S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
                                         3567
                              2015-2016 Regular Sessions
                                   I N  S E N A T E
                                   February 12, 2015
                                      ___________
       Introduced  by Sens. ESPAILLAT, PERKINS -- read twice and ordered print-
         ed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Corporations,
         Authorities and Commissions
       AN ACT to amend the New York state urban development corporation act, in
         relation to the small business regional revolving loan trust fund  and
         the small business regional revolving loan program
         THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
       BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
    1    Section 1. Statement of legislative  intent.  The  legislature  hereby
    2  finds  and  declares  that small businesses are the economic backbone of
    3  the state and the source of a majority  of  new  jobs.  The  legislature
    4  further finds that such businesses often have difficulty obtaining small
    5  amounts of capital from traditional banking organizations that is neces-
    6  sary to start-up, improve, or expand operations. State assistance in the
    7  form  of  loans to meet such capital gaps would enable the formation and
    8  expansion of small businesses across the state and,  thus,  provide  job
    9  opportunities  to  the  state's  citizens. The legislature further finds
   10  that the existing regional revolving loan program  of  the  state  urban
   11  development  corporation  demonstrated  that  it  is  more efficient and
   12  effective to provide such loans through regional  not-for-profit  corpo-
   13  rations  that  are  knowledgeable  about  local  businesses and economic
   14  conditions. Therefore, it is the intent of the  legislature  to  improve
   15  job  opportunities  in  the  state by revitalizing the urban development
   16  corporation's regional revolving loan program and re-naming it the small
   17  business regional revolving loan program.
   18    S 2. The New York state urban development corporation created by chap-
   19  ter 174 of the laws of 1968 is hereby directed  to  audit,  pursuant  to
   20  subdivision  19  of  section  16-a of section 1 of the urban development
   21  corporation act, each  existing  regional  corporation  administering  a
   22  small business regional revolving loan fund and to either recertify such
   23  regional corporation or decertify such regional corporation and competi-
   24  tively  select  a successor corporation to administer the small business
   25  regional revolving loan fund.  In the case of regions that do not have a
   26  regional corporation administering a small business  regional  revolving
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD08762-01-5
       S. 3567                             2
    1  loan  fund  or  that  have a decertified regional corporation, the urban
    2  development corporation shall issue a request for proposals, pursuant to
    3  the provisions of section 16-a of section 1  of  the  urban  development
    4  corporation  act,  to  administer small business regional revolving loan
    5  funds. The corporation shall select from the proposals received the most
    6  qualified applicant in each region pursuant to subdivisions 4, 5, and  6
    7  of such section 16-a. If there is no applicant or no qualified applicant
    8  in a region of the state, that region shall not participate in the small
    9  business  regional  revolving  loan  fund program. The corporation, from
   10  money available for this purpose, shall allocate funds to each  regional
   11  corporation pursuant to subdivision 1 of such section 16-a.
   12    S  3.    Section 16-a of section 1 of chapter 174 of the laws of 1968,
   13  constituting the New York state urban development  corporation  act,  as
   14  amended  by  chapter  477 of the laws of 2002, subdivisions 20 and 21 as
   15  amended by chapter 524 of the laws  of  2005,  is  amended  to  read  as
   16  follows:
   17    S 16-a. [Regional] SMALL BUSINESS REGIONAL revolving loan program. (1)
   18  The  corporation  shall establish a fund to be known as the "SMALL BUSI-
   19  NESS regional revolving loan trust fund" and shall pay  into  such  fund
   20  any  monies  made  available  to  the corporation for such fund from any
   21  source. The monies held in or credited to the  fund  shall  be  expended
   22  solely for the purposes set forth in this section. The corporation shall
   23  not  commingle  the  monies  of  such  fund with any other monies of the
   24  corporation or any monies held in trust by the corporation.
   25    (2) The corporation shall allocate any monies made available for  such
   26  fund  for  the  purpose  of  making grants to regional corporations. The
   27  grants shall be allocated as follows:
   28    (a) fifty percent divided equally among the regions;
   29    (b) fifty percent according to a formula weighted in  favor  of  those
   30  regions  with  the greatest levels of economic distress as determined by
   31  poverty rates, number of persons receiving public assistance,  unemploy-
   32  ment  rates,  rate  of  employment  decline and such other indicators of
   33  economic distress as the corporation deems appropriate; and
   34    (c) in the event a regional corporation advises the  corporation  that
   35  it  does  not  require  all  or a portion of the funds to be distributed
   36  pursuant to this subdivision, such funds shall be re-distributed by  the
   37  corporation equally among the other regional corporations.
   38    (3)  In  accordance with the rules and regulations of the corporation,
   39  each regional corporation  shall  establish  two  special  accounts  for
   40  monies  received  by the regional corporation pursuant to the provisions
   41  of this section. The grant monies received from the  corporation,  earn-
   42  ings  on such monies, and any principal repayments shall be deposited in
   43  a loan fund account; any interest earned by the regional corporation  on
   44  loans  will  be  deposited  in  a separate interest repayment account. A
   45  regional corporation shall be authorized to provide financing assistance
   46  to eligible projects. Any interest earned from its loans may be used  by
   47  a  regional  corporation  for  the  cost  of  administering the programs
   48  authorized by this section.
   49    (4) Regional corporations shall be selected by  the  corporation  from
   50  among  eligible  applicants  to  administer  a  SMALL  BUSINESS regional
   51  revolving loan program. An eligible applicant shall:
   52    (a) represent at least two entire contiguous counties;
   53    (b) have available to it staff with sufficient  expertise  to  analyze
   54  applications  for  financial  assistance, to regularly monitor financial
   55  assistance to clients, and have made arrangements to provide  management
   56  or technical assistance to clients;
       S. 3567                             3
    1    (c)  have an effective plan to market its services to small businesses
    2  through such entities as chambers of commerce,  industry  trade  associ-
    3  ations, banks, local development corporations, community based organiza-
    4  tions and industrial development agencies; and
    5    (d) have established a loan committee composed of five or more persons
    6  experienced  in  commercial  lending or in the operation of a for-profit
    7  business and a staff person of the regional office of the department  of
    8  economic development. Such loan committee shall review every application
    9  to  the  regional  corporation for financial assistance pursuant to this
   10  section, shall determine the feasibility of the transaction proposed  in
   11  the  application  and shall recommend to the board of directors or other
   12  governing body of the regional corporation such action as the  committee
   13  deems appropriate.
   14    (5)  Applications  to  the  corporation for certification or recertif-
   15  ication as a regional corporation shall:
   16    (a) describe the applicant corporation,  including  its  organization,
   17  membership, loan committee, staff, and sources of other funds, if any;
   18    (b) identify the geographic region to be served;
   19    (c)  explain  the methods and criteria to be used in determining firms
   20  eligible for financial  assistance  from  the  SMALL  BUSINESS  regional
   21  revolving loan program;
   22    (d) describe the means for coordinating financial assistance available
   23  from  the  SMALL BUSINESS regional revolving loan program with financial
   24  assistance available from other public funding sources within the region
   25  and how such program will be used  to  leverage  private  financing  for
   26  projects;
   27    [(e)  at any time, the corporation may consider proposals to reconfig-
   28  ure geographic areas served by regional corporations;] and
   29    [(f)] (E) contain such other  information  as  the  corporation  deems
   30  appropriate.
   31    (6)  The  corporation  shall  select,  from among eligible applicants,
   32  regional corporations to administer  revolving  loan  programs,  on  the
   33  basis of:
   34    (a)  the  ability of the regional corporation to administer the finan-
   35  cial assistance programs authorized under this section;
   36    (b) the extent of coordination with other publicly supported financial
   37  assistance programs available  within  the  region  represented  by  the
   38  regional corporation;
   39    (c) the degree of public and private support within the region for the
   40  applicant regional corporation; and
   41    (d)  the  ability of the regional corporation to provide financial and
   42  other assistance to businesses located in distressed  areas  within  the
   43  region.
   44    (6-a)  The  corporation  shall,  every five years, recertify that each
   45  regional corporation has complied with the terms and conditions of  this
   46  section.  In the event a regional corporation is not recertified, or its
   47  certification is withdrawn pursuant  to  subdivision  nineteen  of  this
   48  section, then the corporation shall give written notice to such regional
   49  corporation  which shall thereafter neither make new loans nor undertake
   50  new obligations except upon written approval  of  the  corporation.  The
   51  corporation  may  thereafter certify another regional corporation in the
   52  manner provided in this section for the  selection  of  regional  corpo-
   53  rations. Upon the certification of a successor regional corporation, all
   54  remaining  loan  funds, records and accounts of the regional corporation
   55  not recertified shall be transferred to the corporation and the regional
   56  corporation not recertified shall cease to  function  pursuant  to  this
       S. 3567                             4
    1  section.  The  corporation  shall transfer returned funds to a successor
    2  regional corporation, or in the event no successor regional  corporation
    3  is formed, equally to other existing regional corporations.
    4    (7)  A regional corporation certified by the corporation shall use the
    5  funds received from the corporation, subject to  the  terms,  conditions
    6  and restrictions set forth in this section, to provide financial assist-
    7  ance  to  eligible  businesses  as  defined  in subdivision seventeen of
    8  section three of this act, for projects that demonstrate  a  substantial
    9  likelihood of providing increases in net new permanent jobs or retaining
   10  jobs in businesses that need such financial assistance to remain viable.
   11  THE REGIONAL CORPORATION CERTIFIED BY THE CORPORATION SHALL ALSO USE THE
   12  FUNDS  RECEIVED  FROM THE CORPORATION, SUBJECT TO THE TERMS, CONDITIONS,
   13  AND RESTRICTIONS SET FORTH IN THIS SECTION, TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL ASSIST-
   14  ANCE TO MICRO-ENTERPRISES, DEFINED AS ANY COMMERCIAL BUSINESS WITH  FIVE
   15  OR FEWER EMPLOYEES, ONE OR MORE OF WHOM IS THE OWNER.
   16    (8)  The  decision  to  approve or reject an application for financial
   17  assistance pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be made by a
   18  majority of the directors of the regional corporation, and such decision
   19  shall be final. No member of the board or  other  governing  body  of  a
   20  regional corporation shall participate in a decision on a project appli-
   21  cation  when  such  member  is a party to or has a financial interest in
   22  such project. Any member who cannot  participate  in  a  decision  on  a
   23  project  application for such reason shall not be counted as a member of
   24  the board or other governing body for purposes of determining the number
   25  of members required for a majority vote on such application.
   26    (9) No employee or officer of any  regional  corporation  shall  be  a
   27  party  to  or  have  any financial interest in any project that receives
   28  financial assistance pursuant to this section.
   29    (10) A regional corporation, in approving applications  for  financial
   30  assistance, shall give priority to projects:
   31    (a) that will provide increases in net new permanent jobs;
   32    (b)  located in economically distressed areas as defined by the corpo-
   33  ration or employing persons who live in such areas;
   34    (c) of minority or women-owned enterprises  or  enterprises  owned  by
   35  dislocated  workers, such workers as defined in the Workforce Investment
   36  Act (P.L. 105-220); and
   37    (d) of businesses in the early stages of development  that  have  been
   38  denied access to credit.
   39    (11) The funds allocated to each regional corporation pursuant to this
   40  section may be used to guarantee the repayment of a working capital loan
   41  provided  by  a  banking  organization  to  finance an eligible project.
   42  Guarantees may be provided for up to  ninety  percent  of  the  required
   43  total project financing, provided that no more than one hundred thousand
   44  dollars  may  be  guaranteed for any project. Guarantees may be made for
   45  the following types of financing: short and medium term loans for  work-
   46  ing  capital,  revolving  lines  of  credit,  and seasonal inventory and
   47  accounts receivable loans. Guarantees may  be  made  for  up  to  ninety
   48  percent  of  the required total financing up to a maximum of one hundred
   49  fifty thousand dollars for interim financing  where  another  lender  or
   50  guarantor  will  provide  permanent  financing within one hundred eighty
   51  days. In no event may a loan guarantee be for a term  longer  than  five
   52  years. Any loan made by a banking organization that is guaranteed pursu-
   53  ant  to this subdivision shall be secured by a security agreement, chat-
   54  tel paper, loan agreement, or such other instruments or documents deemed
   55  necessary or convenient by the regional corporation to secure the  loan.
   56  Any  guarantee  made  pursuant  to this subdivision shall be backed by a
       S. 3567                             5
    1  minimum reserve within the account established by each  regional  corpo-
    2  ration  of at least twenty-five percent of the amount guaranteed that is
    3  outstanding.
    4    (11-a)  A  regional  corporation,  in  addition  to receiving funds as
    5  provided in this section, may also apply for and accept funds  from  any
    6  other  source  for  the  purpose of furthering its goals and objectives.
    7  Such funds may be used in the same manner as  funds  received  from  the
    8  corporation to carry out the purposes of this section.
    9    (12)  The  funds of each regional corporation derived pursuant to this
   10  section may be used to provide loans for working  capital  for  eligible
   11  projects;  provided  that  the amount of the loan does not exceed ninety
   12  percent of the total project cost,  or  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,
   13  whichever  is  less.  The interest rate and the terms [on] OF such loans
   14  shall be determined by the regional corporation, but in no  event  shall
   15  the interest rate be less than [five percent] THE FEDERAL DISCOUNT RATE.
   16  The  term  of  any  loan shall not exceed five years. All loans shall be
   17  secured by lien positions on collateral at the highest level of priority
   18  that can accommodate the borrower's ability to raise sufficient debt and
   19  equity capital for the project.
   20    (13) A regional corporation shall not provide any financial assistance
   21  authorized by this section unless the following conditions are met:
   22    (a) the applicant has demonstrated that there is  little  prospect  of
   23  obtaining  the  project financing requested from other public sources of
   24  funding within the region, including local  revolving  loan  funds,  and
   25  that  there  is  little prospect of obtaining adequate project financing
   26  from private sources of capital, or in the case  of  a  loan  guarantee,
   27  that there is little prospect of obtaining project financing without the
   28  guarantee; except that in the case of local revolving loan funds, finan-
   29  cial  assistance  from  the  SMALL BUSINESS regional revolving loan fund
   30  account may be provided for a  project  in  conjunction  with  financial
   31  assistance  from  a  local revolving loan fund, provided that assistance
   32  from the SMALL BUSINESS regional revolving loan fund is no greater  than
   33  that provided by the local revolving loan fund, and that a project qual-
   34  ifying  for  financial  assistance available from a local revolving loan
   35  fund is not denied such assistance;
   36    (b) the applicant has a  minimum  equity  interest  of  at  least  ten
   37  percent in the business or project;
   38    (c) there is a reasonable prospect of repayment;
   39    (d)  the  project is located in the region represented by the regional
   40  corporation;
   41    (e) the project will comply with any applicable environmental rules or
   42  regulations;
   43    (f) the applicant has certified that it will not discriminate  against
   44  any  employee or any applicant for employment because of race, religion,
   45  color, national origin, sex, or age;
   46    (g) a staff member or a representative  of  the  regional  corporation
   47  acting  in  an official capacity has personally visited the project site
   48  and/or the applicant's place of business; and
   49    (h) financial commitments for the  project  have  been  obtained  from
   50  other public and private sources.
   51    (14) Grants made by the corporation pursuant to this section shall not
   52  be made available for:
   53    (a) projects that would result in the relocation of any business oper-
   54  ation  from  one  municipality within the state to another, except under
   55  one of the following conditions:   (i) when  a  business  is  relocating
   56  within  a  municipality  with a population of at least one million where
       S. 3567                             6
    1  the governing body of such municipality  approves  such  relocation;  or
    2  (ii) the regional corporation notifies each municipality from which such
    3  business  operation  will  be  relocated and each municipality agrees to
    4  such relocation;
    5    (b)  projects of newspapers, broadcasting or other news media; medical
    6  facilities, libraries, community or civic centers; or public infrastruc-
    7  ture improvements;
    8    (c) refinancing any portion of the total project cost or other  exist-
    9  ing  loans  or  debts  of an applicant, except for the purpose of trans-
   10  ferring to the employees or to other  local  interests  ownership  of  a
   11  company  that  would  otherwise  depart  from  or cease or substantially
   12  reduce operations in the state  AND  EXCEPT  WHEN  SUCH  REFINANCING  IS
   13  REQUIRED  TO  ENABLE  A  VIABLE BUSINESS TO MAINTAIN OR EXPAND ITS OPER-
   14  ATIONS IN THE STATE;
   15    (d) providing funds, directly or  indirectly,  for  payment,  distrib-
   16  ution,  or  as a loan, to owners, partners or shareholders of the appli-
   17  cant enterprise, except as ordinary income for services rendered; and
   18    (e) retail projects, except where the regional corporation finds there
   19  will be an increase in net new permanent jobs.
   20    (15) A regional corporation may  charge  application,  commitment  and
   21  loan  guarantee  fees  pursuant  to  a  schedule  of fees adopted by the
   22  regional corporation and approved by the corporation.
   23    (16) The regional corporations shall submit  annual  reports  for  the
   24  previous fiscal year to the corporation describing the financial assist-
   25  ance  provided  pursuant  to  this  section,  including:  the  number of
   26  projects assisted;  the  amount  and  type  of  assistance  provided;  a
   27  description of the projects; the number of jobs created or retained; the
   28  status  of outstanding loans, guarantees, earnings and account balances;
   29  and such other information as the corporation may require.
   30    (17) The corporation shall, assisted by the commissioner  of  economic
   31  development and in consultation with the department of economic develop-
   32  ment,  promulgate  rules  and  regulations  in accordance with the state
   33  administrative procedure act setting forth procedures to be followed by,
   34  and the responsibilities and obligations of, regional  corporations  and
   35  the corporation. Such rules and regulations shall be consistent with the
   36  program  plan required by subdivision nineteen of section one hundred of
   37  the economic development law.
   38    (18) For any positions opened as a result of  assistance  provided  in
   39  this  section, businesses so assisted shall first consider unemployed or
   40  low income  individuals  eligible  to  participate  in  programs  funded
   41  through  the  Workforce  Investment  Act  (P.L.  105-220)  who  shall be
   42  referred to the business by local workforce  investment  boards  created
   43  pursuant to such act or by the job service division of the department of
   44  labor.
   45    (19)  The corporation shall annually conduct an audit of each regional
   46  corporation to ensure conformity of  all  aspects  of  program  adminis-
   47  tration  and  of  financial assistance transactions with the substantive
   48  and procedural provisions of this section. In the event that the  corpo-
   49  ration finds instances of substantive noncompliance by a regional corpo-
   50  ration  with  any  of  the provisions of this section and such instances
   51  were, or should have been, known to be in  noncompliance,  the  regional
   52  corporation  shall return, within thirty days, upon demand by the corpo-
   53  ration, all uncommitted grant funds on hand and provide an accounting of
   54  the loans currently outstanding.
   55    The corporation may withdraw a regional corporation's certification:
       S. 3567                             7
    1    (a) when a member of a board of directors or other governing body,  an
    2  officer  or  an employee of said regional corporation is party to or has
    3  financial interests in loan projects;
    4    (b)  when  said regional corporation fails to comply with the require-
    5  ments for project loans pursuant to this section; or
    6    (c) when a regional corporation makes no  loans  within  the  previous
    7  fiscal  year and there is more than one hundred thousand dollars remain-
    8  ing in its loan fund account.
    9    The corporation shall  transfer  funds  returned  from  a  decertified
   10  regional  corporation  to a successor regional corporation, or, if there
   11  be none, distribute such funds equally  among  other  existing  regional
   12  corporations.  Outstanding loans and other obligations payable to such a
   13  decertified regional corporation shall  be  assigned  to  its  successor
   14  regional  corporation,  or  to the corporation or an agent designated by
   15  the corporation upon such terms and conditions as the corporation  shall
   16  determine.
   17    (20)  [Reporting.] The corporation shall, on or before October 1, 1988
   18  and on or before each October first thereafter, submit a report  to  the
   19  governor  and  the  legislature on the operations and accomplishments of
   20  the SMALL BUSINESS regional revolving loan program.  Such  report  shall
   21  include  a summary of the information contained in the reports submitted
   22  pursuant to subdivision sixteen of this section and of  the  results  of
   23  the audits performed by the corporation pursuant to subdivision nineteen
   24  of  this  section,  and shall set forth the status of the SMALL BUSINESS
   25  regional revolving loan program for the previous fiscal year,  including
   26  grants  to  the  regional corporations, earnings and account balances as
   27  reported to the corporation. The report to be submitted  on  October  1,
   28  2005  and  on  or  before each October first thereafter shall be consol-
   29  idated with the annual program report of the corporation required  under
   30  the  provisions  of  subdivision  (b)  of section thirty of this act, as
   31  amended.
   32    (21) [Evaluation.] (a) The corporation shall submit to the director of
   33  the division of the  budget,  the  chairperson  of  the  senate  finance
   34  committee,  and the chairperson of the assembly ways and means committee
   35  an evaluation of this program prepared by an entity independent  of  the
   36  corporation. Such evaluation shall be submitted by September 1, 2005 and
   37  by September first every four years thereafter.
   38    (b)  Between  evaluation due dates, the corporation shall maintain the
   39  necessary records and data required to satisfy such evaluation  require-
   40  ments  and to satisfy information requests received from the director of
   41  the budget, the chairperson of the  senate  finance  committee  and  the
   42  chairperson of the assembly ways and means committee between such evalu-
   43  ation due dates.
   44    (22)  The  corporation  shall recertify existing regional corporations
   45  or, in the event a regional corporation's certification has  been  with-
   46  drawn, seek successor corporations among eligible applicants after April
   47  first, two thousand two.
   48    S  4.  Paragraph  (f) of subdivision 2 of section 16-c of section 1 of
   49  chapter 174 of the laws of 1968, constituting the New York  state  urban
   50  development  corporation  act,  as  added  by chapter 169 of the laws of
   51  1994, is amended to read as follows:
   52    (f) The provisions of subdivisions eight, nine, and  fourteen  through
   53  nineteen  of section sixteen-a of this act pertaining to the SMALL BUSI-
   54  NESS regional revolving [loans] LOAN trust fund shall also be applicable
   55  to the minority and women revolving  loan  trust  fund,  provided  that:
   56  where the term "regional corporation" appears therein it shall be inter-
       S. 3567                             8
    1  preted  to  mean  an  entity selected to administer a minority and women
    2  revolving loan trust fund account, and "SMALL BUSINESS regional  revolv-
    3  ing  [loans]  LOAN trust fund" shall mean a minority and women revolving
    4  loan  trust  fund,  and where the term "this section" appears therein it
    5  shall mean this section sixteen-c.
    6    S 5. Paragraph (h) of subdivision 1 of section 16-e of  section  1  of
    7  chapter  174  of the laws of 1968, constituting the New York state urban
    8  development corporation act, as added by chapter  169  of  the  laws  of
    9  1994, is amended to read as follows:
   10    (h)  "Revolving loan fund account grants" shall include: (i) grants to
   11  provide the local match for federally funded community-based loan funds;
   12  (ii) grants to  capitalize  and  recapitalize  SMALL  BUSINESS  regional
   13  revolving loan trust fund accounts pursuant to section sixteen-a of this
   14  act;  and (iii) grants to recapitalize minority and women revolving loan
   15  trust fund accounts established pursuant to section  sixteen-c  of  this
   16  act.
   17    S 6. Subdivision 13 of section 16-e of section 1 of chapter 174 of the
   18  laws  of  1968, constituting the New York state urban development corpo-
   19  ration act, as added by chapter 169 of the laws of 1994, is  amended  to
   20  read as follows:
   21    (13)  Regional  loan fund account grants. Assistance from this program
   22  may be provided for grants of up to five  hundred  thousand  dollars  to
   23  capitalize,  and  up  to  two  hundred thousand dollars to recapitalize,
   24  SMALL BUSINESS regional revolving loan trust fund  accounts  established
   25  pursuant to section sixteen-a of this act and up to two hundred thousand
   26  dollars  to  recapitalize  minority  and women revolving loan trust fund
   27  accounts established pursuant to section sixteen-c of this act;  and  up
   28  to two hundred thousand dollars to provide the local match for appropri-
   29  ately federally-financed community-based loan funds.
   30    S  7.  The  opening  paragraph  of paragraph (b-1) of subdivision 6 of
   31  section 16-l of section 1 of chapter 174 of the laws of 1968, constitut-
   32  ing the New York state urban development corporation act,  as  added  by
   33  chapter 603 of the laws of 2003, is amended to read as follows:
   34    The  corporation is authorized, within available appropriations in the
   35  empire state economic development fund established pursuant  to  section
   36  16-m  of this act, to provide financial assistance in the form of loans,
   37  loan guarantees, working capital loans, and interest subsidy  grants  to
   38  subsidize loans from federally chartered instrumentalities and state and
   39  private  lending institutions, including agricultural cooperative corpo-
   40  rations, provided that such assistance  to  state  lending  institutions
   41  shall  not  exceed  one-third  of the total project cost or four hundred
   42  thousand dollars, whichever is less, to agricultural enterprises seeking
   43  to implement the projects listed in this  paragraph.    Funds  for  such
   44  loans,  grants, subsidies, or any other assistance specified pursuant to
   45  this act may come from funds derived from the financial  assistance  for
   46  small and medium-sized business assistance projects established pursuant
   47  to  section  9-a of this act, the SMALL BUSINESS regional revolving loan
   48  trust fund established  pursuant  to  section  16-a  of  this  act,  the
   49  regional  economic  development partnership program established pursuant
   50  to section 16-e of this act, the empire state economic development  fund
   51  established  pursuant  to  section  16-m  of this act, or from any other
   52  funds, programs, or projects administered by the corporation or by other
   53  state appropriations.
   54    S 8. This act shall take effect immediately.