Eligibility criteria

§ 423. Eligibility criteria. 1. For the purposes of this article, in\norder to participate in the empire state jobs retention program on or\nafter June first, two thousand twenty-five, a business entity must\ndemonstrate substantial physical damage and economic harm at a location\nor locations within an area for which the governor has issued an\nemergency declaration and resulting from the event leading to the\nemergency declaration by the governor. At the time of application, a\nbusiness entity shall submit to the department a plan to retain, restore\nor increase staffing levels within one year from the date of application\nto at least the staffing levels that existed at the site the day prior\nto the date of the applicable declaration of the state of emergency. Any\nrecipient that does not adhere to its jobs retention plan, shall have\nits program award rescinded unless the recipient can demonstrate\neconomic hardship to the commissioner, in which case any such program\naward may be reduced proportionally by the number of employees not\nrestored or retained.\n 2. A business entity must be in compliance with all worker protection\nand environmental laws and regulations. In addition, a business entity\nmay not owe past due state taxes. In addition, a business entity must\nnot owe local property taxes for any year prior to the year in which it\napplies to participate in the empire state jobs retention program.\n