Buffalo News: The Editorial Board: Grieving Families and Good Food legislation should be reconsidered and tweaked

By: Buffalo News Editorial Board

Back to the drawing board.

At least two pieces of legislation vetoed by Gov. Kathy Hochul at the end of 2024 deserve reconsideration. One of them demands it. The Grieving Families Act was rejected by the governor for the third time, once again leaving New York’s 177-year-old wrongful death statute in place.

This antiquated statute restricts compensation for a life lost due to a reckless or preventable act according to how much money that person was making at the time. Intended or not, it places less value on the lives of children, seniors, women and people of color – i.e., people who are not employed or who are historically lower earners.

New York and Alabama are the only states that do not allow families to sue for grief in court.

Given the statute’s blatant inequity, it’s almost incredible that the Legislature, which passed versions of the Grieving Families Act three times by large majorities, has not found the negotiating tactics that would make this bill law.

True, lobbying pressure from the state’s insurance and health care industries has been unremitting. Hochul has consistently cited possible spikes in medical insurance and liability premiums among her reasons for rejecting the bill. As reported by News Albany Correspondent Robert Gavin, in her veto message, Hochul mentioned “unintended consequences,” and stated “At this time, I believe further deliberations are needed.”

Let those deliberations begin. It is impossible to believe that New York lawmakers cannot work with the governor and arrive at a suitable compromise. We refuse to accept that Hochul’s reasoning could be as cynically simple as Buffalo attorney John Elmore, who represents some of the victims of the Tops shooting, suggests when, in expressing his disappointment, he said, “Clearly the veto is in the best interest of big corporations and the insurance industry.”

New York is not the only state that must address the concerns of its insurance and health care industries. Somehow, 48 other states managed to overcome obstacles raised by those industries and it will be to New York’s shameful discredit if it cannot do the same.

Another piece of legislation also needs work before it can accommodate concerns that the governor and other groups have raised. The Good Food NY bill would help a more diverse range of food producers win big contracts to institutions like public schools and hospitals. As it stands now, institutional food procurement is bound by “lowest responsible bidder” restrictions. It’s why schools and hospitals are often limited to deals with huge national suppliers like U.S. Foods or Sysco.

The Good Food legislation, which was passed by the Legislature this year, would allow institutions to pick a slightly more expensive bid if it meets several conditions, such as benefit to the local economy, nutritional value, respect to animal welfare and racial justice, treatment of farm workers and environmental impact. The value-based bid would still need to be within 10% of the lowest responsible bidder.

This would help more food produced by local farmers make its way onto school, hospital and other institutional meal trays. It would also encourage all food producers to consider improving product quality, working conditions, employee diversity and waste reduction.

However, Hochul vetoed the bill, stating that it could lead to different standards being applied in different localities.

Even some farmers have complained of the legislation leading to inconsistent practices. But the bill’s co-sponsor, Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, D-Buffalo, was correct when she stated that it “would strengthen the entirety of the local food chain and help it be resilient to external shocks,” and that “Access to healthy and nutritious food is critical to our communities’ collective health..”

If the bill needs work, let that work be done. Legislation that promotes better nutrition for Buffalo schoolchildren and a better market for local farmers deserves a second look.