S 9249: Establishes the New York rural growth fund tax credit and the New York rural growth fund; provides that individuals who develop a business plan to invest in rural business in New York and have successfully solicited private investors to make capital contributions in support of such business plan may apply to the department of economic development for certification as a rural business growth fund; provides that if approved, tax credits shall be issued in an aggregate amount equal to seventy percent of the eligible investment authority; defines terms; provides for penalties; requires reporting.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9249  IN SENATE February 18, 2026 ___________ Introduced by Sen. C. RYAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern- ment Operations AN ACT to amend the tax law and the state finance law, in relation to establishing the New York rural growth fund tax credit and the New York rural growth fund The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 50 to read 2 as follows: 3 § 50. New York rural growth fund credit. (a) Definitions. For purposes 4 of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings: 5 (1) "Affiliate" means a person that, directly or indirectly through 6 one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under 7 common control with another person. For the purposes of this paragraph, 8 a person is "controlled by" another person if the controlling person 9 holds, directly or indirectly, the majority voting or ownership interest 10 in the controlled person or has control over the day-to-day operations 11 of the controlled person by contract or by law. 12 (2) "Closing date" means the date on which a rural business growth 13 fund has collected all of the amounts specified by subparagraphs (A) and 14 (B) of paragraph seven of subdivision (b) of this section. 15 (3) "Credit-eligible capital contribution" means an investment of cash 16 by a person in a rural business growth fund for which tax credits are 17 certified that is made in exchange for an equity interest in, or a debt 18 instrument issued by, such rural business growth fund. The investment 19 shall purchase an equity interest in the rural business growth fund or 20 purchase, at par value or premium, a debt instrument issued by the rural 21 business growth fund that meets all of the following criteria: 22 (A) the debt instrument has an original maturity date of at least five 23 years after the date of issuance; 24 (B) the debt instrument has a repayment schedule that is not faster 25 than a level principal amortization over five years; and EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD14844-01-6 
 S. 9249 2 1 (C) the debt instrument has no interest, distribution, or payment 2 features dependent on the rural business growth fund's profitability or 3 the success of the rural growth investments. 4 (4) "Eligible investment authority" means the amount stated on the 5 notice issued under subparagraph (A) of paragraph six of subdivision (b) 6 of this section certifying the rural business growth fund. 7 (5) "Jobs created" means the number of people employed by a rural 8 business that has received a rural growth investment during the taxable 9 year, determined by averaging the number of full-time employees employed 10 on March thirty-first, June thirtieth, September thirtieth, and December 11 thirty-first of such taxable year, to the extent such number exceeds the 12 number of jobs retained. An individual shall be considered employed 13 full-time if such individual works not less than thirty-five hours per 14 week, or if two or more individuals together constitute the equivalent 15 of one full-time position. 16 (6) "Jobs retained" means the number of persons employed by a rural 17 business that has received a rural growth investment during the taxable 18 year, determined by averaging the number of full-time employees employed 19 on March thirty-first, June thirtieth, September thirtieth, and December 20 thirty-first of the taxable year in which the initial rural growth 21 investment was made. An individual shall be considered employed full- 22 time if such individual works not less than thirty-five hours per week, 23 or if two or more individuals together constitute the equivalent of one 24 full-time position. 25 (7) "Principal business operations in New York state" means a business 26 that has at least eighty percent of its employees who reside in New York 27 state, the individuals who receive at least eighty percent of the busi- 28 ness's payroll reside in New York state, or the business has agreed to 29 use the proceeds of a rural growth investment to relocate at least 30 eighty percent of its employees to New York state within twelve months 31 of receiving the investment by a rural business growth fund. 32 (8) "Rural area" shall have the same meaning as defined in subdivision 33 seven of section four hundred eighty-one of the executive law. 34 (9) (A) "Rural business" means any business that has its principal 35 business operations in New York state that, at the time of the initial 36 investment in the business by a rural business growth fund, employs no 37 more than two hundred fifty full-time employees and has earned not more 38 than fifteen million dollars in net income for the preceding taxable 39 year. A "rural business" shall exclude the following: 40 (i) a country club; 41 (ii) a racetrack or other facility used for gambling; 42 (iii) a store for which the principal purpose is the sale of alcoholic 43 beverages for consumption off premises; 44 (iv) a massage parlor; 45 (v) a hot tub facility; 46 (vi) a suntan facility; 47 (vii) a business engaged in the development or holding of intangibles 48 for sale; 49 (viii) a private or commercial golf course; 50 (ix) a business that derives or projects to derive fifteen percent or 51 more of its net income from the rental or sale of real property, except 52 any business that is a special purpose entity principally owned by a 53 principal user of that property formed solely for the purpose of rent- 54 ing, either directly or indirectly, or selling real property back to 55 such principal user if such principal user does not derive fifteen 
 S. 9249 3 1 percent or more of its gross annual revenue from the rental or sale of 2 real property; or 3 (x) a publicly traded business or any business or organization that is 4 exempt from taxation under section 501(c) of the internal revenue code 5 or any for-profit entity that is directly or indirectly owned, 6 controlled, or operated by, or under common control with, an organiza- 7 tion exempt from taxation under section 501(c) of the internal revenue 8 code. 9 (B) For purposes of this paragraph, "net income" means federal 10 adjusted gross income as required to be reported under the internal 11 revenue code less federal and state taxes imposed on or measured by 12 income. Any business which is classified as a rural business at the time 13 of the initial investment in such business by a rural business growth 14 fund shall remain classified as a rural business and may receive 15 follow-on investments from any rural business growth fund, and such 16 follow-on investments shall qualify as a rural growth investment 17 provided it otherwise meets the definition of rural business with the 18 exception of the employee limitation and net income limitation in such 19 definition. 20 (10) "Rural business growth fund" means an entity certified by the 21 department under this section. 22 (11) "Rural growth investment" means any capital or equity investment 23 in a rural business or any loan to a rural business with a term of at 24 least one year. 25 (12) "Tax credit certificate" means the document issued by the depart- 26 ment to a person who has made a credit-eligible capital contribution to 27 a rural business growth fund. 28 (13) "Taxable year", when used in reference to an insurance company, 29 means the calendar year ending on the thirty-first day of December next 30 preceding the day the annual report is required to be returned under 31 subdivision (d) of this section. 32 (14) "Department" means the department of economic development. 33 (b) Certification. (1) On and after August first, two thousand twen- 34 ty-six, an applicant that has developed a business plan to invest in 35 rural business in this state and has successfully solicited private 36 investors to make capital contributions in support of such business plan 37 may apply to the department for certification as a rural business growth 38 fund. Such application shall include all of the following: 39 (A) the total eligible investment authority sought by the applicant 40 under the business plan; 41 (B) documents and other evidence sufficient to prove that the appli- 42 cant meets all of the following criteria: (i) The applicant or an affil- 43 iate of the applicant is licensed as a rural business investment company 44 under 7 U.S.C. 2009cc, or as a small business investment company under 45 15 U.S.C. 681, and a certificate executed by an executive officer of 46 the applicant attesting that such license remains in effect and has not 47 been revoked, and (ii) As of the date the application is submitted, the 48 applicant has invested more than one hundred million dollars in operat- 49 ing companies in rural areas located inside or outside of New York 50 state. In computing investments under this subdivision, the applicant 51 may include investments made by affiliates of the applicant; 52 (C) an estimate of the number of jobs created and jobs retained that 53 will result from the applicant's rural growth investments, together with 54 the anticipated average wage per job; 55 (D) a revenue impact assessment for the applicant's proposed rural 56 growth investments prepared by a nationally recognized third-party inde- 
 S. 9249 4 1 pendent economic forecasting firm using a dynamic economic forecasting 2 model. The revenue impact assessment shall analyze the applicant's 3 business plan over the ten years following the date the application is 4 submitted to the department; 5 (E) a signed affidavit from each investor successfully solicited by 6 the applicant to make a credit eligible capital contribution in support 7 of the business plan. Each affidavit shall include information suffi- 8 cient for the department to identify the investor and shall state the 9 amount of the investor's credit-eligible capital contribution; and 10 (F) a non-refundable application fee of ten thousand dollars. 11 (2) The department shall review and make a determination with respect 12 to each application submitted under paragraph one of this subdivision 13 within thirty days of receipt. The department shall make determinations 14 on the applications in the order in which the applications are received 15 by the department. Applications received by the department on the same 16 day shall be deemed to have been received simultaneously. Except as 17 provided in paragraph four of subdivision (c) of this section, the 18 department shall not approve more than two hundred fifty million dollars 19 in eligible investment authority or more than one hundred seventy-five 20 million dollars in tax credits. 21 (3) The department shall deny an application submitted under this 22 section if any of the following are true: 23 (A) the application is incomplete; 24 (B) the application fee is not paid in full; 25 (C) the applicant does not satisfy all the criteria described in 26 subparagraph (B) of paragraph one of this subdivision; 27 (D) the revenue impact assessment submitted under subparagraph (D) of 28 paragraph one of this subdivision does not demonstrate that the appli- 29 cant's business plan will result in a positive economic impact on this 30 state over a ten-year period that exceeds the credit eligible capital 31 contributions sought by the applicant; or 32 (E) the department has already approved the maximum amount of eligible 33 investment authority and credit-eligible capital contributions allowed 34 under paragraph two of this subdivision. 35 (4) If the department denies an application under paragraph three of 36 this subdivision, the department shall send notice of its determination 37 of the application to the applicant. Such notice shall include the 38 reasons that the application was denied. If the application was denied 39 for any reason other than the reason specified in subparagraph (E) of 40 paragraph three of this subdivision, the applicant may provide addi- 41 tional information to the department to complete, clarify, or cure 42 defects in the application. The additional information shall be submit- 43 ted within thirty days after the date the notice of denial was sent by 44 the department. If the person or entity submits additional information 45 within thirty days, the department shall reconsider the application 46 within thirty days after receiving such additional information. If, 47 after submission of additional information, the application is approved, 48 then the submission date shall be the date of the original submission of 49 the application. If the person or entity does not submit additional 50 information within thirty days after the notice of denial was sent, the 51 applicant may submit a new application with a new submission date at any 52 time. 53 (5) If approving multiple simultaneously submitted applications would 54 result in exceeding the overall eligible investment limit prescribed by 55 paragraph two of this subdivision, the department shall proportionally 56 reduce the eligible investment authority and the credit-eligible capital 
 S. 9249 5 1 contributions for each approved application as necessary to avoid 2 exceeding the limit. 3 (6) The department shall not deny a rural business growth fund's 4 application or reduce the requested eligible investment authority for 5 any reasons other than those described in paragraph three and paragraph 6 five of this subdivision. If the department approves such application, 7 the department shall: 8 (A) issue a written notice certifying that the applicant qualifies as 9 a rural business growth fund, specifying the amount of the applicant's 10 eligible investment authority, and certifying and making available tax 11 credits in an aggregate amount equal to seventy percent of such eligible 12 investment authority, to be allocated among investors in accordance with 13 the affidavits submitted pursuant to subparagraph (E) of paragraph one 14 of this subdivision; 15 (B) to each investor whose affidavit was included in the application, 16 issue a tax credit certificate specifying the amount of the tax credit 17 and the utilization schedule of such tax credit, which, in the aggre- 18 gate, shall equal seventy percent of the applicant's eligible investment 19 authority; and 20 (C) submit to the commissioner a copy of each tax credit certificate 21 issued under subparagraph (B) of this paragraph. 22 (7) A rural business growth fund whose application was accepted shall 23 complete subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph within sixty days 24 of receiving the written notice issued under paragraph six of this 25 subdivision and shall complete the requirements set forth in subpara- 26 graph (C) of this paragraph within sixty-five days of receiving the 27 written notice issued under paragraph six of this subdivision: 28 (A) Collect the credit-eligible capital contributions from each inves- 29 tor whose credit-eligible capital contributions are described in affida- 30 vits submitted pursuant to subparagraph (E) of paragraph one of this 31 subdivision in the form of cash paid in exchange for equity interests or 32 debt instruments. 33 (B) Collect one or more investments of cash, which shall purchase an 34 equity interest in the rural business growth fund or a debt instrument 35 issued by the rural business growth fund at par value or premium, with a 36 maturity date of at least five years from the closing date that, when 37 added to the contributions collected under subparagraph (A) of this 38 paragraph, equal the fund's eligible investment authority. At least ten 39 percent of the fund's eligible investment authority shall be composed of 40 capital raised directly or indirectly by affiliates of the rural busi- 41 ness growth fund, including employees, officers, and directors of such 42 affiliates. 43 (C) Send to the department documentation sufficient to prove that the 44 amounts described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph have 45 been collected. If the rural business growth fund fails to fully comply 46 with this paragraph, the rural business growth fund's certification 47 shall lapse. 48 (8) Eligible investment authority and corresponding credit-eligible 49 capital contributions eligible for tax credits that lapse under para- 50 graph seven of this subdivision shall not count toward the limitations 51 on total eligible investment authority and credit-eligible capital 52 contributions prescribed in paragraph two of this subdivision. Once 53 eligible investment authority has lapsed, the department shall first 54 award such lapsed authority pro rata to each rural business growth fund 55 that was awarded less than the requested eligible investment authority 
 S. 9249 6 1 under paragraph five of this subdivision. Any remaining eligible invest- 2 ment authority may be awarded by the department to new applicants. 3 (9) Application fees submitted to the department pursuant to subpara- 4 graph (F) of paragraph one of this subdivision shall be credited to the 5 New York rural growth fund, as established pursuant to section ninety- 6 nine-uu of the state finance law. 7 (c) Revocation of certification and penalties. (1) The department 8 shall revoke a tax credit certificate issued under subdivision (b) of 9 this section if any of the following occur with respect to a rural busi- 10 ness growth fund before the fund exits the program pursuant to paragraph 11 five of this subdivision: 12 (A) the rural business growth fund in which the credit-eligible capi- 13 tal contribution was made does not invest one hundred percent of its 14 eligible investment authority in rural growth investments in this state 15 within two years of the closing date; 16 (B) after investing one hundred percent of its eligible investment 17 authority in rural growth investments in this state, the rural business 18 growth fund fails to maintain such investment until the seventh anniver- 19 sary of the closing date. For purposes of this subdivision, an invest- 20 ment shall be deemed "maintained" even if the investment is sold or 21 repaid so long as the rural business growth fund reinvests an amount 22 equal to the capital returned or recovered by the fund from the original 23 investment, exclusive of any profits realized, in other rural growth 24 investments in this state within twelve months of the receipt of such 25 capital. Amounts received periodically by a rural business growth fund 26 shall be treated as continually invested in rural growth investments if 27 the amounts are reinvested in one or more rural growth investments by 28 the end of the following calendar year. A rural business growth fund 29 shall not be required to reinvest capital returned from rural growth 30 investments in the twelve months immediately preceding the seventh anni- 31 versary of the closing date, and such rural growth investments shall be 32 considered held continuously by the rural business growth fund through 33 the seventh anniversary of the closing date; 34 (C) the rural business growth fund invests more than the greater of 35 five million dollars or twenty percent of its eligible investment 36 authority in the same rural business, including amounts invested in 37 affiliates of the rural business but excluding amounts reinvested in the 38 rural business growth fund with repaid or redeemed rural business growth 39 investments, provided such reinvestments shall not count towards the 40 requirement of subparagraph (A) of this paragraph; or 41 (D) the rural business growth fund makes a rural growth investment in 42 a rural business that directly or indirectly through an affiliate owns, 43 has the right to acquire an ownership interest, make a loan to, or make 44 an investment in the rural business growth fund, an affiliate of the 45 rural business growth fund, or an investor in the rural business growth 46 fund. This paragraph shall not apply to investments in publicly traded 47 securities by a rural business or an owner or affiliate of such concern. 48 (2) Before taking action pursuant to the provisions of paragraph one 49 of this subdivision, the department shall notify the rural business 50 growth fund of the reasons for the pending action. If the rural business 51 growth fund corrects the violations, other than violations of subpara- 52 graph (D) of paragraph one of this subdivision, outlined in the notice 53 to the satisfaction of the department within one hundred eighty days of 54 the date the notice was sent, the department shall not revoke the tax 55 credit certificates or levy a fine. 
 S. 9249 7 1 (3) If the department revokes a tax credit certificate under paragraph 2 one of this subdivision, it shall notify the commissioner, who shall 3 make an assessment for the amount of the credit claimed by the certif- 4 icate holder before the certificate was revoked. The commissioner shall 5 make the assessment within one year after the certificate has been 6 revoked. 7 (4) If tax credit certificates are revoked under paragraph one of this 8 subdivision, the associated eligible investment authority and tax cred- 9 its identified on such certificate shall not count toward the limit on 10 total eligible investment authority and credit-eligible capital contrib- 11 utions described in paragraph two of subdivision (b) of this section. 12 The department shall first award such reverted authority pro rata to 13 each rural business growth fund that was awarded less than the requested 14 eligible investment authority under paragraph five of subdivision (b) of 15 this section. Any remaining eligible investment authority may be awarded 16 by the department to new applicants. 17 (5) (A) On or after the seventh anniversary of the closing date, a 18 rural business growth fund that has not committed any of the acts 19 described in paragraph one of this subdivision may apply to the depart- 20 ment to exit the program as a rural business growth fund and no longer 21 be subject to regulation under this section. The department shall 22 respond to the application within thirty days after receiving such 23 application. In evaluating such request, the fact that no tax credit 24 certificates have been revoked with respect to the rural business growth 25 fund shall be sufficient evidence to prove that the fund is eligible to 26 exit the program. The department shall not unreasonably deny an applica- 27 tion submitted under this subdivision. 28 (B) The department shall send written notice of its determination with 29 respect to an application submitted under subparagraph (A) of this para- 30 graph to the rural business growth fund. If the application is denied, 31 the notice shall include the reasons for such determination. 32 (C) The department shall not revoke a tax credit certificate due to 33 any actions of a rural business growth fund that occur after the date 34 the fund's application for exiting the program is approved under subpar- 35 agraph (A) of this paragraph. 36 (6) A rural business growth fund may, prior to making a rural growth 37 investment, request from the department a written determination as to 38 whether the business entity in which it proposes to invest qualifies as 39 a rural business. Such request shall be in a form prescribed by the 40 department. Rural business determination requests shall be accepted, 41 reviewed, and approved on a rolling basis. The department shall issue a 42 written determination, not later than the twentieth business day after 43 the date of receipt of such request, provided the request includes all 44 of the required information to perform such review, and shall notify the 45 rural business growth fund of its determination. If the department fails 46 to notify such fund of its determination within such twenty business day 47 period, the business in which the rural business growth fund proposes to 48 invest shall be deemed to qualify as a rural business. A determination 49 or deemed determination under this paragraph shall be binding on the 50 department for all purposes of this section. 51 (7) A rural business growth fund shall be subject to a penalty if the 52 aggregate number of jobs created and jobs retained, as reported in the 53 annual reports submitted pursuant to subdivision (d) of this section, is 54 less than the number of jobs created and jobs retained certified in the 55 department's notice of approval issued under paragraph six of subdivi- 56 sion (b) of this section. 
 S. 9249 8 1 (8) The amount of the penalty shall be equal to the amount of tax 2 credits issued to the rural business growth fund pursuant to tax credit 3 certificates issued under subdivision (b) of this section, multiplied by 4 a fraction: 5 (A) the numerator of which is the difference between the number of 6 jobs created and jobs retained certified in the notice of approval and 7 the aggregate number of jobs created and jobs retained actually 8 reported; and 9 (B) the denominator of which is the number of jobs created and jobs 10 retained certified in the notice of approval. 11 (9) Prior to making any distribution to equity holders, the rural 12 business growth fund shall deduct the amount of any penalty calculated 13 pursuant to paragraph seven of this subdivision and remit such amount to 14 the department. 15 (d) Reports. (1) A rural business growth fund shall submit a report to 16 the department on or before the first day of March after each anniver- 17 sary of the closing date until the rural business growth fund has exited 18 the program in accordance with paragraph five of subdivision (c) of this 19 section. Such report shall document the rural business growth fund's 20 growth investments and shall include, but shall not be limited to: 21 (A) a bank statement or equivalent documentation showing each rural 22 growth investment; 23 (B) the name, location, and North American industry classification 24 system code of each rural business receiving a rural growth investment, 25 together with either the determination notice described by paragraph six 26 of subdivision (c) of this section or evidence that such determination 27 was requested and no notice was provided; 28 (C) the number of employment positions that existed at each business 29 described in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph; 30 (D) the number of jobs created and jobs retained during the preceding 31 twelve-month reporting period, calculated in accordance with subdivision 32 (a) of this section; and 33 (E) any other information the department may require by rule or guid- 34 ance. 35 (2) The department may adopt rules and regulations necessary to imple- 36 ment the provisions of this section. 37 (3) Each certified rural business growth fund shall pay an annual fee 38 of twenty thousand dollars to the department. The initial annual fee 39 shall be submitted along with the fund's initial report. Annual fees 40 received shall be credited to the New York rural growth fund, as estab- 41 lished pursuant to section ninety-nine-uu of the state finance law. Any 42 rural business growth fund required to file an annual report pursuant to 43 paragraph one of this subdivision shall remit the fee together with such 44 report. No annual fee shall be required after the fund has been approved 45 to exit the program under subdivision (c) of this section. 46 § 2. Section 1511 of the tax law is amended by adding a new subdivi- 47 sion (ff) to read as follows: 48 (ff) Credit for certain investments to a rural business growth fund. 49 (1) There is hereby allowed a nonrefundable tax credit for taxpayers 50 that made a credit-eligible capital contribution to a rural business 51 growth fund and were issued a tax credit certificate under subparagraph 52 (B) of paragraph six of subdivision (b) of section fifty of this chap- 53 ter. The total amount of credit authorized by such certificate shall 54 equal the amount of tax credit specified on the tax credit certificate, 55 which, in the aggregate, shall reflect seventy percent of the eligible 56 investment authority certified pursuant to section fifty of this chap- 
 S. 9249 9 1 ter. Such credit may be claimed against the tax imposed by this article 2 and section one thousand one hundred twelve of the insurance law. Such 3 credit may not be sold, transferred, or allocated to any entity other 4 than an affiliate of the taxpayer. 5 (2) A taxpayer may claim credits authorized by the tax credit certif- 6 icate in the taxable years in which the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and 7 seventh anniversaries of the closing date, as such term is defined 8 pursuant to section fifty of this chapter, associated with such certif- 9 icate occur, provided that the maximum credit claimed for any taxable 10 year shall not exceed one-fifth of the amount stated on the tax credit 11 certificate, exclusive of any amounts carried forward pursuant to para- 12 graph three of this subdivision. 13 (3) If the amount of credits allowable for any taxable year exceeds 14 the tax otherwise due for such year, the excess shall be carried forward 15 to subsequent taxable years until fully used. A taxpayer claiming a 16 credit under this subdivision shall submit a copy of the tax credit 17 certificate with the taxpayer's return for each taxable year for which 18 the credit is claimed. 19 § 3. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 187-s to read as 20 follows: 21 § 187-s. Credit for certain investments to a rural business growth 22 fund. 1. There is hereby allowed a non-refundable tax credit for 23 taxpayers that made a credit-eligible capital contribution to a rural 24 business growth fund and were issued a tax credit certificate under 25 subparagraph (B) of paragraph six of subdivision (b) of section fifty of 26 this chapter. The total amount of credit authorized by such certificate 27 shall equal the amount of tax credit specified on the tax credit certif- 28 icate, which, in the aggregate, shall reflect seventy percent of the 29 eligible investment authority certified pursuant to section fifty of 30 this chapter. The credit may be claimed against the tax imposed by this 31 article. The credit may not be sold, transferred, or allocated to any 32 entity other than an affiliate of the taxpayer. 33 2. The taxpayer may claim credits authorized by the tax credit certif- 34 icate in the taxable years in which the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and 35 seventh anniversaries of the closing date, as such term is defined 36 pursuant to section fifty of this chapter, associated with such certif- 37 icate occur, provided that the maximum credit allowed for any taxable 38 year shall not exceed one-fifth of the amount stated on the tax credit 39 certificate, exclusive of any amounts carried forward pursuant to subdi- 40 vision three of this section. In no event shall the credit under this 41 section be allowed in an amount that reduces the tax payable to less 42 than the minimum tax imposed by section one hundred eighty-three of this 43 article. 44 3. If the amount of the credit allowable for any taxable year exceeds 45 the tax otherwise due for such year, the excess shall be carried forward 46 to subsequent taxable years until fully used. A taxpayer claiming a 47 credit under this section shall submit a copy of the tax credit certif- 48 icate with the return for each taxable year for which the credit is 49 claimed. 50 § 4. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 99-uu to 51 read as follows: 52 § 99-uu. New York rural growth fund. 1. There is hereby established, 53 in the joint custody of the state comptroller and the commissioner of 54 taxation and finance, a special fund to be known as the "New York rural 55 growth fund". 
 S. 9249 10 1 2. Such fund shall consist of all fees submitted pursuant to section 2 fifty of the tax law, and all other moneys appropriated, credited, or 3 transferred thereto from any other fund or source pursuant to law. 4 3. Moneys of the fund, following appropriation by the legislature, 5 shall be expended only for the purposes of providing funding for the New 6 York rural growth fund credit established by section fifty of the tax 7 law. Moneys shall be paid out of the fund on the audit and warrant of 8 the state comptroller on vouchers approved and certified by the commis- 9 sioner of taxation and finance. Any interest received by the comptroller 10 on moneys deposited in the fund shall be retained in and become part of 11 such fund. 12 § 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026 and shall apply to taxa- 13 ble years beginning on and after such date.