Bill Text: NY A08179 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to establishing an advisory panel on employee-owned enterprises; provides such panel shall consist of twelve members who shall report and make recommendations on how best to support existing employee-owned enterprises and promote new employee-owned enterprises.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-06-21 - substituted by s5349a [A08179 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-A08179-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          8179
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                      June 1, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  M. of A. RYAN -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Small Business
        AN ACT to amend the economic development law, in relation to  establish-
          ing an advisory panel on employee-owned enterprises; and providing for
          the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. The economic development law is amended  by  adding  a  new
     2  section 139 to read as follows:
     3    §  139.  Advisory panel on employee-owned enterprises. 1.  Definition.
     4  As used in this section, the term "employee-owned enterprise" shall mean
     5  a business in which the employees control the  majority  of  the  voting
     6  stock, or if the business is held in a trust which controls the majority
     7  of the voting stock, the trustees are elected by the employees. The term
     8  "employee-owned  enterprise" shall also refer to a worker cooperative as
     9  defined in section eighty-one of the cooperative corporations law.
    10    2. Establishment of  advisory  panel.  An  advisory  panel  is  hereby
    11  created  within  the  department for the purpose of reviewing state laws
    12  and programs in order to report and make recommendations on how best  to
    13  support  existing employee-owned enterprises, promoting the formation of
    14  new employee-owned enterprises, and promoting the  continued  growth  of
    15  such businesses in the state.
    16    3. Composition of advisory panel. (a) The advisory panel shall consist
    17  of twelve members, including:
    18    (i)  the commissioner, or his or her designee, who shall be designated
    19  as chair of the advisory panel;
    20    (ii) the commissioner of labor, or his or her designee;
    21    (iii) the commissioner of tax and finance, or his or her designee; and
    22    (iv) nine members to be appointed as follows: three shall be appointed
    23  by the governor, two shall be appointed by the speaker of the  assembly,
    24  two  shall  be  appointed  by the temporary president of the senate, one
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13030-01-7
        A. 8179                             2
     1  shall be appointed by the minority leader of the assembly, and one shall
     2  be appointed by the  minority  leader  of  the  senate.  Such  appointed
     3  members  shall  represent  entities  and  organizations  with  expertise
     4  related  to  employee-owned enterprises or business development, partic-
     5  ularly those with an emphasis on small businesses, minority  and  women-
     6  owned  businesses,  and  veteran-owned  businesses,  including,  but not
     7  limited to:
     8    (1) employee-owned enterprises;
     9    (2) employee-owned enterprise advocacy, service, support, or  develop-
    10  ment organizations;
    11    (3) business development organizations;
    12    (4)  New  York state college and university programs with expertise in
    13  business development;
    14    (5) commercial lending organizations focusing on access to capital and
    15  community development; and
    16    (6) labor organizations.
    17    (b) Each member of the panel  shall  serve  at  the  pleasure  of  the
    18  appointing  authority,  and  any vacancy on the panel shall be filled in
    19  the same manner as the original appointment. Such  panel  members  shall
    20  serve without compensation except that such members shall be entitled to
    21  reimbursement  for  actual  and  necessary  expenses  incurred  in  such
    22  service.
    23    4. Powers and duties of the advisory panel. The advisory panel shall:
    24    (a) identify and recommend strategies  to  promote  the  creation  and
    25  development  of  new  employee-owned  enterprises in order to create new
    26  jobs and retain existing jobs within the state;
    27    (b) identify and recommend strategies to facilitate  the  creation  of
    28  employee-owned  enterprises  that  promote  the continuation of existing
    29  businesses either as part  of  a  pre-existing  business  succession  of
    30  ownership  plan  or  as  an  alternative  option  if a business is being
    31  offered for sale or transfer by the current owner or the heirs or estate
    32  of a deceased owner;
    33    (c) evaluate the effectiveness of current state and local training and
    34  assistance programs designed to provide support to employee-owned enter-
    35  prises, and make recommendations as to how to more  effectively  utilize
    36  these programs and resources to support such enterprises;
    37    (d) examine and identify state and local laws and regulations relating
    38  to  the  governance and administration of employee-owned enterprises and
    39  their effect on the creation, retention, and growth of such enterprises;
    40    (e) examine and identify other successful  federal,  state  and  local
    41  programs  designed  to  provide  support  to employee-owned enterprises,
    42  including any programs currently underutilized by individuals seeking to
    43  establish an employee-owned enterprise in the state;
    44    (f) evaluate the ability of new  and  existing  employee-owned  enter-
    45  prises  to  acquire  the  capital necessary to form, expand, and develop
    46  their operations;
    47    (g) evaluate the role of immigrants  and  new  Americans,  minorities,
    48  women, and veterans in the formation of employee-owned enterprises;
    49    (h) evaluate the potential for employee-owned enterprises to assist in
    50  the  revitalization  and  redevelopment  of  economically  disadvantaged
    51  communities; and
    52    (i) recommend a set of best practices and  policies  as  a  guide  for
    53  individuals  to  use when forming an employee-owned enterprise, and make
    54  such guide publicly available on the department's website.
    55    5. Reporting. The advisory panel shall issue a report  no  later  than
    56  September  thirtieth,  two  thousand eighteen outlining the findings and
        A. 8179                             3
     1  recommendations of the panel. The  report  shall  be  delivered  to  the
     2  governor,  the  speaker  of the assembly, the temporary president of the
     3  senate, the minority leader of the assembly, the minority leader of  the
     4  senate, the chair of the assembly committee on ways and means, the chair
     5  of  the senate committee on finance, the chair of the assembly committee
     6  on economic development, the chair of the assembly  committee  on  small
     7  business, the chair of the senate committee on commerce, economic devel-
     8  opment,  and  small  business,  the  chair  of the assembly committee on
     9  labor, and the chair of the senate committee on labor.
    10    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall  expire  October
    11  1,  2018  when upon such date the provisions of this act shall be deemed
    12  repealed.