Two New York state lawmakers are promoting legislation they say will support local farms and address an affordable housing crisis.
At the capitol Thursday, state Senator Jim Tedisco said a 20 percent tax credit would be implemented by the measure and used to build housing for farmworkers, a step meant to prevent more farms from going under.
“Between 2017 and 2022, New York lost 28,000 family farms, the steepest decline in the past three decades. New York also lost 364 acres of farmland over the last five years,” Tedisco said.
The Republican from the 44th district says the measure will also help house homeless individuals.
“They’re part of the housing problem, they need to find affordable housing. If this gets into place and passes, and I think it's a no brainer, it's just common sense, they're gonna say to themselves, well, I thought about working at a farm, wait a second, they're gonna provide affordable housing for me, I'm gonna sign up, I want to work for the farm, I need housing,” Tedisco said.
Jeff Williams is Director of Public Policy for the New York Farm Bureau. He related the legislation to an existing 20 percent investment tax rebate for farmers.
“You can house chickens in a barn and get 20 percent back, but you can't house employees in high quality housing under this tax credit? This bill fixes that issue once and for all,” Williams said.
The measure is sponsored in the Assembly by Democrat Marianne Buttenschon, whose 119th District includes many farms in the Utica-Rome region.
“In my area, I have DiNitto Farms and Candella’s, each one of them have brought this issue is- we do a farm tour annually to my colleagues in the Assembly- is that housing is very concerning. From the employee’s perspective, they bring their families with them, their families love the communities, they love to be a part of rural America in regards to the farming industry, and they want to make sure their families are close in safe housing,” Buttenschon said.
Williams says the state needs as many farmworkers as it can get.
“Best case scenario is a lot, right? Because we want farms to grow and more farms to start. That means more farmworkers, means more investment on farms, means more housing. And so I think the sky's the limit when it when it comes to that kind of that kind of paradigm,” Williams said.
The bill is being considered by the Senate Budget and Revenue Committee.
