Enacts the lift our communities advertise locally (LOCAL) program

Latest action Apr 29, 2026

Enacts the lift our communities advertise locally (LOCAL) program which provides a tax credit on advertising for locally owned minority-owned and women-owned business enterprises, certified service-disabled veteran-owned business enterprises or a small business.

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Where it stands

Out of committee and scheduled for a vote by the full chamber.

Introduced
In committee
Up for a vote
Passed one chamber
Passed
Enacted

New York State Senate

Same as A3955, the matching bill in the Assembly.

Amends the Economic Development Law.

Committee

Commerce, Economic Development And Small Business · New York State Senate

Purpose, from the sponsor's memo

The purpose of this bill is to create a three year tax credit program to stimulate the struggling local newspaper and broadcast media advertising market. Eligible small businesses will be able to claim a credit equal- ing eighty percent of their local media advertising expenditures up to $5,000. The total amount of credits available annually is $10 million dollars; sixty percent of credits must be awarded to women owned, minor- ity owned, and disabled veteran owned businesses.

Filed with the bill. Read it on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

Recorded votes

Vote: Committee vote · Commerce, Economic Development And Small Business
Senate Commerce, Economic Development And Small BusinessApr 29, 2026Result: passed
(9) (0) (0) (0)

Cosponsors

Anna Kelles, Chris Burdick and 14 more on Agora

Democratic12
Republican4

Show all 16 on Agora

See the full list on nysenate.gov

The sponsor's argument

Why Monica Martinez says this is needed

Small local newspapers and media broadcasters play a vital role in keep- ing communities informed by providing their readers with the relevant news affecting their daily lives. However, an average of two U.S. local newspapers have closed every week for over the past decade; in New York State the decline has been pronounced with 190 newspapersclosing since 20041. This bill provides struggling local news outlets with a way to increase revenue by ince ntivising small businesses to buy ads from them; with the ultimate goal being to help our local news outlets keep their doors open. The steep decline in local news outlets has resulted in over half of all U.S counties now having limited access to reliable local news 2. Local news outlets play an integral part in preserving our communities' iden- tities; they highlight the achievements of our neighbors, the success of our school teams, and the efforts of public officials. Currently ninety percent of the U.S. media market is comprised of just six giant conglom- erates, all controlled by billionaires 3. Without the legislators' help local news outlets' share of the media market will continue to dwindle.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.

Full history

Apr 29, 2026
Reported out of committee
REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE
NY Senate
Jan 7, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO COMMERCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND SMALL BUSINESS
NY Senate
Jan 7, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
NY Assembly
Jun 2, 2025
Amend and Recommit to Economic Development
AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
NY Assembly
May 28, 2025
Amend and Recommit to Commerce, Economic Development and Small Business
AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO COMMERCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND SMALL BUSINESS
NY Senate

Show full history (2 earlier events)

Jan 30, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
NY Assembly
Jan 14, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO COMMERCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND SMALL BUSINESS
NY Senate

About this record

Summary: The summary comes from NY Open Legislation, the New York State Senate's public record. For more, see How we handle summaries.
Cosponsors: The list shows the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.
Party colors: Parties are shown in the same neutral colors.
Source: From NY Open Legislation, the NY Senate and Assembly, and official rosters. This record was last updated Nov 1, 2026. About our data

Read the record

Read on NY Senate (opens in a new tab) The official record on nysenate.gov.

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