New Yorkers are stretched thin. Rent, utilities, and insurance keep climbing, and groceries are the cost families feel every week. Earlier this year in a People Over Profits survey of 800 likely New York voters, 81 percent said groceries cost too much in New York, and 58 percent named cost of living as their top issue.
Governor Hochul has a bill on her desk that would add to those costs. She should veto it and its $21 million price tag.
What the bill does
The Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act (S. 1239 / A. 1556) passed the Senate in March and the Assembly in late April. It sets up a new, separate New York-only reporting system for food ingredients that are already scientifically reviewed and governed at the federal level. This duplicative system will disrupt supply chains and make it more expensive for products sold in New York. The bill also bans Red Dye 3, potassium bromate, and propylparaben; all of which are either being phased out or are currently under FDA review.
Food safety matters. But this bill builds a new state compliance system on top of the federal one, and those costs don't stay with the manufacturer. They move through the supply chain and show up at the register and are passed along to everyday New Yorkers.
The more New Yorkers learn, the less they like it
Most New Yorkers haven't heard of the bill. When People Over Profits explained to voters we surveyed what it does, support fell to a net negative 9, with 46 percent opposed. The cost concerns moved people the most:
Higher grocery prices: The warning that the bill would increase grocery costs was the most persuasive argument tested, with a net 22-point shift against it.
A $21 million price tag: The estimated cost to implement the program moved respondents a net 14 points against the bill.
More bureaucracy: Learning the bill duplicates existing state bureaucracy moved respondents a net 11 points against it.
New Yorkers don't object to safe food. They object to paying more for a program that costs the state $21 million and overlaps with bureaucracy that already exists.
What the Governor should do
Governor Hochul has made affordability central to her agenda. Vetoing this bill is consistent with that. Promises made, promises kept. A family already worried about the grocery bill shouldn't be asked to absorb the cost of a duplicative compliance program, even a well-intentioned one.
A veto doesn't have to be the end of the conversation. Federal reform, or a narrower state measure that doesn't create new bureaucracy or push up prices, would serve New Yorkers better. She has until the end of the year to act. She should veto S. 1239 / A. 1556 and keep groceries within reach for families.
