What's happening
This bill allows eligible New York farmers to receive a 50% discount on thruway tolls for transporting agricultural products.
Why it matters
Reduces transportation costs for qualifying farmers. , which could help small and midsize farms improve their profit margins by lowering the expense of moving products to market.
Ties eligibility to existing state tax exemptions for farmers. , ensuring the discount targets active agricultural producers and not just anyone claiming to transport farm goods.
Requires farmers to register and use E-ZPass tags for the discount. , potentially streamlining toll collection but also necessitating an administrative step for farmers to access the benefit.
Excludes non-commercial and surcharge-related tolls from the discount. , focusing the financial relief specifically on commercial agricultural transport and not on personal or unrelated vehicle use.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Discounted Tolls for Farmers
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 14
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Print number 2787a
- Amend and recommit to transportation
- Referred to transportation
- Referred to transportation
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Cut Thruway Tolls for Farmers
In Assembly Committee · Corporations, Authorities And Commissions · Sponsor Albert A. Stirpe
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2787--A
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 29, 2019
Introduced by Sen. COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation -- recommitted to the Committee on Transportation 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 public authorities law, in relation to allowing the New York state thruway authority to provide a discounted toll rate to farmers transporting agricultural products
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The public authorities law is amended by adding a new section 354-a to read as follows:
§ 354-a. Discount for farmers. Farmers, engaged in activities listed in subdivision four of section two of the agriculture and markets law, and producing products as defined in subdivision five of section two of the agriculture and markets law, shall receive a toll discount on roads maintained by the thruway authority. Those farmers eligible for a tax exemption under subparagraph (A) of paragraph two of subsection (a) of section six hundred six of the tax law will be discounted fifty percent of the normal toll rate. This discount shall not apply to surcharges in addition to the regular crossing fare, and shall not be used in occasions of non-commercial vehicle travel. Farmers receiving the tax exemption under subparagraph (A) of paragraph two of subsection (a) of section six hundred six of the tax law may file the certificate produced for that exemption with the thruway authority. Upon receiving the certificate, the thruway authority shall issue E-ZPass tags to the farmers, providing them the fifty percent toll rate discount.
§ 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2021.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00550-04-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the public authorities law, in relation to allowing the New York state thruway authority to provide a discounted toll rate to farmers transporting agricultural products
Purpose
To reduce the transportation costs that New York farmers face when bringing agricultural products to market.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends the Public Authorities Law by adding a section 354(a), which provides a fifty percent discount on tolls along roads maintained by the Thruway Authority for farmers who have filed a "Farmer's and Commercial Horse Boarding Operator's Exemption Certificate"(ST-125). Section 2 sets forth the effective date.
Justification
In recent years, there has been a local food movement in New York State, where residents are starting to see the benefits of purchasing locally grown products. They support farmers who live in their own state, or even in their immediate county. In turn, residents receive healthy foods that don't have the artificial preservatives needed to ship the products across long distances. High transportation costs are often a factor that prevent farmers from shipping goods to market. Farmers have tight profit margins, and the combination of fuel, vehicle maintenance, and highway tolls does not help their financial situation. This bill reduces those expenses by allowing farmers who are in the process of shipping goods to only pay half the normal toll. It eases the burden of the Thruway's high user fees, which are only increasing with time. This bill supports the local food movement and assists the state's agricul- ture sector.
Legislative history
2015-2016: S.4826-A passed senate 2017-2018: S.1240-A/A.10493 passed senate
Fiscal implications
To be determined.
Effective date
This bill shall take effect on January 1, 2021.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.