Expands EDA small business loan program to include certain broadband telecommunications service providers.

A1459

ASSEMBLY, No. 1459

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman ANTWAN L. MCCLELLAN

District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblymen Simonsen, Bergen and Assemblywoman Fantasia

SYNOPSIS

���� Expands EDA small business loan program to include
certain broadband telecommunications service providers.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act

expanding a small business loan program to include certain broadband
telecommunications service providers, and amending P.L.2011, c.201.

����
Be It Enacted

by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� Section 1 of P.L.2011,
c.201 (C.34:1B-241.1) is amended to read as follows:

���� 1.��� As used in P.L.2011,
c.201 (C.34:1B-241.1 et seq.):

���� "Authority" means
the New Jersey Economic Development Authority established by section 4 of
P.L.1974, c.80 (C.34:1B-4).

����
�Board� means the Board of
Public Utilities or any successor agency.

����
"Broadband
telecommunications service" means any telecommunications service used for
the purpose of offering high speed, switched, broadband wireline or wireless
telecommunications capability that enables users to send and receive
high-quality voice, data, graphics, or video telecommunications through the
Internet and using any technology and with data transfer speeds of at least 25
megabits per second download and at least three megabits per second upload.

����
�Broadband telecommunications
service provider� means a person, business, for-profit or nonprofit corporation,
unincorporated association, or partnership, including, but not limited to, a
rural electric cooperative, which is certified by the board to offer broadband telecommunications
service within a rural area of this State.

���� "Broadband
telecommunications service provider" means a person, company, corporation,
unincorporated association, partnership, or professional corporation which is
certified by the board to offer broadband telecommunications service directly
to the public, or to classes of users as to be effectively available directly
to the public, regardless of the facilities used.

���� �Department� means the
Department of Agriculture established pursuant to R.S.4:1-1.

���� "Eligible farming
operation" means two or more business entities that are engaged in farming
operations in the State, that are applying together for participation in the
small business loan program established pursuant to section 2 of P.L.2011, c.201
(C.34:1B-241.2), and that, at the time of the application, are independently
owned and operated, participate in an agricultural commodity or product
marketing and development program operated by the Department of Agriculture,
and satisfy other criteria

that may be established by the
authority pursuant to P.L.2019, c.240 (C.34:1B-241.4 et al.).

���� "Eligible small
business" means a business entity that, at the time of application for
participation in the small business loan program established pursuant to
section 2 of P.L.2011, c.201 (C.34:1B-241.2), is independently owned and
operated, operates primarily within this State, and which satisfies other
criteria that may be established by the authority.� "Eligible small
business" shall include qualified dairy farmers
[
and
]
,
eligible farming
operations
, and broadband telecommunications service providers
.

���� �Farm equipment� means
equipment used directly for farming operations.

���� �Farming operations� mean any
activities connected to the commercial growing, harvesting, processing,
producing, or raising of agricultural products in the State, including crops,
dairy animals, livestock, fur-bearing animals, poultry, bees, crops used in
fermented alcoholic beverages and wine, and any products therefrom, including
organic agricultural products; aquacultural products; horticultural products;
and silviculture products.

���� "Qualified dairy
farmer" means a person or business entity that produces valued-added dairy
products and that, at the time of application for participation in the small
business loan program and receipt of a loan under the program, is independently
owned and operated, operates primarily within this State, and satisfies other
criteria that may be established by the authority.

����
"Rural area"
means any area included within the boundaries of any municipality that has a
population of 30,000 inhabitants or less and a population density less than
4,000 persons per square mile, according to the latest federal decennial census.

����
"Rural electric
cooperative" or "cooperative" means a nonprofit corporation
entitled to the rights, benefits, and protections established pursuant to
P.L.2017, c.297 (C.48:24-1 et al.).

���� �Value-added dairy product�
means a dairy product created by a qualified dairy farmer by means of a change
in the physical state of a dairy commodity, and shall include, but not be
limited to, cheese, cultured sour cream, yogurt, kefir, butter, ice cream,
evaporated milk, condensed milk, and concentrated milk.

(cf: P.L.2019, c.240, s.1)

���� 2.��� Section 2 of P.L.2011,
c.201 (C.34:1B-241.2) is amended to read as follows:

���� 2.��� a.� The authority shall
maintain and administer a small business loan program for the purpose of
providing loans to eligible small businesses.� The authority shall consult with
the department in administering the small business loan program as it applies
to: (1) an eligible small business that is an eligible farming operation; (2)
defining the types of dairy products that shall be considered as value-added
dairy products under the small business loan program, not inconsistent with
section 1 of P.L.2011, c.201 (C.34:1B-241.1); (3) developing small business
loan program guidelines for qualified dairy farmers and eligible farming
operations; and (4) developing materials to provide to qualified dairy farmers
seeking to expand value-added dairy production in this State.�
The authority
shall consult with the board in administering the small business loan program
as it applies to an eligible small business that is a broadband telecommunications
service provider.

���� b.��� (1)� Loans made through
the small business loan program may be made to an eligible small business.� The
loan funds may be applied to any aspect of the eligible small business that
supports its capital purchases, employee training, and salaries for new
positions as determined by the authority.

���� (2)�� Notwithstanding
paragraph (1) of subsection b. of this section, loans made by the authority to
an eligible farming operation may only be applied to aspects of the eligible
farming operation that support the farming operation�s farm equipment
purchases, as determined by the authority.� Farm equipment purchased from loan
funds made pursuant to P.L.2019, c.240 (C.34:1B-241.4 et al.) shall be used by
all of the business entities in the eligible farming operation.

���� (3)�� Two or more business
entities engaged in farming operations in the State seeking to participate in
the loan program established pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall
submit a joint application in a form as the authority shall require and shall include
information as the authority determines is necessary in consideration of a loan
authorized pursuant to P.L.2019, c.240 (C.34:1B-241.4 et al.).

���� c.���� (1)� In order to
receive a loan pursuant to the small business loan program, a business, at the
time of application, shall provide proof that it is an eligible small business
and shall enter into a small business loan agreement with the authority.

���� (2)�� In order to receive a
loan from the authority pursuant to P.L.2019, c.240 (C.34:1B-241.4 et al.), a
business entity engaged in farming operations in the State, at the time of
application, shall provide proof, in a manner determined by the authority, that
it and at least one other business entity meet the requirements to be an
eligible farming operation, including, but not limited to, proof that each
business entity is engaged in farming operations in the State and will use the
farm equipment purchased with the loan funds.

���� d.��� The authority shall
review and may approve applications for the small business loan program.

���� e.���� A business seeking to
participate in the small business loan program shall submit an application in a
form as the authority shall require.� The application shall include information
the authority shall determine is necessary in consideration of the provisions
of P.L.2011, c.123 (C.52:14B-21.1 et seq.).

���� f.���� Loans to an eligible
small business under this section shall:

���� (1)�� be made pursuant to a
small business loan agreement made pursuant to subsection c. of this section;

���� (2)�� bear interest at rates
and terms deemed appropriate by the authority; and

���� (3)�� contain other terms and
conditions considered appropriate by the authority that are consistent with the
purposes of P.L.2011, c.201 (C.34:1B-241.1 et seq.) and with rules and
regulations adopted by the authority pursuant to section 3 of P.L.2011, c.201 (C.34:1B-241.3).

���� The provisions of a loan
agreement with an eligible farming operation shall include, but need not be
limited to, a statement of an eligible farming operation�s proportional shares
of ownership, its farm equipment usage and maintenance responsibilities, and
its loan repayment responsibilities for any loan proceeds received under the
loan program.

���� g.��� The authority may, in
its discretion, require an eligible small business that receives a loan under
the small business loan program administered pursuant to P.L.2011, c.201
(C.34:1B-241.1 et seq.) to submit an audited financial statement to the
authority in order to ensure the business's continued vitality.� An audited
financial statement from an eligible farming operation shall include each
business entity in the eligible farming operation using the farm equipment.

���� h.��� The authority may,
either through the adoption of rules and regulations, or through the terms of
the small business loan agreement made pursuant to subsection c. of this
section, establish terms governing the incidence of default by a recipient of a
loan under the small business loan program
,
administered pursuant to
P.L.2011, c.201 (C.34:1B-241.1 et seq.).

���� i.���� In determining whether
to provide a loan to an eligible small business, the authority shall consider,
along with other criteria that the authority in its discretion deems
appropriate, whether the business commits to increasing its full-time
employment level in the State.

(cf: P.L.2019, c.240, s.2)

���� 3.��� Section 3 of P.L.2019,
c.240 (C.34:1B-241.4) is amended to read as follows:

���� 3.��� The authority shall
adopt rules and regulations, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure
Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as are necessary to effectuate
the purposes of P.L.2011, c.201 (C.34:1B-241.1 et seq.).� The authority shall
consult with the department concerning
[
those
]

the

rules and regulations applicable to loans made to qualified dairy farmers and
eligible farming operations.�
The authority shall consult with the board
concerning the rules and regulations applicable to loans made to broadband telecommunications
service providers.

(cf: P.L.2019, c.240, s.3)

���� 4.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires the New
Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA), in consultation with the Board of
Public Utilities (BPU), to offer loans to broadband telecommunications service
providers providing broadband telecommunications service to rural areas under
an existing small business loan program administered by the EDA.� The bill
defines a �broadband telecommunications service provider� as a person,
business, for-profit or nonprofit corporation, unincorporated association, or
partnership, including, but not limited to, a rural electric cooperative, which
is certified by the BPU to offer broadband telecommunications service within a
rural area of this State.� The bill also defines the terms �broadband
telecommunications service� and �rural area.�

���� The bill requires that an
EDA-approved loan under the program is to be made pursuant to a loan agreement,
bear interest at rates and terms deemed appropriate by the EDA, and contain
other terms and conditions considered appropriate by the EDA that are consistent
with the purposes of the bill and with regulations adopted by the EDA to
implement the bill.

���� The bill requires the EDA, in
consultation with the BPU, to adopt rules and regulations as are necessary to
effectuate the purposes of the bill.