ASSEMBLYMAN PARMENT VOTES FOR ANTI-FARM BILL THAT WILL KILL JOBS

Legislator foils bi-partisan effort to stand-up for family farms, agricultural industry, economy

Albany, NY—In a move that could devastate New York’s family farms, Assemblyman Bill Parment (D-150th A.D.) voted last night for a controversial bill that will kill agricultural jobs and drive scores of family farms out of business.

Parment was among a handful of upstate legislators to vote for the so-called “Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act” Act (Assembly Bill A.1867/Senate Bill S.2247). The measure, sponsored by a New York City Assembly member, imposes yet another burdensome and costly state mandate on family farms, significantly driving up their labor costs and operating expenses, ultimately forcing many out of business altogether.

The Assembly bill passed by a vote of 86 to 58 with 19 Majority Democrats joining Minority Republicans in a bi-partisan attempt to stop the anti-farm measure.

According to the New York Farm Bureau, if enacted, the measure would cost New York’s family farms over $200 million annually, at the very time many are struggling from the economic recession and operating in one of the worst business climates in the nation.

“Assemblyman Parment’s vote could sow the seeds of job losses and farm closures all across Western New York,” said Kathleen Hennessey, Spokeswoman for the New York Republican Assembly Campaign Committee (RACC).