A 10197: Enacts the "educator expense assistance act" to allow educators to deduct qualified expenses incurred by K-12 educators.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 10197  IN ASSEMBLY February 12, 2026 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. MIKULIN -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Ways and Means AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to allowing educators to deduct qualified expenses incurred by K-12 educators The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "educator expense assistance act". 3 § 2. Subsection (d) of section 615 of the tax law is amended by adding 4 a new paragraph 6 to read as follows: 5 (6) up to three hundred dollars for educators filing a single person 6 or six hundred dollars if married filing jointly and both spouses are 7 eligible educators, but not more than three hundred dollars each of 8 unreimbursed trade or business expenses paid or incurred for partic- 9 ipation in professional development courses, books, supplies, computer 10 equipment (including related software and services), other equipment, 11 and supplementary materials. For courses in health or physical educa- 12 tion, the expenses for supplies must be for athletic supplies. An eligi- 13 ble educator shall be defined as an educator for the tax year if said 14 educator served as a kindergarten through grade twelve teacher, instruc- 15 tor, counselor, principal or aide for at least nine hundred hours a 16 school year in a school that provides elementary or secondary education. 17 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02651-01-5