STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4210 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 13, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. TAGUE, MANKTELOW, GALLAHAN, HAWLEY, BRABENEC, DeSTEFANO, E. BROWN, MILLER, GUNTHER, LEMONDES, MIKULIN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Agriculture AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to estab- lishing a veterans in agriculture assistance and outreach program The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The agriculture and markets law is amended by adding a new 2 section 29 to read as follows: 3 § 29. Veterans in agriculture assistance and outreach program. 1. As 4 used in this section, the following terms shall have the following mean- 5 ings: 6 (a) "Veteran" means a person who served on active duty in the 7 uniformed services of the United States, or in the army national guard, 8 air national guard, or service as a commissioned officer in the public 9 health service, commissioned officer of the national oceanic and atmo- 10 spheric administration or environmental sciences services adminis- 11 tration, cadet at a United States armed forces service academy, and who 12 has been released from such service under other than dishonorable condi- 13 tions. 14 (b) "Qualified veteran business entity" means a business enterprise, 15 including a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company 16 or corporation that is: 17 (i) at least fifty-one percent owned by one or more veterans; 18 (ii) an enterprise in which such veteran ownership is real, substan- 19 tial, and continuing; 20 (iii) an enterprise in which such veteran ownership has and exercises 21 the authority to control independently the day-to-day business decisions 22 of the enterprise; and 23 (iv) an enterprise authorized to do business in this state and is 24 independently-owned and operated. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD05806-01-3
A. 4210 2 1 2. The department, shall establish a program to help integrate veter- 2 ans into the field of agriculture, and support veterans currently work- 3 ing in agriculture. 4 3. Such program shall include, but not be limited to: 5 (a) Recruiting and providing training for veterans to facilitate entry 6 into the field of agriculture, in consultation with the department of 7 veterans' services, the division of military and naval affairs and the 8 United States department of agriculture. 9 (b) Identifying and making assistance available to formerly incarcer- 10 ated veterans to facilitate entry into the field of agriculture, in 11 consultation with the department of corrections and community super- 12 vision. 13 (c) Providing assistance to veterans in rural and urban communities by 14 providing employment, mentorship, and outreach opportunities. 15 (d) Facilitating educational opportunities through Cornell University 16 and the state university of New York. 17 (e) Connecting between veterans and applicable local, state and feder- 18 al resources. 19 (f) Creating a website relating to provide veterans information on and 20 easy access to program resources. 21 (g) Promoting participation by veterans and qualified business enti- 22 ties, including but not limited to the conduct of outreach and education 23 efforts to encourage and facilitate participation. 24 (h) Coordinating with military, government, or private sector market- 25 ing efforts that already identify, emphasize, and encourage the 26 production and marketing of New York produced agricultural commodities 27 by veterans and qualified business entities. 28 (i) Partnering with the office of mental health, the department of 29 health and NY FarmNet to develop a specialized mental health and suicide 30 prevention program for veterans in agriculture. 31 (j) Training and support opportunities as well as resources to connect 32 veterans and their products with local retailers. 33 (k) Establishing mentorships for veterans with farming endeavors. 34 (l) Providing assistance to veterans to apply for available grant 35 funding. 36 (m) Within funding made available for such purposes, conducting an 37 assessment of properties and making such property available for an 38 affordable lease program for veterans. 39 (n) Working with veterans and property owners to ensure veterans who 40 want to farm have a place to do so. 41 (o) Identifying current New York Grown and Certified program partic- 42 ipants who qualify to use the logotype developed pursuant to the 43 provisions of subdivision four of this section and encourage application 44 for the use of such logotype. 45 (p) Establishing a special veterans' category in New York Grown and 46 Certified database of products. 47 (q) Reporting on the feasibility of developing rehabilitation sites to 48 assist wounded and disabled veterans to readjust and heal to address 49 post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury issues through 50 agriculture therapy programs. 51 (r) Creating and building a brand for farmer-veterans' products. 52 (s) Development of a veteran agriculture logotype pursuant to the 53 provisions of subdivision four of this section. 54 4. (a) The department, in consultation with the empire state develop- 55 ment corporation, shall design a logotype that clearly identifies a 56 product as both meeting existing New York State Grown and Certified
A. 4210 3 1 standards pursuant to 1 NYCRR 161.3 and being produced by a veteran or 2 qualified veteran business entity. The department shall incorporate the 3 New York State Grown and Certified Seal, and may partner with organiza- 4 tions, including but not limited to, the Farmer Veteran Coalition Homeg- 5 rown by Heroes program and similar programs intended to encourage veter- 6 ans to farm or to otherwise benefit farmers who are veterans, if the 7 department elects to adopt such organizations' separate and unique 8 eligibility criteria. 9 (b) Such logotype shall be made available to veterans or qualified 10 veteran business entities for descriptive labels, packaging or adver- 11 tisement information at no cost. 12 (c) The department shall promulgate rules and regulations to provide 13 for civil penalties and injunctive relief for improper use of the logo- 14 type designed pursuant to this subdivision. 15 5. The department shall make the program developed pursuant to this 16 section available to: 17 (a) veterans; 18 (b) persons who served on active duty in the uniformed services of the 19 United States, or in the army national guard, air national guard, or 20 service as a commissioned officer in the public health service, commis- 21 sioned officer of the national oceanic and atmospheric administration or 22 environmental sciences services administration, cadet at a United States 23 armed forces service academy, and who has been released from such 24 service under other a condition other than honorable on a case-by-case 25 basis following review and approval by the department; 26 (c) immediate family members of a veteran killed while serving on 27 active duty, a prisoner of war, or died from a service-related injury or 28 exposure, where such immediate family member is licensed under the New 29 York State Grown and Certified standards pursuant to 1 NYCRR 161.3; and 30 (d) qualified veteran business entities. 31 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 32 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend- 33 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen- 34 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and 35 completed on or before such effective date.