New York Senate Bill S09085

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/30/26
• Refer: 1/30/26

Caption

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.

Summary

This bill amends the General Municipal Law to expand and clarify the authority of industrial development agencies (IDAs) to make loans and grants to certain small businesses and not-for-profits. It adds explicit authority for IDAs to provide loans and grants to “eligible entities,” defined as physically located small businesses or not-for-profits with no more than 50 full-time or equivalent employees, so long as the assistance is memorialized in a loan or grant agreement and used for the agency’s corporate purposes. The bill also creates a new section establishing uniform criteria that each IDA must adopt by resolution to evaluate and select recipients for these programs. Those criteria may consider financial viability, whether the entity operates in the agency’s service area, creditworthiness, and whether the proposed use of funds supports qualified projects such as capital improvements or business expansion. The bill limits duplication by requiring coordination among agencies serving the same municipalities, prohibiting an eligible entity from receiving more than one agency award for the same project, and requiring repayment of any outstanding loan before a new loan is issued to the same entity.

Impact

The bill would change state law by expressly authorizing IDAs to issue loans and grants to qualifying small businesses and not-for-profits and by imposing statewide procedural rules for how those awards are evaluated, capped, tracked, and reported. It sets a per-project funding cap of $100,000 and a ten-year aggregate cap of $100,000 per eligible entity, requires agencies to adopt repayment/recapture policies, and mandates recordkeeping and annual reporting of awards, repayments, defaults, and bad debts under the Public Authorities Law. It also exempts deferred or uncharged interest on these loans from applicable state taxes and requires disclosure of possible federal tax consequences.

Sentiment

The bill appears generally supportive of local economic development and access to capital for smaller community-based organizations, with a focus on standardization and accountability rather than expansion without limits. Because there is no recorded committee transcript or vote history provided, there is no direct evidence of opposition or support from legislators in the available materials. The structure of the bill suggests a policy preference for controlled, transparent assistance programs administered by IDAs.

Contention

The main potential points of contention are the scope of IDA authority, the use of public-development entities to provide direct financial assistance, and the tax treatment of deferred interest. Some may view the bill as a useful tool for small business and nonprofit support, while others may question whether IDAs should be making grants and loans at all, whether the $100,000 cap is sufficient, and whether the uniform criteria are restrictive or flexible enough for local needs. Coordination requirements and the prohibition on multiple agencies funding the same project may also raise administrative concerns for agencies operating across overlapping jurisdictions.