, lobbyists, and special interest groups are plowing their way through hundreds of pages to see what the budget holds for the year. Agricultural program priorities such as PRO-DAIRY, FarmNet, Farm Viability Institute, and Integrated Pest Management will receive time and attention from NEAFA and other agricultural trade associations to inform lawmakers of their funding priorities and encourage their support. NEAFA will be lobbying for its priorities on February 1st.
The threat of pesticide bans, particularly neonicotinoids, remains high in New York. The State Senate passed legislation in 2021 that would ban the use of neonics as seed coatings and prevent their use in landscape and horticultural applications. The bill died in the Assembly, but they may come back with their own version of a neonic ban following an eight-hour hearing on the issue last September. In the meantime, farmers and their agribusiness partners continue to remind lawmakers that these important insecticides play a critical role in getting seedlings out of the ground.
In Montpelier, unlike Albany, the State Capitol is not locked down to only lawmakers and their staff. The Vermont Statehouse is open to anyone, with the House in a hybrid situation where some members are in the building for committee meetings, but the majority are not. There are strict number limits for people in each committee room or the cafeteria. Floor sessions are all remote. The Senate remains remote. Zoom is the preferred virtual platform for communication with lawmakers, and NEAFA reps are making their presence known.
There are several policy issues coming the way of Vermont’s farmers, and most are positive. Vermont will use a portion of its Covid relief dollars to help support Vermont farmers in meeting water quality goals. They are also setting up the Pay for Performance program that will pay Vermont farmers to exceed regulatory standards on phosphorus reductions. There is also the Payment for Ecosystem Services program that may start in the next year or so. This is another opportunity for Vermont farmers to reap some benefit from all their hard work in being great caretakers of their land. The Task Force on the Future of Dairy in Vermont has laid out some plans that will help Vermont farmers take advantage of Covid relief dollars to pay for premiums and participate in risk management programs. This task force also recommended that the State look at ways to boost local manufacturing of dairy products. This can be done by locating subsidized or affordable housing near where manufacturing hubs exists, and by assist with automating some of those plants to help with the serious labor issues being faced by numerous industries.
The House Agriculture committee is looking at Maine’s milk payment program to see if there is a way to create something similar that would work in the Green Mountain State. Vermont continues to work on some creative immigration programs that might be able to ease current labor challenges.