Senator Anna M. Kaplan Passes Legislation Supporting Small Businesses

(Albany, NY) The New York State Senate passed several pieces of legislation that will help to help strengthen and support small businesses, including a bill introduced by Senator Anna M. Kaplan (S.3163).

Senator Anna M. Kaplan said “Small businesses are the lifeblood of our communities, supporting thousands of local jobs, and helping New York to have a more robust and diversified economy. As Chair of the Committee on Commerce, Economic Development, and Small Business, I have a solemn duty to ensure that New York State is focused on supporting our small businesses, so they can continue to grow and thrive.”  

The small business support legislation passed today includes:

• Senate Bill S.3163, sponsored by Senator Anna M. Kaplan, which will allow small businesses to make tax-deferred contributions to a rainy day savings account to be drawn from during times of need. The legislation will also allow small businesses to draw on these funds tax-free in times of significant economic hardship or natural disasters, in order to stabilize the business and prevent layoffs.
• Senate Bill S.1087, which establishes the Small Business Crime Prevention Services Program.
• Senate Bill S.1265, which creates a pilot project to improve business and public participation in the rule-making process, by permitting agencies to use innovative techniques in organizing public hearings on proposed rules.

Senator Kaplan concluded, "This legislation will be a valuable tool to help small businesses, not only on Long Island, but across New York State, and I look forward to this being the first of many common-sense solutions we will pass to support our small business community.”