The Governor recently signed a number of bills into law. I wanted to take some time this week to make you aware of a few new ones that will or have recently become effective. One new law that I sponsored will enable military to receive sales tax exemptions on vehicles if a vehicle is purchased out of state. Another will increase purchasing of locally-grown produce in hospitals, prisons, and other state-run facilities. Inspection results of food service establishments will be made available online next year. Also, those convicted of animal cruelty can now be made to pay for animal care once the animals are seized.

Military Tax Exemption

Bill A6223 exempts members of the military upon returning to New York from having to pay New York sales tax on vehicles that they purchased while stationed in another state—provided that they paid sales tax in the other state. The law became effective immediately. I was pleased to co-sponsor this measure in the Assembly.

New York residents who purchase a vehicle outside of New York State are required to pay sales tax upon registering the vehicle. For those who served in the military, this proved problematic. Military service members often keep their residency and driver license in their home state while serving because they intend to someday return to their home state. Unfortunately, in doing so, if a service member kept their New York residency and purchased a vehicle while stationed in another state, they would be obligated to pay New York’s sales tax on that vehicle upon their return to New York – even if they paid sales tax in another state. This meant a veteran returning to New York State may have had to pay sales tax on their vehicle twice. The new law prevents this.

NY Farm Produce to Increase at State-run Facilities

I was pleased to support bill A5102 in the Assembly, which supports local agriculture. This law requires hospitals, prisons and other state agencies to buy more local produce. It requires the State to put in place better purchasing and tracking systems to make this possible. The law already favored that state agencies purchase locally produced food, but this new law gets more specific in terms of purchasing systems and reporting those purchases.

It authorizes the Commissioners of General Services and Ag and Markets to develop regulations to “establish guidelines to increase purchases of New York food products; publish the guidelines on the Office of General Services website; and provide for monitoring and implementation…” It also requires annual reports be made to the State Legislature and the Governor so the public can better track these purchases.

Food Establishment Inspection Results to be Posted Online

Assembly bill A2116-C requires the NYS Department of Health (DOH) make available on its website all public food service establishment inspection results for the most recent three years and requires those local health departments that maintain a website to post a link to the DOH website where inspection results are available. This will become effective next year.

Animal Cruelty

Bill A5113-A gives district attorneys the ability to seek a reasonable cost for the care of seized animals from individuals convicted of certain animal cruelty crimes on behalf of impounding organizations. According to the law, “animal cruelty and animal fighting are serious crimes in New York state. Because crimes against animals often involve the seizure of the victimized animals, these cases involve arranging for the housing and care of the animals while the criminal case is pending. Private organizations, such as shelters, humane societies and societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals, have traditionally assisted law enforcement agencies by providing care for these animals with little or no reimbursement.” I was pleased to support this in the Assembly.

If you have any questions, comments or would like to be added to my mailing list, please send a letter to 200 North Second Street, Fulton, New York 13069, or an e-mail to barclaw@assembly.state.ny.us or call (315) 598-5185. You also can find me, Assemblyman Barclay, on Facebook.