§ 25-b. Power to administer the workers with disabilities tax credit
program. (a) The commissioner is authorized to establish and administer
the workers with disabilities tax credit program to provide tax
incentives to employers for employing individuals with developmental
disabilities. The commissioner is authorized to allocate up to six
million dollars of tax credits annually.

(b) Definitions. (1) The term "qualified employer" means an employer
that has been certified by the commissioner to participate in the
workers with disabilities tax credit program and that employs one or
more qualified employees.

(2) The term "qualified employee" means an individual:

(i) who is deemed to have a developmental disability, as that term is
defined in subdivision twenty-two of section 1.03 of the mental hygiene
law and who is certified by the education department or the office for
people with developmental disabilities as a person with a disability
which constitutes or results in a substantial handicap to employment;
and

(ii) who is a current employee of a sheltered workshop, which for
purposes of this subdivision is defined as an organization or
environment that employs people with disabilities segregated from
others; or who was unemployed for at least three months prior to January
first, two thousand fifteen; and

(iii) who has worked for the qualified employer in a full-time or
part-time position that pays wages that are equivalent to the wages paid
for similar jobs, with appropriate adjustments for experience and
training, and for which no other employee has been terminated, or where
the employer has not otherwise reduced its workforce by involuntary
terminations with the intention of filling the vacancy by creating a new
hire; and

(iv) who has not worked for an entity related to the qualified
employer in the past twenty-four months; and

(v) is employed in New York at a location in New York state.

(c) A qualified employer shall be entitled to a tax credit. The tax
credits shall be claimed by the qualified employer as specified in
subdivision forty-eight of section two hundred ten-B and subsection (zz)
of section six hundred six of the tax law.

(d) To participate in the workers with disabilities tax credit
program, an employer must submit an application (in a form prescribed by
the commissioner) to the commissioner. The commissioner shall establish
guidelines that specify requirements for employers to participate in the
program including criteria for certifying qualified employees. Any
regulations that the commissioner determines are necessary may be
adopted on an emergency basis notwithstanding anything to the contrary
in section two hundred two of the state administrative procedure act.
Such requirements may include the types of industries that the employers
are engaged in.

(e) If, after reviewing the application submitted by an employer, the
commissioner determines that such employer is eligible to participate in
the workers with disabilities tax credit program, the commissioner shall
issue the employer a preliminary certificate of eligibility that
establishes the employer as a qualified employer. The certificate of
eligibility shall specify the maximum amount of workers with
disabilities tax credit that the employer will be allowed to claim. At
the end of the taxable year, a qualified employer must obtain a final
certificate of eligibility from the commissioner to file with a return
claiming the credit. The final certificate must contain the
certificate's taxable year to which the credit applies, the maximum
amount of the credit allowed, the qualified employer's name and employer
identification number, the employer's business address where the claimed
employees were employed, the social security numbers of claimed
employees and their hire and termination dates, verification that the
claimed employees have met the statutory definition of "qualified
employee", and each employee's total hours worked each quarter, hourly
wage, and full-time or part-time status.

(f) The tax credits provided under this program shall be applicable to
taxable periods beginning before January first, two thousand twenty-six.