It is Official: COVID is Over… Almost

BY PAUL HARVEY, DIRECTOR OF REGULATORY AFFAIRS

After three years and two months, the COVID-19 pandemic is officially over, at least as is recognized by the federal government. On April 10, President Joe Biden signed legislation that ended the national emergency caused by the COVID-19 virus. This ends certain waivers for federal healthcare programs, including tele-health and provider guidelines, that were instituted as the pandemic started. The ending of the national emergency will also end relaxed eligibility standards for in-home caregivers through the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Housing and Urban Developments’ COVID-19 mortgage forbearance program.

This is different from the public health emergency declaration that will, at least for the time being, end on May 11. The ending of the public health emergency declaration will affect the healthcare of millions of Americans as expanded Medicaid eligibility guidelines for coverage of free COVID-19 testing and vaccinations will end (ending the public health emergency will end these mandates for private health insurance options as well). The ending of the public health emergency also ends other policies or procedures put One such policy is Title 42, an immigration policy that required immigrants from Central and South America to remain outside of the United States while their asylum applications were processed.”

Over the summer, I definitely expect to hear more discussions, conversations, and rhetoric surrounding immigration and related issues. The true measure of success, of course, is whether Congress will actually take actionable measures to solve the massive challenges that our country faces in this particular area.

The Perfect Storm

This year, legislators and New York Governor Hochul are facing a number of differences on financial and policies issues, which has delayed New York State’s budget yet again. Now going into its second week, Governor Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie may finally have reached an agreement on bail reform and housing, the two issues that have been taking up most of the space at the negotiation table. However, there are three larger issues that have not been discussed as much that are still significantly impacting our industry as well as other businesses across New York state.

On March 1, I had the distinct opportunity to visit and speak with eight legislators in Albany, along with other agricultural-based businesses throughout New York through the Council of Agricultural Organizations, about issues facing our industry here in New York State. I was able to have conversations with legislators and their staff about the continuance of paid COVID sick leave here in New York state. This is despite the end of the national health emergency and the soon ending of the public health emergency on May 11.

The second issue that we discussed with legislators is the unemployment loan that New York State failed to repay to the federal government by September 30, 2022. Since New York State failed to repay the loan on time, all New York State businesses are now contributing approximately an additional $30 per employee to cover the accrued interest on this loan from the federal government. Many of the assembly members and senators seemed to be aware of the situation, but a few were very surprised that this was an issue. We must be persistent in reminding our state legislatures that given the current economic headwinds still persisting, this could have been avoidable if there had been better leadership and fiscal policy before the bill came due.

Another issue we discussed was the various proposals to increase the minimum wage. In her 2023-2024 Executive Budget, Governor Hochul has proposed raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour across the state, with a 3% inflation adjustment cap. The other proposal, by Senator Jessica Ramos, would increase the minimum wage by approximately $2 every year until 2026, when the minimum wage would become $21.25 per hour in upstate counties, and $22.00 per hour in New York City and the surrounding metro counties. There would also be an inflation adjustment mechanism once the new minimum wage is achieved, but it is left up the labor commissioner to determine what that adjustment would be.

Finally, we discussed the plans by the Governor and the state senate to implement an Extended Producer Responsibility program in New York. While there are several key differences between the state senate’s plan and the governor’s plan, one of the biggest differences is that the governor’s plan would provide a 10-year exemption for dairy food processors before they would have to comply with EPR goals. The state senate’s plan would not grant such an exemption.

Raw Milk

Rhode Island and Massachusetts have both introduced bills to legalize raw milk in their respective states. New Hampshire has also introduced legislation to increase the amount of raw milk that can be produced and sold without a permit. As always, we will be monitoring this legislation on behalf of the association.

Upcoming Events

I am looking forward to seeing all of you at our upcoming events here in the next month. We have our Dairy Blender on May 17 at the Aloft Hotel in Buffalo, New York. Dairy Day is on May 23 in the Well or the Legislative Office Building in Albany, New York.

And as always, we have our monthly legislative update calls the first Tuesday of each month for NDFA members. I look forward to seeing everyone in person again soon!