A bill that New York State Agriculture Commissioner Darrel Aubertine said will cut red tape for nursery owners and his department has been signed by Governor Cuomo.
The bill was sponsored in the Senate by 48th District Sen. Patty Ritchie, Agriculture Committee chair.
It was sponsored in the Assembly by Agriculture Committee Chair William Magee.
“I am very pleased that Governor Cuomo has signed into law this measure to make state government more efficient and which will provide relief for these small businesses,” Ritchie said.
“As the chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I am very pleased to work with Commissioner Darrel Aubertine to enact this legislation.”
The bill allows nursery growers and dealers to file their biennial registrations on a rolling schedule during the year, instead of the current requirement, which mandates that all businesses file by the same day.
That deadline created an undue burden on small businesses and created internal administrative problems for the agency, Ritchie’s office said in announcing the signing by the governor.
“The old requirement created a logjam for state employees,” Ritchie said. “In the private sector, businesses try to spread out their workload. This will help make the state government more efficient and ultimately saves money for businesses and taxpayers.”
