FIA ACTIONS

FIA Speaks Out. This past Wednesday in separate speaking engagements, FIA President Jim Rogers and Senior Vice President & General Counsel Michael Rosen appeared on panels to explore “Chemical Regulations and Product Attacks” and “Current Issues in Agriculture and Biotechnology” — the latter of which was co-sponsored by Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Patricia Ritchie (R-Watertown) and Assembly Agriculture Committee Chair Bill Magee (D-Oneida).  FIA’s position is to stress (1) the importance of consumer choice through the increasing variety of organic food being offered by grocers and (2) the need for federal oversight on the GMO issue as opposed to a state-by-state “patchwork quilt.” Dr. Margaret Smith, Cornell Professor of Plant Breeding & Genetics, along with a Dr. Val Giddings, Senior Fellow at the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, addressed the topics of biotechnology in agriculture and the role biotechnology plays in meeting the challenges of world hunger and climate change. Appearing on a panel before the American Chemistry Council’s New York Government Affairs Council, Mr. Rogers explained the industry’s position on plastic bag bans, the environmental impact of plastic bags versus paper bags, and local legislative and legal issues including the proposed polystyrene foam ban in New York City. Serving on the panel with Mr. Rogers were representatives from the NYS Business Council and the National Federation of Independent Businesses.

“Wine in Food Store Restaurant Operations” Receives Senate Committee Approval. A proposal (S.4565) to allow supermarkets with full restaurant facilities to serve wine and beer while still maintaining the right to sell off-premises beer under the normal food store guidelines won the unanimous support of a Senate committee this past Tuesday. An Assembly version is pending in committee.

CAPITAL CURRENTS

Yet Again, NYS Achieves All-Time High in Private Sector Jobs by Adding over 23,800 in April. The NYS Department of Labor announced mid-month that the State added 23,800 private sector jobs in April for a total of 7,452,100 positions and broke the previous month’s all-time high of 7,426,100. Correspondingly, NYS achieved the lowest unemployment rate in over four years of 7.8% — a monthly drop from 8.2%. The rate in New York City also decreased over the month from 8.9% to 8.4% while the rate in the balance of the State fell from 7.7% to 7.4%. The U.S. jobless rate decreased by 0.1% to 7.5% in April. Year-over-year, Long Island registered the largest jump in private sector employment at 2.9%. With a decline of 1.8%, only Elmira recorded a loss. April’s regional year-to-year private sector job gains/losses and unemployment percentages (not seasonally adjusted) follow in that order: NYC +2.5% jobs/7.7% unemployment; Long Island +2.9/6.0; Kingston +2.9/8.5; Putnam-Rockland-Westchester +1.0/6.0; Poughkeepsie-Newburgh +2.3/7.0; Utica-Rome +0.5/8.2; Albany +0.6/6.5; Syracuse +1.2/7.7; Buffalo +1.4/7.7; Ithaca +2.7/4.8; Rochester +0.4/7.2; Glens Falls +2.8/7.8; and Binghamton 0.0/7.8. To view DOL’s press release/jobs data, click here and for further information on area unemployment rates, click here.

 FIA ACTIONS

FIA Contests NYC Soda Ban. The FIA along with the Business Council, the National Supermarket Association, the Bodega Association and the New York City Hospitality Alliance filed an amicus brief on April 24, 2013 to support the lower court ruling that the New York City 16 oz. soda ban is invalid as being arbitrary and capricious and having been adopted in violation of the separation of powers doctrine. The amicus brief argues that the Bloomberg administration minimized and ignored the harmful effect of the Soda Ban on the business community including loss of revenue due to competitive disadvantages, loss of good will, loss of inventory and retooling and redesigned expenses.  FIA and the others argued that if numerous local health boards across New York State adopted different container size regulations, businesses would suffer substantial harm and uneven enforcement across other jurisdictions.  Regulation of public health is a matter of state concern to be more properly overseen by the NYS Departments of Agriculture & Markets and Health.

21 Age Spreads North. Not long after New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn proposed increasing the minimum purchase age for tobacco products from 18 to 21 years of age, State Senator Diane Savino (IDC-Staten Island) and Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan) introduced similar legislation (S.4863 / A.7105) to raise the state purchase age to 21 years of age for tobacco products.  The bills do not impose any sanctions on underage purchasers who can present false ID, purchase, possess and openly smoke the product in public. Only the retailer is penalized.  By the way, New York is open for business.

With Only 21 Session Days Left, Legislature Is “Firing on All Cylinders” with Industry Issues Pending. It appears to be a “dash to the finish” with only 21 legislative days remaining in this current session. Among recent actions on bills of industry interest are the following: Shop: Pride of New York (S.2774A) — promotes the sale of New York grown and produced food products for retailers and wholesalers who agree to carry 20 NYS food products and, in return, receive free advertising and promotional materials for the first year as well as be included on the Department of Agriculture & Markets website as a “Shop: Pride of New York” participant with a one sentence description of the retailer/wholesaler / reported for Senate floor action; Anti-Security Items (S.741) — prohibits the possession of anti-security items for the purpose of preventing detection of products offered for sale / passed Senate; ATM Disclosure (S.4363) — conforms NYS law with federal statute by eliminating requirement that ATM fee notices be affixed to or displayed on ATMs / awaiting Senate floor vote on May 6^th; Underage Purchase of Alcohol (S.4101) — stiffens and modernizes the penalties for minors who purchase or attempt to purchase alcohol / reported for Senate floor calendar; Novelty Lighters (S.933) — prohibits the retail sale, distribution or offer to sell at retail novelty lighters / favorably referred from Senate Consumer Committee to Finance Committee; SLA Rulemaking (S.3653) — grants the state liquor authority general rule making privileges for the purpose of effectuating the alcoholic beverage control law / awaiting Senate floor vote; and Bisphenol A (A.1654) — prohibits the manufacture, sale or distribution of business transaction paper containing bisphenol A / laid aside on April 29^th.

Senate Majority Coalition Co-Leader Klein Wants FIA-Member Input on Burdensome Regulations. Senate Majority Coalition Co-Leader and Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeff Klein (Bronx/Westchester) contacted FIA to request the industry’s assistance in identifying burdensome, unworkable, impractical NYS regulations or suggestions to streamline existing regulations (e.g., centralize licensing requirements to reduce the filing of duplicate information). Sen. Klein is in a pivotal and influential position since the Upper Chamber’s balance of power flows through him. His overture to FIA on unwieldy regulations gives the industry a unique inroad to positive regulatory adjustments. To suggest regulatory changes, please contact FIA’s Senior Vice President of Government Relations Michael Rosen at 518-434-1900/ext. 228 or michael@fiany.com.

 FIA ACTIONS

Putnam County Reduces Waiver Fee – After facing sharp opposition from Hannaford Supermarkets, ShopRite Supermarkets, Krasdale Foods, The Great A & P Tea Company and the Food Industry Alliance along with our colleagues from The Retail Council, the Putnam County Chamber and state Senator Greg Ball, the Putnam County legislature agreed to reduce its highest in the state waiver fee schedule by more than 50%.  In essence, the legislature extended the waiver period from one to two years, thereby maintaining the revenue the county booked for 2013 while giving retailers the relief we were seeking.  Special thanks go to FIA Chairman, Mitch Klein and FIA Senior Vice President, Michael Rosen for their repeated visits and testimony in successfully reducing the fee schedule.

Wine in Store Restaurant Operations – First term Assemblyman Phil Steck and veteran Senator Hugh Farley have introduced legislation, S. 4565 / A. 6858 to allow supermarkets with full restaurant facilities to serve wine and beer while still maintaining the right to sell off-premises beer under the normal food store guidelines.  Similar legislation passed the Senate last session, was reported out of the Assembly Economic Development and Codes Committees, but stalled in the Assembly Rules Committee during the last few days of the 2012 legislative session.

 CAPITAL CURRENTS

New York State Hits All-Time High in Private Sector Jobs by Adding over 14,000 in March. Earlier this month, the New York State Department of Labor (DOL) announced that 14,100 private sector jobs were added in March, which achieved a record high of 7,426,100 positions. According to the Department, “This trend of job growth is underscored by the revised numbers for February 2013, which show more strength than originally reported.” Additionally, the State’s month-over-month unemployment rate fell from 8.4% to 8.2% in March. The rate in New York City also decreased over the month from 9.1% to 8.9% while the rate in the balance of the State fell from 7.9% to 7.7%. The U.S. jobless rate decreased by 0.1% to 7.6% in March. Educational & Health Services led the job gains with a yearly jump of 35,800 followed by Professional & Business Services at 32,600. Government showed the biggest decline at 17,200. Year-over-year, private sector jobs grew most rapidly in Kingston (2.9%) and Long Island (2.1%). NYC advanced by 1.8%. Over the past year, three metro areas — all upstate — lost private sector jobs with Elmira (-1.5%) registering the most losses. Then, this past week, DOL published area unemployment rates. March’s regional year-to-year private sector job gains/losses and unemployment percentages (not seasonally adjusted) follow in that order: NYC +1.8% jobs/8.5% unemployment; Long Island +2.1/6.8; Kingston +2.9/8.5; Putnam-Rockland-Westchester +0.5/6.7; Poughkeepsie-Newburgh +1.2/7.7; Utica-Rome -0.1/9.0; Albany +0.8/7.3; Syracuse +0.3/8.5; Buffalo +0.7/8.5; Ithaca +1.7/5.3; Rochester 0.0/8.0; Glens Falls +1.9/9.1; and Binghamton -0.2/8.8. To view DOL’s press release/jobs data, click here and for further information on area unemployment rates, click here.

 FIA ACTIONS

FIA Members Meet with New York’s Congressional Delegation to Discuss Menu Labeling, Swipe Fees, Tax Policy, and ACA. This past Thursday, April 18^th, FIA members participating in the FMI-NGA “A Day In Washington” annual conference carried the banner of the New York grocery industry to Capitol Hill and conducted 13 meetings with the Empire State’s Congressional delegation. Personal meetings were scheduled with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) and Reps. Tim Bishop (D-Suffolk County), Steve Israel (D-Nassau County), Chris Gibson (R-Mid-Hudson Valley), Paul Tonko (D-Capital District Region), Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan/Brooklyn), Bill Owens (D-North Country), and Richard Hanna (R-Utica/Binghamton). FIA members also met with key staff from the offices of Sen. Gillibrand and Reps. Peter King (R-Nassau County), Nita Lowey (D-White Plains), Carolyn McCarthy (D-Nassau County), and Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan/Queens). Major topics discussed with the Congressional offices were credit/debit card swipe fees, FDA menu labeling, tax issues, and employer implementation of the Affordable Care Act. FIA extends special appreciation to those member companies and their associates who expended their time and resources to become the “industry voice” of New York in the halls of Congress. It is critical and irreplaceable.

Sponsors Needed on “Common Sense Nutrition Act” to Ensure Grocers Excluded from Menu Labeling Law. As FIA members have read in past issues of FoodScan, FDA has proposed regulations that would capture grocery stores under the federal “Nutrition Labeling of Standard Menu Items at Chain Restaurants” law that was intended to provide a uniform, federal standard for chain restaurants. By expanding these regulations to grocery stores – where the vast majority of foods are already labeled with complete Nutrition Facts information – FDA would impose a $1 billion initial cost on an industry. FDA also proposed an alternative “Option 2” that would limit restaurant menu labeling to establishments with 50% or more of their floor space devoted to restaurant or restaurant-type food. NGA and FMI are urging Congress to adopt H.R. 1249–Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act–to implement FDA’s proposed “Option 2.” Click here for the bill’s summary and text. To assist the efforts of FMI and NGA, they need grocers to contact their U.S. Representatives and urge them to co-sponsor H.R. 1249. For more background information and to take action, click here.

CAPITAL CURRENTS

Additional Off-Premise Retail Closing Hours Are Determined by Counties. While the ABC law specifies that no off-premise retailer may make available for sale alcoholic beverages on Sunday between 3:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., counties can impose additional closing hour restrictions in observance of various holidays (e.g., Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Good Friday, etc.). To access the list of counties and closing hours, please go here, scroll to the bottom of the page and click-on the counties of interest.

NYS Comptroller Applauds Timely State Budget, but Cautions Against “Revenue Assumptions.” NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli released a report and media statement that the State’s on-time budget sent a positive signal to the bond markets and taxpayers but expressed unease over revenue assumptions. According to Di Napoli, “The Governor and the Legislature deserve credit for once again adopting budget bills ahead of the April 1st deadline. Nevertheless, New York continues to struggle to meet serious fiscal challenges. The recently passed state budget restrains spending growth, but it also contains temporary resources and revenue assumptions that may fall short. Instead of reining in the state’s reliance on backdoor borrowing, it expanded the use of public authority debt.”

 S. 2607-D / A. 3007-D

Minimum Wage (Part P/page 79) – The State minimum wage will be increased to —
$8.00 on December 31, 2013
$8.75 on December 31, 2014
$9.00 on December 31, 2015

Indexing of the minimum wage was not included in the final agreement.

Unemployment Reform (Part O/begins on page 60) – The new language at first glance appears to closely track the Governor’s original proposal.  This means a gradual increase in the state’s taxable wage base, a hastening of payments by employers to pay down and retire the Federal debt and then lower UI tax bills thereafter.  There are slight and regular increases in maximum UI benefits and reforms regarding the hearing process.

Workers’ Compensation Reform (Part GG/begins on page 131) – The final budget agreement contains the Workers’ Compensation “reform” language designed to assist members of workers’ compensation self – insured trusts.

S. 2609-D / A. 3009-D

IDA Restrictions (Part J/begins on page 55) – Prohibits giving financial assistant to projects where retail  outlets constitute more than 1/3 of the total project cost except where the project would make available goods and services which would not be otherwise be “reasonably available” to residents without the project or if the project is located in a highly distressed area.

Minimum Wage Tax Credit (Part EE/begins on page 89) – Establishes a minimum wage tax credit for employees between the ages of 16 and 19 who are paid minimum wage and are students. The tax credit for 2014 is .75ȼ per hour, for 2015 is $1.31 per hour and for 2016-2018 is $1.35 per hour. Employers are prohibited from discharging employees and hiring new ones just to take advantage of the tax credit.

NYS BUDGET NEAR COMPLETE WITH $9.00/HR. MINIMUM WAGE PHASED-IN OVER 3 YEARS, NO INDEXING. With the looming threat of the Democrat Assembly’s passage of a one-step $1.75 jump to $9.00/hour minimum wage with indexing, Governor Cuomo and the leadership from the Senate Majority Coalition and the Assembly reportedly reached a compromise within budget deliberations to transition the $1.75/hr. hike over a three-year period without indexing. To reach the $9.00/hr. standard, we expect the wage rate to jump $.75 effective January 1, 2014, another $.75 on January 1, 2015, and $.25 on January 1, 2016. New York State last increased its minimum wage to $7.25/hr. in 2009 after a four-year phase-in totaling $2.10. As fine-tuning on the $136.1 billion NYS budget nears completion for its April 1^st start of the 2013-14 fiscal year, there has been some discussion of business credits to mitigate the jump in the minimum wage’s impact on business. At this time, details remain sketchy on the possibility and format of such credits. While FIA joined with other business groups in opposing any increase in the minimum wage, FIA’s top two priorities in a fallback position were to provide for a multi-year phase-in and to prevent indexing for automatic COLA adjustments.

 FIA ACTIONS

“Bottle Law” Expansion Dropped from Budget Negotiations. After the Assembly embraced an expansion of the “Bottle Law” in its budget proposal, FIA quickly mobilized through its grassroots network and coalition partners (Coca-Cola, Pepsi and the Grocery Manufacturers Association) to successfully thwart this effort. As approved by the Assembly, sports drinks, flavored waters, ice teas, and fruit drinks would be captured mainly to create an escheat funding stream for environmental projects. FIA and the coalition had been coordinating with the Governor’s Office and the Senate Majority Coalition to eliminate any consideration of “Bottle Law” expansion. FIA is especially appreciative of the grassroots mobilization conducted by the membership to bolster FIA’s lobbying position. It clearly made a difference. While the expansion was dropped, the NYS budget does contain a number of amendments to the “Bottle Law” — many of which pertain to deposit initiators. Click here to access the complete list of “Bottle Law” revisions. Finally, for those FIA members with service station operations in NYC and the Counties of Suffolk, Nassau, Westchester and Rockland the budget also requires the wiring of service stations and the installation of generators. To read the generator requirements, click here.

FIA’s Government Relations Chair Lorelei Mottese Addresses Media at Capitol Hill Press Conference on Menu Labeling Bill. This past Thursday, FIA’s Chair of the Government Relations Committee Lorelei Mottese, Director of Government Relations for the Wakefern Food Corporation, addressed the media during a Capitol Hill press conference in support of a bi-partisan bill (H.R. 1249) to (1) clarify that  grocery stores were not intended to menu label and (2) direct the Food and Drug Administration to implement a restaurant menu labeling provision in the way in which Congress originally intended — to provide a uniform standard for chain restaurants with 20 or more locations in order to preempt the various state and local menu labeling laws. In her statement, Ms. Mottese graphically illustrated, “Estimates to implement this regulation across the supermarket industry, where the average profit margin is less than one percent, exceeds $1 billion. Simply put, grocery stores are not chain restaurants, and operate much differently. That’s why Congress chose not to include us in the chain restaurant menu labeling law.” In separate releases, NGA and FMI applauded the legislation and reinforced Ms. Mottese’s statement that H.R. 1249 ensures that retail grocers must not be subjected to millions of dollars in new and unnecessary expenses and administrative burdens due to regulatory overreach, which is why Congress did not specify grocers in the law. In fact, the original menu labeling language refers to ‘similar retail food establishments’ and never meant to cover traditional grocery stores.

Reminder — Past Year’s FoodScans Are Archived on the FIA Website for Members Only. Occasionally, FoodScan articles note past editions of FoodScan. For easy reference, FIA’s webpage now includes the past year’s supply of FoodScan for members only. To access past issues, simply go to www.fiany.com and click-on the FoodScan tab along the left margin. On the next page, in the maroon box under “Members Log In,” insert “member” as the Username and “fiany130” as the Password and then click-on Log In. It’s that simple.

CAPITAL CURRENTS

NYS Department of Tax & Finance Alerts FIA to New Website Design. In a recent email to FIA, the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance announced a streamlined and easier to navigate website at www.tax.ny.gov. The new design makes it easier to locate and launch 60 online services that simplify tax administration for businesses, individuals, tax professionals and local officials.  More than 700,000 businesses use the Department’s online services to file returns, pay taxes, check refund status, and complete other tax tasks.

Recently, the leadership in the Senate and the Assembly introduced their respective budget bills in response to the earlier Executive Budget from Governor Cuomo. Now the three-way budget negotiation process begins in earnest as all parties point to finalizing the budget by March 21^st. While there are several budget issues “on the table” impacting grocers — including minimum wage [see following article], the introduction by the Assembly of “Bottle Law” expansion becomes a major concern. Expansion would capture sports drinks, flavored waters, ice teas, and fruit drinks. Through “back channel” sources, FIA staff has learned that the Governor’s Office and the Senate are not advocating an expansion of the “Bottle Law” but they need heavy industry opposition to warrant dropping this provision from the final budget. Consequently, grocers must quickly respond since the “budget clock” is clicking down. The message to your Senate and Assembly legislators for districts in which your company operates should be simple and to the point as follows: “As a grocer, I am further damaged by any additional expansion of the ‘Bottle Law’ since I don’t have storage space for even more dirty containers that create sanitation issues. With a grocer’s slim margins, I have no alternative but to reflect this added operational expense in the price of my products. My customers get hurt twice — (1) through higher prices and (2) by paying deposits on even more beverage containers that they may not redeem. ‘Bottle Law’ expansion is another New York ‘Tax on Families.’ ” Since time is critical, I urge you to respond immediately by calling and/or emailing your Senators (please click here for a complete listing of Senate email addresses and direct telephone numbers) and Assemblypersons (please click here to access Assembly email addresses and direct telephone numbers). FIA staff can be your “ears and eyes” in Albany, but you are the constituent.

 FIA ACTIONS

Minimum Wage Increase Tossed Back into Budget Deliberations. Although initially part of budget discussions, a hike in the minimum wage subsequently was rumored to be viewed as separate legislation outside of the budget talks. Now, there is movement among minimum wage advocates — once again — to include it into the omnibus budget bill where it becomes part of a proposal that must be passed as opposed to a “stand alone” bill subject to the vagaries of the legislative process. Regardless, there appears to be growing sentiment that a minimum wage increase will happen. Now, the issue becomes “how much” and in what format (e.g., one step jump vs. multi-year phase-in, indexing, training wage, effective date, etc.). With the Assembly already approving a raise in the minimum wage, the focus now turns to the Senate’s Majority Coalition comprised of the GOP and five “breakaway” Democrats entitled the Independent Democrat Caucus (IDC). Interestingly, it is the IDC leader Jeff Klein (Bronx/Westchester) who is sponsor of the minimum wage measure — albeit he is “open” to a more reasonable version than passed the Assembly. In media reports from March 14^th, Klein applauded the “framework” for a wage increase in the Senate’s one-house budget resolution. It called for an increase over three years, but is silent on what the wage and its annual increases would be over the period. Klein said, “We have a commitment to raise the minimum wage. We haven’t come up with a final number, or what the actual minimum wage would look like.” FIA’s lobbying continues to question the need for any minimum wage increase, while working to ameliorate the final outcome on grocers, including the addition of a training wage.

CAPITAL CURRENTS

NYS Tax Revenues Grow for First Ten Months of Fiscal Year Due to Action at the Federal Level. Tax collections from April through January totaled $55.9 billion, a growth of 3.3 percent from the same period last year, according to the January cash report released by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. Tax collections to date are $538.2 million more than projections updated in the Executive Budget last month. “The good news is that for the second month in a row Personal Income Tax collections were higher than anticipated,” DiNapoli said. “The State received a boost in receipts because high-income taxpayers shifted income into 2012 in response to changes in federal tax law occurring in 2013.” Federal tax actions implemented in January led many employers to move salary and bonus payments for high income individuals to the end of December to avoid federal tax increases. Many high income taxpayers also sold assets in December to avoid federal tax increases. Additionally, DiNapoli announced that Wall Street bonuses rose by 8% to $20 billion during this year’s “bonus season.” Click here for DiNapoli’s press release on Wall Street bonuses.

New York State Continues to Increase Private Sector Job Count. This past Tuesday, the NYS Department of Labor released its local area unemployment rates for January and reported a statewide gain of 102,600 private sector jobs over the last twelve months. As reported last week, the NYS jobless rate was 8.4% in January 2013. Tompkins County claims the lowest unemployment rate at 6.7%, while Bronx County registered the highest at 13.4%. January’s regional year-to-year private sector job gains/losses and unemployment percentages (not seasonally adjusted) follow in that order: NYC +2.5-2% jobs /9.9% unemployment; Long Island  +2.9 /7.9; Kingston +2.0/9.9; Putnam-Rockland-Westchester +0.6/7.8; Poughkeepsie-Newburgh +2.1/8.7; Utica-Rome -0.2/10.2; Albany +1.5/8.4; Syracuse -0.1/9.8; Buffalo +1.1/9.6; Ithaca +0.7/6.7; Rochester -0.1/9.1; Glens Falls +1.9/10.3; and Binghamton +0.1/10.2. To view DOL’s press release/jobs data, click here and for further information on area unemployment rates, click here.

 FIA ACTIONS 

A Mixture of Good and Bad — Two Bills of Interest to FIA Make Progress. With the Legislature’s attention primarily focused on budget negotiations as the deadline date of March 21^st looms, some movement is beginning on other legislation. Two bills of interest to FIA — one good and one bad — moved this past week. To begin, FIA’s Itinerant Vendor bill (S.743) unanimously passed the Senate on March 5^th. In its Memo of Support, FIA wrote, “This bill clarifies the definition of baby foods and non-prescription drugs to enhance law enforcement and expands the law to include batteries and cosmetics, which are frequent targets of Organized Retail Theft. In addition to losses suffered by legitimate businesses, flea markets and street sales are inappropriate vendors for the sale of these products, many of which are perishable and will deteriorate when exposed to sunlight and heat..” Then, also on March 5^th, Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz (D-Bronx), Chairman of the Consumer Affairs & Protection Committee, moved his punitive deceptive practices proposal, A.312, out of his Committee with no GOP support. In its Memo of Opposition, FIA explained that A.743 greatly expands the existing deceptive acts and practices law by encouraging frivolous lawsuits. Under A.743, court awards will increase from $50 to $500 for individuals who sue without proving they suffered any actual damages. Treble damage awards will increase from $1,000 to $10,000. In addition, for the first time, a court must award attorney’s fees and costs to a prevailing plaintiff.  Prevailing retailers get no similar relief. The bill establishes “unconscionable” acts based upon loosely defined and subjective terms such as the defendant knew or reasonably should have known that he/she was taking advantage of a consumer’s physical infirmity, illiteracy or language limitations.  An action may also be brought under this new section where the consumer alleges that the same property or service could have been obtained elsewhere for substantially less.

 CAPITAL CURRENTS

After Two Months in Retreat, February Consumer Confidence Rebounds — Mid-Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA) Region Jumps 8.6 Pts. After reaching a 4¾-year high of 73.7 (1985=100) last November, the Conference Board’s national Consumer Confidence Index® dropped for two consecutive months. February stopped the skid with an advance of 11.2 points to 69.6. With eight of the nine regions registering gains (only national leader West South Central Region slipped from 95.3 to 85.9), the Middle Atlantic Region (NY, NJ, PA) showed an 8.6 point increase to 65. The neighboring New England Region rallied by10.5 points to 68.5. The Conference Board’s  Lynn Franco observed that consumers are “… cautiously optimistic about the outlook for business and labor market conditions.”

NYS Gains Jobs for a Record 17^th Straight Month, Yet Unemployment Up 0.2 to 8.4. Based on a March 7^th NYS Department of Labor (DOL) report, NYS added 29,600 jobs in January, breaking a record with 17 consecutive months of private sector gains. January’s job count means that nearly one out of every five jobs added nationally came from NYS. Yet, between December 2012 and January 2013, the State’s unemployment rate rose from 8.2% to 8.4%. The rate in New York City increased from 8.8% to 9.1%. The nation’s jobless count for the same period stood at 7.9%. It is anticipated that within the next week DOL will be releasing regional data on jobs and unemployment rates. Therefore, look for a full report in the March 18^th edition of FoodScan.

 FIA ACTIONS

FIA Updated on Latest SNAP Information from OTDA. Continuing with the emergency management theme, on February 27^th the Government Relations Committee hosted Al Rios, EBT-Director for the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA), to glean information on the SNAP program in NYS. Rios mentioned that OTDA is pursuing USDA to give NYS automatic waiver authority to make hot/prepared foods eligible for SNAP during a crisis and, thereby, bypass the federal approval morass. Additionally, Rios cautioned that grocers should have a supply of vouchers “on site” in the event of a system shutdown and noted that J.P. Morgan will ship as many vouchers as requested to one site per company. All requests should be directed to FIA. And, finally, Rios explained that the SNAP enrollment campaign from 2012, which was conducted in the stores of participating grocers, was a “tremendous success” that resulted in “quite an uptick in enrollment.” Then, in a February 28^th email from Rios to FIA, he announced that USDA has agreed to extend the prepared foods waiver (click here) in NYC, Nassau and Suffolk through March 31^st for hot/prepared foods.

NGA/FMI Washington Conference Scheduled For April 17-18. The National Grocers Association and the Food Marketing Institute once more are joining forces for their 2013 – A Day in Washington public affairs conference, April 17-18, at the conveniently located Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill. Your presence at the conference is especially important since much of the “legislative groundwork” is laid during the first year of Congress’ two-year session and there is no substitute for constitute meetings with Congressional offices. FIA will schedule member meetings. Topics for Congressional meetings include: tax policy; health care employer implementation; credit and debit card swipe fees; and menu labeling. The conference begins at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17^th with a General Session followed by a two-hour reception. Then, on Thursday, April 18^th, a breakfast session precedes Congressional visits. Registration fees for retailers/wholesalers are $150 and $75 for spouses. Call 202-737-1234 for hotel reservations and mention group code “Food Marketing Institute.” Importantly, the hotel deadline is March 22^nd. The rate for a single/double is $339 (excluding taxes). Be sure to Please click-on http://nationalgrocers.org/events-education/event-calendar/day-in-washington for more information, and, for a “hard copy” registration form, please access the following link since online registration is not yet operative:  http://nationalgrocers.org/docs/nga-show—expo-show-floor-materials/2013%20DIW%20Registration%20Form.pdf .

 CAPITAL CURRENTS

NYPIRG Says Its “Bottle” Surveys Find Benefits for Retailers from the NYS Mandatory Deposit Law. Once again, the NY Public Interest Group knows better than business how to conduct business. Yeah, right. This time, two NYPIRG surveys conclude that “… the 2009 amendments to New York’s container deposit law … have had a positive impact on retailers …,” according to a February internet edition of the “Legislative Gazette.” The article continues, “These surveys suggest retailers that offer convenient bottle return facilities may be benefiting from New York’s container deposit law by attracting more customers in addition to the handling fee they get for each container they take back.” To read the complete article, please click here.

 FIA ACTIONS

New Package of Organized Retail Theft Bills Introduced in NYS as FMI Updates ORC’s Impact on Lost State Sales Taxes. FIA again will be coordinating with Senator Lee Zeldin (R-Suffolk) and Assemblyman Michael Cusick (D-Staten Island) as sponsors of the Organized Retail Crime (ORC) group of bills (S.2926-2930 and A.4271-4275, respectively) as they seek to stem the incidence of ORC. This legislative package is identical to their previous proposals (see the April 30, 2012 edition of FoodScan). To bolster its advocacy, FIA will be citing an updated FMI chart estimating lost state sales tax revenue attributable to ORC.  The lost state sales tax revenue figures are based on the estimated loss of $30 billion annually of merchandise and other valuable items, such as gift cards, from retail stores due to ORC.  FMI used retail sales data from the Census Bureau from 2009 for each state that has a sales tax along with each state’s sales tax numbers from data provided by the Sales Tax Institute. Click here to access FMI’s updated ORC document.

NGA/FMI Washington Conference Scheduled For March 30-31. The National Grocers Association and the Food Marketing Institute once more are joining forces for their 2013 – A Day in Washington public affairs conference, April 17-18, at the conveniently located Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill. Your presence at the conference is especially important since much of the “legislative groundwork” is laid during the first year of Congress’ two-year session and there is no substitute for constitute meetings with Congressional offices. FIA will schedule member meeting. Topics for Congressional meetings include: tax reform; healthcare; credit card swipe fees; and menu labeling. For more information, please click-on http://nationalgrocers.org/events-education/event-calendar/day-in-washington and, for a “hard copy” registration form, please access the following link since online registration is not yet operative:  http://nationalgrocers.org/docs/nga-show—expo-show-floor-materials/2013%20DIW%20Registration%20Form.pdf.

 CAPITAL CURRENTS

The Other Side of the Food Aisle. Due to fragile consumer confidence, more expensive food costs, a weak labor market, an excess of restaurants, and “Obamacare,” investment research firm Zacks anticipates subdued restaurant growth in the medium term … The National Restaurant Association (NRA) estimates 2013 restaurant sales to increase 3.8% to $660.5 billion yet only register 0.8% growth after adjusting for inflation … Based on industry segment sales, NRA expects full-service to post 2.9% growth to $208.1 billion, while limited-service eating places will generate $225.4 billion (4.6% rise) … With a slightly improving economy, research by Technomic found that consumers are purchasing retailer meal solutions (RMS) less often than they did just two years ago — 38% of today’s consumers say that they purchase RMS from traditional supermarkets each week, which compares to 42% in 2010.