Assembly Bill A10912

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   10912
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               April 8, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. RAJKUMAR -- read once and referred to the Commit-
   tee on Ways and Means
 
 AN  ACT  to amend state finance law, in relation to curb interest on all
   fees in the state
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Short  title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
 the "fee relief act".
   § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 18 of the state finance law, as added by
 chapter 55 of the laws of 1992, is amended to read as follows:
   3. Unless provided otherwise by contract,  statute  or  regulation,  a
 debtor owing a debt to any state agency shall pay such debt on or before
 the  [thirtieth  day]  THREE  HUNDRED  SIXTY-FIFTH  DAY  following  such
 debtor's receipt of any billing invoice or  notice  sent  by  the  state
 agency  that  such debt is due and owing and that failure to make timely
 payment, as stated in the billing invoice or notice, will result in  the
 assessment  of  interest  or  a  late payment charge and may result in a
 charge to cover the cost of processing, handling,  and  collecting  such
 debt.
   §  3. Subdivision 4 of section 18 of the state finance law, as amended
 by section 26-a of part XX of chapter 56 of the laws of 2024, is amended
 to read as follows:
   4. Unless provided otherwise by contract,  statute  or  regulation,  a
 debtor  that fails to make payment of a debt within the period set forth
 in subdivision three of this section  shall  pay,  in  addition  to  the
 amount  of debt, interest on the outstanding balance of the debt, accru-
 ing on the date on which the receipt of the  first  billing  invoice  or
 first  notice  occurs[,  computed  at  the underpayment rate which is in
 effect on the date which the receipt of the  first  billing  invoice  or
 first  billing  notice  occurs].  For  the purposes of this section, the
 [underpayment] INTEREST rate shall be [that rate] set  [by  the  commis-
 sioner  of  taxation  and  finance  and  published in the state register
 pursuant] to [subsection (e) of section one thousand ninety-six  of  the
 tax  law  minus four percentage points. With respect to specific classes

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD15418-01-6
 A. 10912                            2

 of debt collected by a state agency, the director of the budget or offi-
 cial of a state agency so designated by the director of the  budget  may
 approve  the  assessment  of interest at a date later than the thirtieth
 day  following  such  debtor's  receipt of any billing invoice or notice
 sent by the state agency] NO MORE THAN ONE PERCENTAGE POINT GREATER THAN
 THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR URBAN WAGE EARNERS AND CLERICAL WORKERS PER
 ANNUM.
   § 4. Subdivision 5 of section 18 of the state finance law, as  amended
 by  section 1 of part C of chapter 81 of the laws of 2002, is amended to
 read as follows:
   5. In addition to the charges referred to in subdivision four of  this
 section,  and  unless  provided  otherwise by contract, statute or regu-
 lation, a debtor that fails to make payment of a debt  subject  to  this
 section  [within ninety days of receipt by the debtor of the first bill-
 ing  invoice  or  notice  may]  SHALL  NOT  be  assessed  an  additional
 collection  fee  charge  to  cover  the cost of processing, handling and
 collecting such debt[, not to exceed twenty-two percent of the outstand-
 ing debt, which]. A collection fee shall be added to and payable in  the
 same  manner  as  the  outstanding  debt  IF SUCH DEBT RELATES TO UNPAID
 TAXES, JUDGMENTS OR RESTITUTION TO OTHERS. The assessed  collection  fee
 charge  may not exceed the agency's estimated cost of processing, handl-
 ing and collecting such debt.
   § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.