With the new year, we welcome new opportunities at our state Capitol to improve our state, and I am already hard at work for our community in encouraging my colleagues in Albany to take action to improve economic conditions for our small businesses. In fact, I spent the holidays writing a new piece of legislation to address the concerns of western New York employers and I am proud to share that bill with you now.

The New York Business Emergency Relief Act of 2021 is a culmination of countless conversations I had with small businesses and restaurants in our community throughout the pandemic to address their concerns regarding potential closure, restrictions, and lost income as a result of the governor’s executive orders. Too many businesses that could have continued operating safely were deemed nonessential and, through no fault of their own, they were shuttered overnight.

In fact, a recent poll by the National Federation of Independent Businesses showed 76 percent of their members have been negatively impacted by these restrictions. But we didn’t need polls to tell us this: we can see the effects all around us as businesses remain closed, some closing their doors forever. Our friends, neighbors and family remain out of work. Something must be done, and it needs to be done now.

As the Empire State, we have an obligation to get our businesses back up and running. My bill would offer direct financial relief immediately to these employers and offer protections against them having to permanently close their doors and cause further harm to our local economy. This aid would come in the form of grants utilizing existing state settlement money, repurposing economic development program funding, and from any federal aid received to help with the COVID economic recovery of our state. 

Though extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, it has been proven that most of these so-called “nonessential” businesses (barber shops, gyms, movie theaters, historic sites, tourism, etc.) can operate safely and were not responsible for the mass spread of COVID. Even the governor has now attributed the spread to living rooms and personal mass gatherings above all else. However, the financial cost to these businesses are unimaginable and devastating. The state should offset their lost income with direct aid grants before it is too late, and we lose these employers forever.

People need to get back to work. They need a purpose and the pride that comes from earning their living. The state needs to give them a chance to get back on their feet, on their own terms. This bill would get our employers back to where they need to be so our local economy can move forward and have a chance to compete in the new year. That’s a chance we deserve, and what I’m fighting for.