Enacts the facilitating business rapid response to state declared disaster act of 2013

8 Co-sponsors

• Tony Avella
• Simcha Felder
• Andrew J. Lanza
• Jack M. Martins
• Michael H. Ranzenhofer
• John L. Sampson
• James L. Seward
• Catharine Young

BILL NUMBER:S5323A

Title of bill

An act to amend the tax law, in relation to thresholds for establishing presence, residency or doing business in the state for out-of-state companies including affiliates of in-state companies that temporarily provide resources and personnel in the state during a state of emergency declared by the governor or the President of the United States

Purpose

To remove barriers to efficient deployment of out-of-state infrastructure restoration workers in order to facilitate restoration of critical infrastructure, utility repairs and other utility restorations.

Summary of provisions

Section 1 establishes a new article 42 in the tax law entitled the Facilitating Business Rapid Response to State Declared Disaster.

This new article sets forth definitions of relevant terms such as "Registered Business", "Out of State Business", "Out of State Employee", "Declared State Disaster or Emergency", "Disaster Period", and "Disaster or Emergency Related Work."

Provisions relate to out-of-state businesses and employees working in NYS during an emergency. Notification requirements for out-of-state businesses and employees are also established.

Section 2 is the effective date.

Justification

When disasters occur, utilities and wireless network providers work hard to recover their networks. To ensure their customers stay connected when they need it most, infrastructure companies often bring resources and personnel from other states to affected areas on a temporary basis. These companies are fortunate to have service-oriented employees who volunteer to work in disaster-ravaged areas in New York to help restore service. Bringing in these resources expedites the often enormous and overwhelming task of cleaning-up, restoring and repairing damaged utility infrastructure like phone lines, cell towers, electrical networks and pipelines.

This legislation would remove barriers to efficient deployment of out-of-state infrastructure restoration workers and eliminate delays in the restoration of critical infrastructure and utility restorations and repairs. The bill would codify policy put in place by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance in response to Hurricane Sandy.

The bill would recognize the temporary nature of the work and the need for rapid response to help a state recover from a disaster or emergency by establishing thresholds with respect to presence, residency or doing business in the state for out-of state employees and businesses that temporarily provide resources and personnel in the state during a state of emergency.

This bill would provide flexibility and efficiency for out-of-state businesses and employees that provide disaster relief in NYS by not

requiring such entities or individuals to file and/or remit certain taxes for a set period of time after the disaster strikes. Employees and employers will continue to be subject to taxes and other requirements in their home state during this period. This relief legislation would reduce the disincentives and headaches for out of state employees who leave their homes and families to help New Yorkers during times of need. These relief workers should not have to face the hassle of navigating an additional income tax filing after they return home.

Removing the barriers to efficient deployment of resources to the hardest hit areas would improve response times for companies deploying staff to the affected community so companies can provide the needed capacity and serve customers faster.

Legislative history

New bill.

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act will take effect immediately.