Assemblyman Chris Tague (R,C,I-Schoharie), ranking minority member of the Assembly Committee on Agriculture, is lashing out against a proposed bill (A.5801) that would place responsibility on individual farmers and producers of agricultural foods to recycle their own waste, when previously such responsibilities fell on municipalities and private waste management companies.

Especially concerning is a provision within the bill that prohibits producers from raising their prices to compensate for increased production costs caused by this new recycling mandate, which notably contrasts with the recently-enacted law banning plastic bags in grocery stores which allows such charges.

“Making it as a producer of agricultural goods in our state is difficult enough with how poor our business climate is and how many burdensome regulations our farmers already face. This bill, if passed into law, would place yet another expensive mandate on our producers, many of whom already operate on thin profit margins,” said Tague. “I cannot support placing any further burdens on our agricultural producers, so I hope for the sake of all farmers in our state this bill does not become law.”