ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — This week on Empire State Weekly, The state labor department is implementing new regulations regarding how farm workers are paid. The plan will decrease the threshold from 60 to 40 hours over the next decade.

The phased-in, gradual threshold reduction will begin on January 1, 2024, when the threshold will be 56 hours. It will then decrease by four hours every other year until reaching 40 hours in 2032. Jeff Williams, the Public Policy Director for the New York Farm Bureau, explained that while the phased plan allows farms to plan for the increased costs, it won’t impact the already high costs associated with doing business in the state.

Also, this week, David Little, the Executive Director of the Rural Schools Association, explained how the recent historic 34.5 billion dollar investment in education would impact the smallest schools in the state. Little explained that rural schools are unevenly getting increases in funding, with some only receiving the minimum 3% increase. He said rural schools rely heavily on state aid to rebuild the programs that got cut when they were not getting state aid.

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