STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 248 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Commerce, Economic Devel- opment and Small Business AN ACT to amend the economic development law, in relation to defining community significant projects and including such projects in the excelsior jobs program The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivisions 17 and 20-a of section 352 of the economic 2 development law, subdivision 17 as amended by section 1 of part K and 3 subdivision 20-a as added by section 1 of part ZZ of chapter 59 of the 4 laws of 2017, are amended and a new subdivision 18-a is added to read as 5 follows: 6 17. "Qualified investment" means an investment in tangible property 7 (including a building or a structural component of a building) owned by 8 a business enterprise which: 9 (a) is depreciable pursuant to section one hundred sixty-seven of the 10 internal revenue code; 11 (b) has a useful life of four years or more; 12 (c) is acquired by purchase as defined in section one hundred seven- 13 ty-nine (d) of the internal revenue code; 14 (d) has a situs in this state; [and] 15 (e) is placed in service in the state on or after the date the certif- 16 icate of eligibility is issued to the business enterprise; and 17 (f) demolition and remediation of costs incurred and paid in the 18 leased building by the business enterprise in a public housing develop- 19 ment in the state, as determined by the commissioner. 20 18-a. "Community significant project" means (a) a business creating or 21 retaining current jobs as determined by the commissioner, with partic- 22 ular emphasis on employment and/or training of current public housing EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00624-01-5
S. 248 2 1 residents; (b) currently located or to be located in existing leased 2 space of a building in a public housing development in the state that is 3 owned and operated by a public housing authority created under article 4 thirteen of the public housing law; (c) which makes significant quali- 5 fied capital investments to start a business, or improve services and 6 working conditions for an existing business, when located in such public 7 housing space; and (d) creates at least five new net jobs or retaining 8 current jobs or makes qualified capital investments to such space of a 9 building. The commissioner shall promulgate regulations pursuant to 10 section three hundred fifty-six of this article to determine what addi- 11 tional criteria a business must meet to be eligible as a community 12 significant project, including, but not limited to, incentivizing child 13 care providers and other businesses that support the needs of the work- 14 force residing in such public housing and the social and health needs of 15 residents in such public housing, ensuring that residents are not 16 displaced and ensuring that services or programs being offered to public 17 housing residents by either a public housing authority or an entity 18 already onsite, are not displaced in order to locate or expand a busi- 19 ness in a public housing development. 20 20-a. "Significant capital investment" means a project which will be 21 either a newly constructed facility or a newly constructed addition to, 22 expansion of or improvement of a facility, consisting of tangible 23 personal property and other tangible property, including buildings and 24 structural components of buildings, that are depreciable pursuant to 25 section one hundred sixty-seven of the internal revenue code, have a 26 useful life of four years or more, are acquired by purchase as defined 27 in section one hundred seventy-nine (d) of the internal revenue code, 28 and that is equal to or exceeds (a) one million dollars for a manufac- 29 turer; (b) two hundred fifty thousand dollars for an agriculture busi- 30 ness; (c) three million dollars for a financial services firm or back 31 office operation; (d) fifteen million dollars for a distribution center; 32 (e) three million dollars for a scientific research and development 33 firm; [or] (f) three million dollars for other businesses; or (g) one 34 million dollars for a significant project. 35 § 2. Paragraphs (m) and (n) of subdivision 1 and subdivisions 3 and 4 36 of section 353 of the economic development law, paragraphs (m) and (n) 37 of subdivision 1 and subdivision 3 as amended by chapter 494 of the laws 38 of 2022, and subdivision 4 as separately amended by section 3 of part K 39 and section 2 of part ZZ of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, are amended 40 and a new paragraph (o) is added to subdivision 1 to read as follows: 41 (m) as a participant operating in one of the industries listed in 42 paragraphs (a) through (k) of this subdivision and operating or sponsor- 43 ing child care services to its employees as defined in section three 44 hundred fifty-two of this article; [or] 45 (n) as a Green CHIPS project[.]; or 46 (o) as a community significant project. 47 3. For the purposes of this article, in order to participate in the 48 excelsior jobs program, a business entity operating predominantly in 49 manufacturing must create at least five net new jobs; a business entity 50 operating predominately in agriculture must create at least five net new 51 jobs; a business entity operating predominantly as a financial service 52 data center or financial services customer back office operation must 53 create at least twenty-five net new jobs; a business entity operating 54 predominantly in scientific research and development must create at 55 least five net new jobs; a business entity operating predominantly in 56 software development must create at least five net new jobs; a business
S. 248 3 1 entity creating or expanding back office operations must create at least 2 twenty-five net new jobs; a business entity operating predominately in 3 music production must create at least five net new jobs; a business 4 entity operating predominantly as an entertainment company must create 5 or obtain at least one hundred net new jobs; [or] a business entity 6 operating predominantly as a distribution center in the state must 7 create at least fifty net new jobs, notwithstanding subdivision five of 8 this section; or a business entity operating predominately as a life 9 sciences company must create at least five net new jobs; [or] a business 10 entity must be a regionally significant project or Green CHIPS project 11 as defined in this article; or a community significant project as 12 defined in this article; or 13 4. A business entity operating predominantly in one of the industries 14 referenced in paragraphs (a) through (h) or in paragraph (k) or (o) of 15 subdivision one of this section but which does not meet the job require- 16 ments of subdivision three of this section must have at least twenty- 17 five full-time job equivalents unless such business is a business entity 18 operating predominantly in manufacturing then it must have at least five 19 full-time job equivalents and must demonstrate that its benefit-cost 20 ratio is at least ten to one. 21 § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 4 of section 355 of the economic 22 development law, as amended by section 4 of part G of chapter 61 of the 23 laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows: 24 (a) A participant in the excelsior jobs program who either qualified 25 as a regionally significant project, a community significant project or 26 is located in an investment zone shall be eligible to claim a credit for 27 a period of ten years. For the purposes of this subdivision, the lease 28 payment paid by the business enterprise pursuant to a public housing 29 development in this state shall be eligible real property tax for 30 purposes of this subdivision. 31 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to taxable 32 years beginning on and after January 1, 2026.