Relates to loans and grants by industrial development agencies; requires uniform criteria for evaluation and selection of an eligible entity for a grant or loan; defines terms; outlines such criteria.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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9085
IN SENATE
January 30, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sen. MARTINEZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to the powers of
industrial development agencies and certain loans and grants to eligi-
ble entities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 17 of section 858 of the general municipal law,
2 as renumbered by chapter 356 of the laws of 1993, is renumbered subdivi-
3 sion 19 and two new subdivisions 17 and 18 are added to read as follows:
4 (17) To provide loans in accordance with section eight hundred fifty-
5 nine-c of this article, to any eligible entity as defined in paragraph a
6 of subdivision one of section eight hundred fifty-nine-c of this title,
7 provided such loan is memorialized in an appropriate loan agreement and
8 further provided that the loan proceeds are used in furtherance of the
9 agency's corporate purposes;
10 (18) To provide grants to any eligible entity as defined in paragraph
11 a of subdivision one of section eight hundred fifty-nine-c of this
12 title, provided said grant is memorialized in an appropriate grant
13 agreement stipulating the services to be provided in furtherance of the
14 agency's corporate purposes, to be provided in a manner consistent with
15 uniform criteria, as defined in subdivision two of section eight hundred
16 fifty-nine-c of this title, said uniform criteria to be established for
17 the evaluation and selection of eligible entities;
18 § 2. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new section
19 859-c to read as follows:
20 § 859-c. Uniform criteria for evaluation and selection of eligible
21 entities for loans. 1. For the purposes of this section, the following
22 terms shall have the following meanings:
23 (a) "eligible entity" shall mean a small business or not-for-profit
24 with not more than fifty full-time or equivalent employees that is phys-
25 ically located in the jurisdiction of the applicable agency.
26 (b) "small business" means a business with not more than fifty full-
27 time or equivalent employees.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08490-03-6
S. 9085 2
1 (c) "equivalent full-time employee" shall mean any combination of two
2 or more part-time jobs that, when combined together, constitute the
3 equivalent of a job of at least 35 hours per week.
4 2. (a) An agency shall develop, and adopt by resolution, uniform
5 criteria for the evaluation and selection of an eligible entity for a
6 grant or loan through the funding program, such criteria may include,
7 but is not limited to, whether the eligible entity:
8 (i) is a financially viable entity;
9 (ii) conducts business in the area served by the agency;
10 (iii) is creditworthy; and
11 (iv) has a proposed plan to use the funds received through this
12 program for qualified projects as determined by the agency, for purposes
13 including but not limited to capital improvement and business expansion.
14 (b) Any industrial development agencies that serve within the same
15 municipalities shall coordinate the distribution of funds to a single
16 entity.
17 (c) No eligible entity may receive a grant or loan from more than one
18 agency per project.
19 (d) An outstanding loan must be paid back in full prior to an agency
20 issuing an additional loan agreement to the same eligible entity.
21 3. Prior to administering a grant or loan program, an agency shall
22 develop, and adopt by resolution, the terms and conditions of such
23 loans, provided that:
24 (a) the amount of any funding for a single project provided pursuant
25 to this section shall not exceed one hundred thousand dollars, and
26 further provided that the total amount of all funds received by an
27 eligible entity shall not exceed one hundred thousand dollars within a
28 ten-year period.
29 (b) each agency shall develop policies for the return of all or part
30 of a grant or loan due to changes in eligibility or material shortfalls
31 related to the project.
32 4. Each agency shall maintain records related to the grants and loan
33 program, including a record of the number of grants and loans issued and
34 of payments received, the number of loans fully repaid, any outstanding
35 loans, defaults and bad debts, and include such information in the annu-
36 al report required by section twenty-eight hundred of the public author-
37 ities law.
38 5. Any interest deferred or not charged related to a loan issued
39 pursuant the loan program shall be exempt from all state taxes that may
40 be applicable to such interest amounts as such taxes relate to an eligi-
41 ble entity. Agencies shall disclose to eligible entity borrowers in loan
42 documents that there may be federal tax consequences to the program
43 loans.
44 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
