STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6793 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY March 20, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ORTIZ -- read once and referred to the Committee on Economic Development AN ACT to amend the economic development law, in relation to enacting the "corporate and financial accountability act" The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "corporate and financial accountability act". 3 § 2. The economic development law is amended by adding a new article 4 4-D to read as follows: 5 ARTICLE 4-D 6 FINANCIAL INCENTIVES ACCOUNTABILITY 7 Section 147. Legislative declaration. 8 148. Definitions. 9 149. Financial incentives accountability. 10 § 147. Legislative declaration. The legislature seeks to ensure that 11 recipients of publicly funded economic development assistance are held 12 accountable for the attainment of agreed upon performance objectives, 13 through a requirement for the repayment of assistance if such objectives 14 are not met. 15 § 148. Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the following 16 terms shall have the following meanings as indicated: 17 1. "Agency" shall mean any agency, department, board, bureau, commis- 18 sion a majority of whose members are appointed by the governor, divi- 19 sion, office, council, committee, or officer of the state, or the state 20 university of New York or the city university of New York, or any public 21 benefit corporation or public authority, a majority of whose members are 22 appointed by the governor, the state, any of its political subdivisions 23 or instrumentality of the state or its political subdivisions, or any 24 public benefit corporation as defined in subdivision four of section 25 sixty-six of the general construction law, or any municipal corporation EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD10055-01-9A. 6793 2 1 as defined in subdivision three of section three-a of the general munic- 2 ipal law. 3 2. "Economic development contract" shall mean any contract, agreement 4 or understanding between an agency and a recipient, providing for 5 awards, grants, loans, tax abatements or other business incentives. 6 3. "Recipient" shall mean a person, firm, partnership, company, asso- 7 ciation or corporation which enters into an economic development 8 contract with an agency. 9 4. "Applicant" shall mean any entity filing any application with an 10 agency to become a recipient. 11 5. "Award" shall mean any award, grant of financial assistance, loan, 12 tax abatement or other business incentive. 13 § 149. Financial incentives accountability. 1. Every agency that 14 enters into economic development contracts shall establish and implement 15 a financial accountability policy which shall at minimum require: 16 a. applicants to file information with an agency during the applica- 17 tion process for qualification as a recipient of an economic development 18 contract which shall include such applicant's record of performance in 19 contributing to job retention and creation, economic stability and 20 community revitalization, and any criminal convictions, violations or 21 pending investigations regarding occupational safety and health stand- 22 ards, equal employment opportunity credits and environmental standards; 23 b. the repayment, with interest, of awards or a portion thereof, upon 24 a finding that the recipient has not fully executed and completed the 25 stated purpose or objective of the award. Upon a written finding that 26 the repayment of the award is unable to be fulfilled due to circum- 27 stances beyond the control of the recipient, the award may be excused, 28 in whole or in part, by the agency; and 29 c. in the event that a recipient fails to repay an award and is found 30 to have been subject to a previous repayment pursuant to this article, 31 such applicant shall be ineligible to receive an award from the agency 32 for not less than five years following the date of last repayment. 33 2. Each agency that enters into economic development contracts shall 34 file with the department a certified copy of their financial account- 35 ability policy promulgated pursuant to this article. 36 3. In the event that a recipient fails to repay an award the agency 37 shall inform the department which shall maintain a listing thereof. The 38 department shall then make an annual report to the speaker of the assem- 39 bly and the temporary president of the senate on the first day of March 40 with respect to all recipients, to date, that have failed to repay an 41 award. 42 4. Every agency which enters into economic development contracts 43 shall, in the course of implementing the policy promulgated pursuant to 44 this article, report any information regarding a recipient's record of 45 performance in contributing to job retention and creation, economic 46 stability and community revitalization, and any criminal convictions, 47 violations or pending investigations regarding safety and health stand- 48 ards, equal opportunity employment credits and environmental standards 49 to the appropriate department for assessment and review. 50 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after 51 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend- 52 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen- 53 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to 54 be made and completed on or before such effective date.