What's happening
This bill provides financial assistance to help create worker cooperatives when micro-businesses with five or fewer employees change ownership.
Why it matters
Supports business continuity and local job retention. by helping micro-businesses (with five or fewer employees) avoid closure when owners retire, sell, or pass away, enabling employees to take over as worker-owners rather than risking layoffs or shutdown.
Promotes more equitable business ownership. by making it financially feasible for employees (who often lack capital) to collectively buy and run their workplace as a cooperative, potentially narrowing wealth gaps and democratizing business decision-making.
Encourages stability in communities with small businesses. by facilitating smooth succession plans, which can help maintain local economic activity, preserve neighborhood services, and keep profits circulating locally rather than being extracted by outside buyers.
Requires viable business planning for support. entities seeking assistance must submit a business plan, which helps ensure that only sustainable, thought-out conversions receive public-backed financial support, potentially increasing the success rate of new worker cooperatives.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Help Workers Buy Small Businesses
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Vetoed memo.65
- Delivered to governor
- Returned to senate
- Passed assembly
- Ordered to third reading rules cal.200
- Substituted for A10156
- Referred to small business
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 61–1
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.466
Show 11 earlier actions
- Reported and committed to finance
- Referred to corporations, authorities and commissions
- Returned to senate
- Died in assembly
- Referred to small business
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 62–0
- Ordered to third reading cal.1376
- Committee discharged and committed to rules
- Reported and committed to finance
- Referred to corporations, authorities and commissions
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Support Worker-Owned Microbusinesses
Assembly Floor Calendar · Sponsor Albert A. Stirpe
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2176
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 23, 2019
Introduced by Sen. BAILEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions
AN ACT to amend the New York state urban development corporation act and the economic development law, in relation to the creation of micro-business worker cooperatives upon transfer of ownership
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 16-m of section 1 of chapter 174 of the laws of 1968, constituting the New York state urban development corporation act, is amended by adding a new paragraph (o) to read as follows:
(o) Assistance to eligible entities pursuant to article five-A of the cooperative corporations law to provide financing in the form of loans, loan guarantees, and interest subsidy grants to subsidize loans from federally chartered instrumentalities and state and private lending institutions to facilitate the creation of worker cooperatives that promote continuation of existing micro-businesses either as a part of a preexisting business succession of ownership plan or as alternative option if a business is being offered for sale or transfer by the current owner or the heirs or estate of a deceased owner. For the purposes of this section, a micro-business shall be defined as a business with five or less full-time or full-time equivalent employees. All eligible entities shall be required to submit a business plan with their application requesting assistance.
§ 2. The opening paragraph of section 104-a of the economic development law, as added by chapter 788 of the laws of 1983, is amended to read as follows:
With respect to employee ownership assistance loans provided for in subtitle six of title eight of article eight of the public authorities law and paragraph (o) of subdivision one of section sixteen-m of section
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05616-01-9
S. 2176 2
one of chapter one hundred seventy-four of the laws of nineteen hundred sixty-eight, constituting the New York state urban development corporation act, the department shall have the power and duty and in cooperation with the job development authority, the empire state development corporation and any other applicable state agency or office to:
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately, provided, however, that the amendments to section 16-m of the urban development corporation act made by section one of this act shall not affect the expiration of such section and shall be deemed to expire therewith.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the New York state urban development corporation act and the economic development law, in relation to the creation of micro-busi- ness worker cooperatives upon transfer of ownership
Purpose or general idea of bill
This bill would provide for assistance in the creation of micro-business worker cooperatives upon transfer of ownership of an existing business.
Summary of provisions
This bill would add a new paragraph (o) to subdivision 1 of section 16-m of the New York State Urban Development Corporation Act that would make micro-business worker cooperatives upon transfer of ownership of an existing business, eligible to apply for assistance under the Economic Development Fund.
Further, this legislation would amend section 104-a of the Economic Development Law relating to Department of Economic Development to provide assistance to micro-business worker cooperatives by expanding the State entities that the Department must work in cooperation with the Empire State Development Corporation and any other applicable state agency or office.
Justification
The purpose of this legislation is to provide an additional source of funding to eligible worker-owned cooperatives upon the transfer of ownership of an existing micro-business. This legislation would help ensure that a viable business remains open and that the workers current- ly employed by a business would have the ability to buy an existing business. Creation of worker cooperatives is another tool to help support a vibrant Main Street in our communities.
Historically, worker cooperatives offer workers with the opportunity to become business owners. Worker ownership would convey to the workers the opportunity to further improve their business, have increased control over their work environment, and increased their long-term job security. Worker cooperative also provide economic benefits to their home communi- ties in the form of a stable tax base and retention of valuable jobs.
Legislative history
2015-16: A.10099 (Thiele)- Passed Assembly 2017-18: Tabled
Fiscal implications
Undetermined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately, provided, however, that the amendments to section sixteen-m of the Urban Development Corporation Act made by section one of this act shall not affect the expiration of such section and shall be deemed to expire therewith.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.