Establishes the work opportunity tax credit for businesses with fifty employees or less for hiring a long term unemployed person; provides a credit shall be allowed of up to $2,400; provides the total amount of credit provided statewide shall not exceed fifteen million dollars.
Summary
S03694 would create a new New York State tax credit called the work opportunity tax credit for small businesses. The credit would be worth $2,400 for each long-term unemployed person hired and retained for full-time employment for at least one year. To qualify, the employer must have 50 or fewer employees, and the hired worker must have been a New York resident for the prior three years and have been unemployed while receiving public assistance for at least six consecutive months.
The bill applies the credit across the corporate franchise tax, personal income tax, and insurance franchise tax provisions of the Tax Law. It also sets a statewide cap of $15 million per taxable year for the combined credits under all three tax articles, allows unused credit amounts to be treated as overpayments subject to refund or carryforward rules, and includes standard credit recapture provisions. The act would take effect immediately but would apply only to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and to eligible hires made on or after that date.
Impact
The bill would amend sections 210-B, 606, and 1511 of the Tax Law to add parallel versions of the same credit for different taxpayer types, thereby reducing state tax liability for qualifying small employers that hire and retain eligible long-term unemployed individuals. It would create a new incentive structure for businesses with 50 or fewer employees and could increase state administrative and fiscal obligations through credit claims, refunds, and recapture enforcement, subject to the $15 million annual statewide cap.
Sentiment
The available voting history suggests strong support in committee, with the Senate Budget and Revenue Committee approving the bill 7-0 on May 28, 2025. No committee transcript is available, but the unanimous vote indicates broad agreement on the bill’s goal of encouraging hiring among small businesses and assisting long-term unemployed New Yorkers.
Contention
The main policy tradeoffs are fiscal cost and eligibility design. Supporters are likely to favor the targeted hiring incentive for small businesses and individuals receiving public assistance, while potential concerns center on the $15 million statewide cap, the narrow eligibility rules requiring three years of New York residency and six months of unemployment with public assistance, and the one-year retention requirement. Another possible point of contention is whether the credit is sufficiently targeted to produce new jobs versus subsidizing hires that might have occurred anyway.
Same As
Establishes the work opportunity tax credit for businesses with fifty employees or less for hiring a long term unemployed person; provides a credit shall be allowed of up to $2,400; provides the total amount of credit provided statewide shall not exceed fifteen million dollars.
Payment rates established for certain substance use disorder treatment services, and vendor eligibility recodified for payments from the behavioral health fund.
Cover Outstanding Vulnerable Expansion-eligible Residents Now Act or the COVER Now Act This bill establishes a demonstration program to allow local governments to provide health benefits to the Medicaid expansion population in states that have not expanded Medicaid. Under the program, local governments may provide coverage for individuals who are newly eligible for Medicaid under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (i.e., the Medicaid expansion population) for a maximum of 10 years, or until their respective states expand Medicaid. The bill provides a 100% federal matching rate for the first three years of program participation. The bill prohibits states from taking certain actions against participating localities, such as withholding funding, increasing taxes, or restricting provider participation. States that violate these requirements are subject to certain funding penalties.