Relates to the creation of the New York farm to school and school garden fund; allows individuals to make a gift on their personal tax form for such fund; such fund will be used to establish school gardens and purchase equipment and educational materials to promote students' consumption of local products conducted in cooperation with the department of agriculture and markets.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1511
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 12, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sens. MAY, RITCHIE, HARCKHAM, JORDAN -- read twice and
ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on
Finance
AN ACT to amend the state finance law and the tax law, in relation to
establishing the New York farm to school and school garden fund
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section
2 97-ii to read as follows:
3 § 97-ii. New York farm to school and school garden fund. 1. There is
4 hereby established in the joint custody of the state comptroller and the
5 commissioner of taxation and finance a fund to be known as the "New York
6 farm to school and school garden fund".
7 2. Such fund shall consist of all revenues received by the department
8 of taxation and finance, pursuant to the provisions of section six
9 hundred twenty-five-b of the tax law, and all other moneys appropriated,
10 credited, or transferred thereto from any other fund or source pursuant
11 to law. Nothing in this section shall prevent the state from soliciting
12 and receiving grants, gifts or bequests for the purposes of the fund as
13 defined in this section and depositing them into the fund according to
14 law.
15 3. Moneys of the fund shall be expended for the purposes of establish-
16 ing school gardens and purchasing equipment and educational materials to
17 promote students' consumption of local products conducted in cooperation
18 with the department of agriculture and markets. Such department shall be
19 authorized to create further criteria and limits on such funding if
20 necessary. Moneys shall be paid out of the fund on the audit and warrant
21 of the state comptroller on vouchers approved by the commissioner of
22 agriculture and markets. Any interest received by the comptroller on
23 moneys on deposit in the New York farm to school and school garden fund
24 shall be retained in and become part of such fund.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04469-01-1
S. 1511 2
1 4. On or before the first day of February each year, the commissioner
2 of education shall provide a written report to the temporary president
3 of the senate, speaker of the assembly, chair of the senate finance
4 committee, chair of the assembly ways and means committee, chairs of the
5 senate committees on education and agriculture, chairs of the assembly
6 agriculture and education committees, the state comptroller and the
7 public. Such report shall include how the monies of the fund were
8 utilized during the preceding calendar year, and shall include:
9 (a) the amount of money dispersed from the fund and the award process
10 used for such disbursements;
11 (b) recipients of awards from the fund;
12 (c) the amount awarded to each;
13 (d) the purposes for which such awards were granted; and
14 (e) a summary financial plan for such monies which shall include esti-
15 mates of all receipts and all disbursements for the current and succeed-
16 ing fiscal years, along with the actual results from the prior fiscal
17 year.
18 § 2. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 625-b to read as
19 follows:
20 § 625-b. Gift for the New York farm to school and school garden fund.
21 An individual in any taxable year may elect to contribute to the New
22 York farm to school and school garden fund to help establish school
23 gardens and purchase equipment and educational materials to promote
24 students' consumption of local products. The contribution shall be in
25 any whole dollar amount and shall not reduce the amount of state tax
26 owed by such individual. The commissioner shall include space on the
27 personal income tax return to enable a taxpayer to make such contrib-
28 ution. Notwithstanding any other provision of law all revenues collected
29 pursuant to this section shall be credited to the New York farm to
30 school and school garden fund and used only for those purposes enumer-
31 ated in section ninety-seven-ii of the state finance law.
32 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
33 have become a law.
