ALBANY — A subsidy that could cost taxpayers up to $130 million annually is being proposed by Gov. Kathy Hochul to indefinitely cover the costs associated with bringing farm workers in line with the rest of the labor market with a 40-hour work week.
Despite the lofty proposition in the executive budget unveiled last month by the governor, the agriculture industry is claiming it would still leave "cash-strapped" small farmers behind, unable to make it to the end of the tax year for reimbursement.
Workers' rights groups assert the refundable tax credit may create too much of a buffer for employers, providing farm owners with little incentive to reduce the hours of their workers if the state plans to cover the difference in overtime costs between the current law — minimum 60 hours per week — and the proposed reduction in the overtime threshold.
Last month, the state's Farm Laborer Wage Board voted to incrementally lower the threshold from 60 to 40 hours over the course of a decade. Hochul's proposed tax credit would provide a subsidy for farm owners for the additional costs that the lowered threshold would cost. The credit is proposed to be permanent.
There has been fierce debate on the impact of the lowered overtime threshold, splitting workers' rights advocates and the agricultural industry; the proposal is now awaiting a decision by state Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon.
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