George Borrello

State Senator George Borrello has proposed legislation that would eliminate the three-member Farm Laborers Wage Board.

The Farm Laborers Wage Board was established as part of the Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act (FLFPA) passed in 2019.

The Wage Board is charged with making a recommendation on reducing the current 60-hour overtime threshold for farm workers to 40 hours. In January, after numerous public hearings on the issue that included testimony from farmers, farm workers and industry stakeholders, the board recommended lowering the threshold, despite the fact that more than 70 percent of the testimony conveyed the harm that would be caused by such a change.

Borrello, a ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, issued a statement saying, “The Wage Board has just one member with an agricultural background, making it ill-equipped to render sound, informed decisions concerning New York State’s critically-important agriculture industry. The fact that the Board ignored the vast majority of testimony, as well as data from a Cornell study that found a lower threshold would hurt both farmers and farm workers, indicates the process was more optics than anything else. Regardless, a decision of this magnitude should not rest with three unelected, unaccountable individuals, which is why this legislation is necessary.”

Senator Borrello noted that the Wage Board is set to reconvene on September 6 to present its final report regarding the overtime recommendations. With many legislators calling for a special session before the end of the summer to tackle crime and inflation, there is potential to address this issue before the board’s scheduled meeting.

Assemblyman Chris Tague, ranking member of the Assembly Agriculture Committee, is sponsoring companion legislation in the lower house.

State Senator George Borrello calls for the elimination of the Farm Laborer Wage Board

A proposal by State Senator George Borrello to eliminate the Farm Laborer Wage Board and keep the farm labor overtime threshold at the 60-hour level failed on the Senate floor.

Borrello said in a statement, “The farmers I’ve spoken with in my district are dedicated to their work, but are finding it harder to stay afloat financially due to a combination of market changes and burdensome policies coming from Albany. With our agriculture industry poised for more pain because the unelected members of the Farm Laborer Wage Board recommended lowering the overtime threshold, I led a hostile amendment on the senate floor that would eliminate this board and its ability to further harm this vital industry.

On January 28, the Wage Board recommended lowering the overtime threshold from 60 hours per week to 40 hours per week despite warnings from farmers and agriculture producers that the resulting hike in labor costs will decimate agriculture in New York.

Borrello said, “The Wage Board ignored the testimony of farmers, farm workers and a report from Cornell University warning that lowering the overtime threshold will result in less hours and money for farm laborers and threaten the future of farming in New York.”

During the session Wednesday, the Senate passed a series of bills Borrello co-sponsored to support farmers including:

The Locally Sourced Goods for Schools Bill to make it easier for school districts to buy local farm products for school lunches;

The Young Farmers Loan Forgiveness Act to expand eligibility for the New York State Young Farmer Loan Forgiveness Program;

The Farm Workforce Retention Credit Increase Bill to double the farm workforce retention credit from $600 to $1,200 per farm worker for tax years 2021 through 2025; and

The New York State Food Products Bill to increase the purchase of New York farm products by state agencies and facilities.

The Senate also passed a series of agriculture bills Wednesday that Senator Borrello voted for, including:
The One-Stop Farming Hotline Bill that establishes a farming hotline, with assistance from the Cornell Cooperative Extension. The hotline provides information on all aspects of farming including tax credit programs, beginning farmer loans, and sustainable practices;

The Office of Urban Agriculture Bill to create the office of Urban Agriculture to assist and promote different forms of urban farming across the state;

Produce Produced In State Bill to direct the Department of Agriculture and Markets to develop and facilitate regional farmers’ markets to promote the direct marketing of farm products to large-volume purchasers;

Agrivoltaics In Farming Education Bill to direct the Department of Agriculture and Markets to provide guidance and educational materials on the benefits of co-locating solar power systems on active

farmland for crop production;
The Local Food, Farms, and Jobs Act to create the New York State Council on Food Policy to develop state food policies to ensure all New Yorkers are able to eat a healthy diet and avoid food insecurity by consuming New York-grown foods as much as possible; and

Farmers Markets in State Parks Bill to permit farmers markets in state and local parks.

The decision was swiftly criticized by the agricultural industry and the Republican Party.

The Albany Times-Union reports, the decision, 2-to-1 vote of the panel, would lower the current 60-hour overtime threshold for farm laborers over a 10-year period, which would reach 40 hours by 2032. The board agreed to lower the threshold by four hours per week every two years beginning in 2024.
The board’s decision will be sent to state Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon, who has the final say and could modify the recommendations.

A proposed overtime tax credit for farm owners by Governor Kathy Hochul in her budget did not play into the deliberations of the board. Advocates on both sides of the issue could not explain the complicated tax credit proposed; the state Division of Budget declined to explain the credit.

The vote came quickly and appeared to surprise board member and Farm Bureau President David Fisher. It followed nearly 12 hours of meetings this month, most of that public comment.

A majority of the comments were in favor of not lowering the threshold and came primarily from farm owners, who said that the change could cause the collapse of not only their family-run business but the industry at large.

The comments from farm owners, buoyed by the state Farm Bureau and a coalition supporting the bureau, were dramatically different from what civil and labor rights experts, advocates and activists proposed. The labor advocates argued that farm workers should be entitled to a 40-hour work week like the rest of the workforce.

State Senator George Borrello released a statement saying, “The Farm Laborers Wage Board and the Democrat One-Party-Rule which empowered them have dealt a potentially fatal blow to the livelihoods of New York State’s hard working farm families with the devastating decision to recommend lowering the farm worker overtime threshold to 40 hours per week. This move will spell the beginning of the end for many farms in this once-vibrant industry and force others to scale down production, increase automation or relocate.”

“It is tragic that New York’s farmers and agricultural industry have been sacrificed for political expediency. This fall, data from an independent report by Cornell and presented to the Department of Agriculture and Markets made it clear that lowering the threshold will benefit no one and will force both farmers and farm workers to seek their livelihoods in other states or occupations. Yet, as we’ve seen countless times in the past three years, facts and common-sense carry little weight under Democrat One-Party Rule.

The New York Farm Bureau is scheduled to hold a press conference this morning to discuss Friday’s Farm Labor Wage Board overtime threshold decision.

In January, the New York State Farm Labor Wage Board will revisit the threshold set in 2019 and make a determination on whether to lower the threshold to 40 hours.

In their letter to the Wage Board, the Republican legislators cited a recent study conducted at Cornell University. The study found that if the overtime threshold was lowered to 40 hours, two-thirds of dairy farmers would make significant changes to their operation, including leaving the industry or investing out of state, and half of fruit and vegetable farmers indicated they would decrease their operations or exit the industry.

Committee Ranking Member State Senator George Borrello said “If the overtime threshold were lowered to 40 hours, this already-strained industry would reach the breaking point, as a recent study by Cornell affirmed. With their ‘extra’ already depleted by burdensome and costly policies, even the most resilient of these New Yorkers would be forced to relinquish labor-intensive dairy or crops operations, relocate to other states or abandon agriculture entirely. I urge the members of the Wage Board to listen to researchers as well as those on the front lines, including farm workers, and reject any overtime changes.”