A bill for mandatory labeling of GMO foods advanced to the Rules Committee in the New York Assembly, the lower house of the state legislature. The group GMO Free NY said it was up to Speaker Carl Heastie “to move the bill forward to a floor vote or let it die even though there are 82 of 150 Assemblymembers as cosponsors of the bill.”
The advocacy group said 32 of the 63 state senators are now sponsors of the companion bill in the Senate. “We now have a majority of senators in support,” said GMO Free NY. “The bill is awaiting a signal from Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan to move it forward to a floor vote.”
The labeling bill vaulted through the Assembly’s Codes Committee on a 12-9 vote, and through the Ways and Means Committee 20-12, to reach the Rules Committee.
As the most populous state in the Northeast, New York is a plum target in the campaign for GMO labeling. Vermont’s first-in-the-nation label law takes effect July 1. State legislatures have taken a wait-and-see approach on labeling, for the most part, due to congressional activity and an ongoing lawsuit over Vermont’s law.