Senate Agriculture Chair Michelle Hinchey said, “Many New York cannabis farmers are facing dire financial straits with unsold crops from last year, and time is running out to get products to market before they expire. The Cannabis Crop Rescue Act is a vital short-term solution that needs action now, and we’re grateful to have the support of a bipartisan coalition of state legislators calling for its immediate enactment into law.”
Senate Agriculture Ranking Member George Borrello said, “The state’s failure to establish the legal market it promised has had consequences that have fallen the heaviest on cannabis farmers, the group that can least afford them. The farmers who leveraged all their assets to cultivate these crops are facing financial disaster without intervention by the state. Every week that passes makes their situation more desperate. While signing this bill into law is not a total solution, it will provide some immediate relief and let these farmers know that they aren’t forgotten.”
Assembly Agriculture Chair Donna Lupardo said, “We owe a debt to our cannabis farmers, who once again took a risk to grow this crop. Many NY farmers are distressed for a number of reasons, but none more than this group. Opening a one-time window for sales to Tribal Nations will provide some financial relief, while we are working on others means of recompense. There really is no time to waste, as this crop is degrading the longer it goes unsold.”
Assembly Ranking Member Chris Tague said, “We have many cannabis farmers who have made huge investments expecting support and are now experiencing detrimental losses. Many of these farmers are going out of business due to the lack of a market, by no fault of their own. This has become an agricultural emergency that has cost farmers thousands of dollars. While I was not an early supporter of this initiative, I will always be a supporter of our farmers, regardless of the crops they raise, and I call on Governor Hochul to sign this bill immediately into law.”
Source : nysenate.gov