New York Assembly Bill A02594

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/21/25
• Refer: 1/21/25
• Refer: 1/7/26

Caption

Enacts the good jobs guarantee program to provide workforce training and opportunities for employment for residents of New York state to secure high paying jobs through the acquisition of job skills.

Summary

A02594 would create the “Good Jobs Guarantee Act” and establish a new state workforce training program aimed at helping low-income New Yorkers obtain higher-paying, sustainable employment. The bill creates a program within the economic development framework, to be administered through the Empire State Development Corporation and a competitively selected program administrator, to finance training offered by approved providers. Eligible participants are generally adults with annual income below $45,000 who either receive certain public assistance or do not have a college degree. The program is designed around an outcome-based financing model. Participants would not pay tuition or upfront costs; instead, they would owe payments only if they complete training and secure employment paying more than $50,000 annually. Repayment would be tied to a participant’s salary, capped at 20% of annual salary, limited to eight years, and would not accrue interest. The bill also requires providers to secure post-training employment, prohibits credit checks for eligibility, and allows participants to leave the program without ongoing payment obligations if they cannot maintain a qualifying job.

Impact

The bill would amend the Economic Development Law by adding a new Article 28 and would also amend the New York State Urban Development Corporation Act to create a $100 million Good Jobs Program Guarantor Fund. That fund would serve as a credit enhancement and minimum loss reserve to attract private, philanthropic, and public investment, rather than directly funding providers. The legislation would give the commissioner of economic development authority to approve providers, adopt rules, and oversee the program, while the Urban Development Corporation would help administer and review the program administrator’s performance. If enacted, it would create a new state-backed financing structure for workforce training and shift some financial risk from participants to training providers and investors.

Sentiment

The bill’s stated purpose and structure suggest a strongly supportive policy sentiment toward expanding access to workforce training and reducing the burden of student debt and upfront training costs. The bill frames the current education-to-employment pipeline as inadequate for many New Yorkers and presents the program as a way to create more direct pathways to good jobs, especially for low-income residents and people without college degrees. No committee transcript or recorded votes were provided, so there is no additional evidence of formal legislative support or opposition beyond the bill text itself.

Contention

The main points of potential contention are the bill’s use of a public credit-enhancement fund, the involvement of private investors and a program administrator, and the outcome-based repayment structure. Critics could question whether the state should backstop a $100 million guarantor fund for a model that relies on private capital and whether the program’s success metrics are sufficiently clear. Others may raise concerns about the repayment terms, the administrative complexity of selecting and overseeing providers, and whether the program could adequately protect participants if training does not lead to stable employment. Supporters are likely to emphasize the bill’s participant protections, including no upfront tuition, no interest, no creditworthiness screening, and repayment only when graduates secure qualifying jobs.