Assembly approves amendment widening small-business protections in pandemic eviction law

The New York State Assembly on May 3 approved a chapter amendment that expands which businesses can qualify for pandemic-era eviction, tax-foreclosure and mortgage-foreclosure protections.

Sponsor "Mister Bronson" said the amendment does not change the substantive protections in the original law but broadens the definition of a qualifying small business. Under the change, businesses with up to 100 employees would be covered, and a business with up to 500 employees would also qualify if it was shut down by executive order or Department of Health directive for two or more weeks between May 15, 2020 and May 1, 2021. "The only change here is the number of employees that would be allowed in order for a business to be included," Bronson said.

Supporters said the amendment responds to negotiations during the bill's final review and would help more employers that closed during the pandemic. Opponents pressed on administrative and constitutional questions, asking whether local taxing authorities would be required to waive tax foreclosures or merely authorized to do so. "The original, I believe, authorizes, but it would not permit localities for going through with those tax foreclosures," Bronson said in response to questions; he added that other procedural protections in the statute were unchanged.

Mister Goodell raised concerns about due process for municipalities and banks, asking whether the amendment would force banks to extend credit to companies in default or prohibit negative credit reporting for covered employers. "This is fundamentally unconstitutional," Goodell said during debate, arguing the amendment limited banks' and municipalities' remedies; Bronson and other supporters responded that the amendment did not alter those substantive provisions, only the range of employers covered.

The Assembly recorded a party vote on the measure. The clerk announced the result: Ayes 105, Nos 42. The bill was passed and will take effect immediately, the clerk said.

What happens next: the measure is a chapter amendment to prior 2021 legislation and will be placed into the enacted law as described by its text. Members continued to emphasize that the amendment was intended to preserve the protections of the original law while extending them to additional businesses hit by COVID-19-related closures.