Many small businesses have the desire and ability to expand, but lack the capital they need to finance their growth. But since small businesses create eight out of every 10 jobs in the state, we need to do all we can to help them. The Assembly’s small business legislation helps them get that capital, and cover other expenses.

The Assembly’s small business legislation would:

• Require the Department of Economic Development to give small businesses and entrepreneurs priority consideration in the awarding of economic development assistance (A.3913)
• Create a program authorizing low-interest loans from the Urban Development Corporation to businesses that have been hurt because of an owner, manager or other key employee being sent off to fight in a military conflict (A.1884)
• Help businesses obtain loans for the purchase of pollution control equipment, so they can help protect the environment and comply with state and federal regulations (A.1382-A)
• Allow small businesses to pay for phone installation and maintenance charges over a period of one year (A.4531)
• Authorize the installment payment of fees and civil penalties over $300 owed to the state by small businesses (A.345)

One of the biggest stumbling blocks a lot of small businesses face is the patchwork of state and federal rules with which they must comply – rules that are often obscure and hard to understand. The Assembly wants to help them get the information they need in a format they can easily digest.

The Assembly’s legislation requires agencies issuing new rules to publish compliance guides for small businesses in plain language, so everyone knows what they need to do to stay within the law (A.149).

And since there are many environmental laws with which businesses have to comply, the Assembly’s package includes a series of bills to force different state agencies to offer information and assistance on environmental compliance and pollution prevention (A.314; A.1512; A.1005; A.3464-A).

One of the problems New York has had with its economic development strategy is that it hasn’t been nearly proactive enough. The Assembly wants to make sure that new products come from New York – and new jobs come to New York.

Since agriculture is such an important part of our economy and heritage, we have to support businesses that are creating agricultural jobs. The Assembly passed a bill that would establish a loan assistance grant program to help develop agribusinesses (A.6679-A). Microbusiness revolving loan pools would provide small amounts of capital, generally less than $25,000, often coupled with basic business management training and technical assistance, thus tapping a frequently overlooked source of economic vitality in rural areas.

Another bill would establish a program for the creation of kitchen incubator facilities for use by municipalities, educational institutions and not-for-profit organizations, particularly in economically-distressed areas. Such a program would allow those groups to teach food production, as well as management and marketing skills (A.675-A).