N.Y. Urban development guarantee fund of New York 175/68 § 2: Statement of legislative findings and purposes

§ 2. Statement of legislative findings and purposes. The legislature

hereby finds that in certain urban areas of our state the growth of

small business is impeded by the unavailability of reasonable credit for

buildings, equipment, credit for inventory and working capital. This

unavailability of reasonable credit restricts business growth and job

opportunities and causes business failures resulting in unemployment and

underemployment with resulting persistent poverty in such urban areas.

The amelioration of these conditions is a responsibility of both the

public and private sector of our economy. Rehabilitation of the economic

life of blighted areas is necessary in order to prevent business

failures, to maintain the income of existing small business enterprises,

to provide a business climate conducive to the growth of new small

business enterprises, and to broaden the tax base of such urban areas,

all to afford more meaningful and rewarding business and job

opportunities for the residents of such areas, thereby reducing the

hazards of unemployment and raising the job opportunities of the

underemployed.

The legislature further finds that in certain urban areas of our state

the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation and improvement of

housing accommodations is impeded by the shortage of mortgage funds at

reasonable interest rates and the lack of available credit for the

rehabilitation of older buildings which lack proper heating or sanitary

facilities or which do not comply in full with modern building and

maintenance code standards. The unaided efforts of private enterprise

have not provided and cannot provide an adequate supply of safe and

sanitary housing within the financial reach of many families in urban

areas. The upgrading and improvement of such areas through programs of

new construction, rehabilitation and home improvement can provide

additional tax revenues to the community and assist in attracting and

retaining business and industry.

In order to assist in the rehabilitation of these areas and give

constructive attention to the welfare of the needy residents of these

areas, the legislature finds and declares that the marshalling of public

and private capital to make sufficient credit available at the lowest

feasible interest rates to encourage the expansion of small business, to

provide the incentives for the establishment of sound new small business

enterprises and to promote the construction and rehabilitation of

housing accommodations in such areas, will create new job opportunities,

effectively reduce unemployment and strengthen the economic base of the

community as a whole, thereby reducing the burdens of poverty and need.

This result can best be accomplished by a loan guarantee program to

guarantee loans to small businesses and owners of housing

accommodations, including one and two family homes and multiple

dwellings, unable to obtain reasonable credit through conventional

financial sources. The legislature further finds that the adoption of

such a loan guarantee program to mitigate the economic and social evils

of unemployment, underemployment and inadequate housing is for a public

purpose, and to achieve these ends there should be created a non-profit

corporation to be known as the urban development guarantee fund of New

York, having such powers and duties as set forth herein.