Bill Text: NY A05191 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Amended

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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 7-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-06-01 - enacting clause stricken [A05191 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-A05191-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                         5191--B
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    February 6, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced by M. of A. RYAN, MORELLE, ROZIC, BRINDISI, ABINANTI, THIELE,
          SIMON -- read once and referred to the Committee on Labor -- committee
          discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
          to  said  committee  -- again reported from said committee with amend-
          ments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
        AN ACT to amend the economic development law, in relation to  establish-
          ing  an  advisory panel on employee-owned enterprises within the divi-
          sion of small business services; 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;
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08166-05-7
        A. 5191--B                          2
     1    (iii) the commissioner of tax and finance, or his or her designee; and
     2    (iv) nine members to be appointed as follows: three shall be appointed
     3  by  the governor, two shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly,
     4  two shall be appointed by the temporary president  of  the  senate,  one
     5  shall be appointed by the minority leader of the assembly, and one shall
     6  be  appointed  by  the  minority  leader  of  the senate. Such appointed
     7  members  shall  represent  entities  and  organizations  with  expertise
     8  related  to  employee-owned enterprises or business development, partic-
     9  ularly those with an emphasis on small businesses, minority  and  women-
    10  owned  businesses,  and  veteran-owned  businesses,  including,  but not
    11  limited to:
    12    (1) employee-owned enterprises;
    13    (2) employee-owned enterprise advocacy, service, support, or  develop-
    14  ment organizations;
    15    (3) business development organizations;
    16    (4)  New  York state college and university programs with expertise in
    17  business development;
    18    (5) commercial lending organizations focusing on access to capital and
    19  community development; and
    20    (6) labor organizations.
    21    (b) Each member of the panel  shall  serve  at  the  pleasure  of  the
    22  appointing  authority,  and  any vacancy on the panel shall be filled in
    23  the same manner as the original appointment. Such  panel  members  shall
    24  serve without compensation except that such members shall be entitled to
    25  reimbursement  for  actual  and  necessary  expenses  incurred  in  such
    26  service.
    27    4. Powers and duties of the advisory panel. The advisory panel shall:
    28    (a) identify and recommend strategies  to  promote  the  creation  and
    29  development  of  new  employee-owned  enterprises in order to create new
    30  jobs and retain existing jobs within the state;
    31    (b) identify and recommend strategies to facilitate  the  creation  of
    32  employee-owned  enterprises  that  promote  the continuation of existing
    33  businesses either as part  of  a  pre-existing  business  succession  of
    34  ownership  plan  or  as  an  alternative  option  if a business is being
    35  offered for sale or transfer by the current owner or the heirs or estate
    36  of a deceased owner;
    37    (c) evaluate the effectiveness of current state and local training and
    38  assistance programs designed to provide support to employee-owned enter-
    39  prises, and make recommendations as to how to more  effectively  utilize
    40  these programs and resources to support such enterprises;
    41    (d) examine and identify state and local laws and regulations relating
    42  to  the  governance and administration of employee-owned enterprises and
    43  their effect on the creation, retention, and growth of such enterprises;
    44    (e) examine and identify other successful  federal,  state  and  local
    45  programs  designed  to  provide  support  to employee-owned enterprises,
    46  including any programs currently underutilized by individuals seeking to
    47  establish an employee-owned enterprise in the state;
    48    (f) evaluate the ability of new  and  existing  employee-owned  enter-
    49  prises  to  acquire  the  capital necessary to form, expand, and develop
    50  their operations;
    51    (g) evaluate the role of immigrants  and  new  Americans,  minorities,
    52  women, and veterans in the formation of employee-owned enterprises;
    53    (h) evaluate the potential for employee-owned enterprises to assist in
    54  the  revitalization  and  redevelopment  of  economically  disadvantaged
    55  communities; and
        A. 5191--B                          3
     1    (i) recommend a set of best practices and  policies  as  a  guide  for
     2  individuals  to  use when forming an employee-owned enterprise, and make
     3  such guide publicly available on the department's website.
     4    5.  Reporting.  The  advisory panel shall issue a report no later than
     5  September thirtieth, two thousand eighteen outlining  the  findings  and
     6  recommendations  of  the  panel.  The  report  shall be delivered to the
     7  governor, the speaker of the assembly, the temporary  president  of  the
     8  senate,  the minority leader of the assembly, the minority leader of the
     9  senate, the chair of the assembly committee on ways and means, the chair
    10  of the senate committee on finance, the chair of the assembly  committee
    11  on  economic  development,  the chair of the assembly committee on small
    12  business, the chair of the senate committee on commerce, economic devel-
    13  opment, and small business, the  chair  of  the  assembly  committee  on
    14  labor, and the chair of the senate committee on labor.
    15    §  2.  This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire October
    16  1, 2018 when upon such date the provisions of this act shall  be  deemed
    17  repealed.