Business interests are rallying against proposed restrictions on plastic packaging, data centers, and surveillance pricing as New York lawmakers approach the end of their legislative session June 4.
Lawmakers are expected to consider hundreds of bills this week before the session is scheduled to end Thursday. A few high-profile issues have garnered significant opposition from corporate interests.
Lobbyists have spent heavily to defeat a measure mandating the shift of recycling responsibility onto the private sector manufacturers and producers of plastic packaging. They also have raised concerns with a ban on “surveillance pricing” that’s backed by Attorney General Letitia James.
The legislative time crunch means some especially controversial bills could fall off the list of priorities for lawmakers. Republicans hold little power in both chambers but can debate each bill for up to four hours, causing an end-of-session scramble to pass bills.
Data Centers
Democrats in the state Senate discussed a measure enacting a three-year moratorium on the issuance of data center permits in closed-door conferences last week, according to Sen. Rachel May (D), who chairs the Consumer Protection Committee.
The moratorium would likely be reviled by economic development advocates, but Gov. Kathy Hochul didn’t shut it down when asked about the measure last week. She has said data centers coming to New York should be able to manage their own energy costs without making ratepayers utility bills increase.
“This is a local decision for municipalities, it’s land use,” Hochul said of whether she would support a statewide moratorium. “It’s not a statewide approach necessarily, but it’s something I’m looking at intensely, because I know there’s a lot of concern about it.”
Other data center bills brought up in discussions include one sponsored by May that would limit state subsidies for data center development. That bill would cap state assistance at $25,000 per full-time job and require clawbacks if such centers don’t meet job creation commitments.
Democrats are also toying with establishing separate rate classes for large energy-use facilities to separate those utility payers from individual residents.
May said of eight separate data center bills, lawmakers could condense three of them into a package to pass next week.
“If we do nothing, that’s at least eight months when the richest companies in the world will be able to do whatever they want, unless local governments intervene,” May said.
Extended Producer Responsibility
A measure that would amend environmental conservation laws to transfer the responsibility of plastic recycling to the private sector has ruffled major corporate interests, including associations that represent beverage companies and the American Chemistry Council.
The bill would require producers to use materials that are considered recyclable and meet a 75% recycling target by 2055. Producers would need to adopt reusable or refillable packaging requirements of 20% by 2055.
The legislation stalled in the state Assembly last year after a massive lobbying blitz by industry groups.
Opponents argue the legislation will add burdens and new costs to employers. If enacted, it would be the most restrictive plastics packaging reduction measure in the country. Minnesota has a similar program that the industry supports, said Ken Pokalsky, a vice president with The Business Council of New York State.
“At some point, a package is no longer a package, it doesn’t have the structural integrity to do its job,” Pokalsky said. He called the targets “nearly arbitrary” and said companies were concerned it would lead to a loss of certain products from shelves, forcing a multi-year, expensive change in how companies operate production lines.
Surveillance Pricing
A bill to ban surveillance pricing set by an algorithm using “personal data” to offer different prices to customers is causing alarm among corporate interests that say the ban could hamper customer discounts.
Industry groups say personalized grocery coupons, loyalty rewards, hotel discounts, and online shopping cart reminders could be axed under the bill’s provisions.
Hochul said last week her office is working with James on the issue, “taking a good hard look at this, and where it’s being abused, and what we can do.”