Clarifies certain provisions regarding conflicts of interest of certain public employees regarding the licensing of a participant in horse racing activities.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6232A
SPONSOR: Woerner TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, in
relation to conflicts of interest of certain public employees
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill clarifies conflicts of interest and permits public officers,
public employees, and party officers who have no conflict of interest to
be licensed by the New York State Gaming Commission.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivisions 6, 7, and 8 of section 107 of the racing,
pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law to clarify conflicts of interest
with respect to certain public employees. Subdivision 6 is amended to
define "gaming activity" for the purposes of this section. Subdivisions
7 and 8 are amended to clarify that the provisions of the subdivision
shall not apply to the licensing of a participant in horse racing activ-
ities and provides a definition of "participant."
Section 2 provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Existing conflicts of interest law concerning public officers, public
employees, and party officers and their duties as they relate to pari-
mutuel racing activities can be difficult to decipher. This bill clari-
fies and strengthens existing conflicts of interest law by identifying
public officers subject to conflicts of interest and explicitly prohib-
iting the New York State Gaming Commission from granting a license to
any public officer whose duties relate to the conduct of pari-mutuel
racing activities or the taxation thereof. In addition, this bill
permits public officers, public employees and party officers who partic-
ipate in horse racing activities as horse owners, trainers, drivers,
jockeys, or grooms and have no identified conflict of interest to be
licensed by the New York State Gaming Commission.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall become a
law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6232--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 3, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WOERNER -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Racing and Wagering -- recommitted to the Committee on Racing
and Wagering in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, in
relation to conflicts of interest of certain public employees
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 6, 7 and 8 of section 107 of the racing,
2 pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, as added by section 1 of part A
3 of chapter 60 of the laws of 2012, are amended to read as follows:
4 6. (a) The following public employees are prohibited from holding any
5 license from the commission:
6 [(a)] (i) an employee of the commission; any director or employee of a
7 regional off-track betting corporation employed in a management, confi-
8 dential or supervisory capacity for purposes of their position with
9 off-track betting; or
10 [(b)] (ii) an employee of the state legislature; provided, however,
11 that an employee of the state legislature whose duties in such position
12 do not relate to gaming activities shall not be subject to the prohibi-
13 tions of this section if he or she held a license from the former state
14 racing and wagering board while employed by the state legislature prior
15 to July first, nineteen hundred eighty; or
16 [(c)] (iii) an employee of any local legislative body whose duties
17 involve gaming activities; or
18 [(d)] (iv) an employee of any state or local board, agency, authority
19 or other state or local governmental body, the duties of which relate to
20 gaming activities or the taxation thereof.
21 (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, for
22 the purpose of this section the term "gaming activity" shall mean to
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09859-03-4
A. 6232--A 2
1 direct or take part in the operation or management of any form of legal-
2 ized gaming, including, but not limited to, Class III gaming under the
3 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 25 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq., pari-mutuel
4 wagering, both on-track and off-track, bingo and charitable games of
5 chance and the state lottery for education.
6 7. (a) No public officer, public employee or party officer shall:
7 [(a)] (i) own or hold, directly or indirectly, any proprietary inter-
8 est, stock or obligation of any firm, association or corporation [(i)]
9 (1) which is licensed by the commission to conduct video lottery gaming
10 or horse racing activities, or [(ii)] (2) which conducts its occupation,
11 trade, or business at a racetrack at which pari-mutuel race meets are
12 conducted or facility where video lottery gaming activity is conducted
13 whether or not a license is required, or [(iii)] (3) which owns or leas-
14 es to any enfranchised or licensed association or corporation a race-
15 track at which pari-mutuel racing is conducted or facility where video
16 lottery gaming activity is conducted, or [(iv)] (4) which participates
17 in the management of any franchise holder or licensee conducting video
18 lottery gaming or horse racing activities; or
19 [(b)] (ii) hold any office or employment with any firm, association or
20 corporation specified in [paragraph (a) of this subdivision] subpara-
21 graph (i) of this paragraph, except as provided in subdivision eight of
22 this section; or
23 [(c)] (iii) sell, or be a member of a firm, or own ten per centum or
24 more of the stock of any corporation, which sells any goods or services
25 to any firm, association or corporation specified in [paragraph (a) of
26 this subdivision] subparagraph (i) of this paragraph. For purposes of
27 this subdivision, a direct or indirect interest shall not include an
28 interest in a mutual fund or any other diversified investments over
29 which the recipient does not know the identity of the primary source of
30 income.
31 (b) The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to the licens-
32 ing of a participant in horse racing activities. For the purposes of
33 this subdivision, the term "participant" shall mean a horse owner,
34 trainer, driver, jockey or groom.
35 8. (a) The provisions of [paragraph (b)] subparagraph (ii) of para-
36 graph (a) of subdivision seven of this section shall not apply to a
37 public employee other than an employee of the commission, a police offi-
38 cer or a peace officer employed by a sheriff's office, district attor-
39 ney's office or other state or local law enforcement agency, or those
40 employees classified as management confidential employees pursuant to
41 section two hundred fourteen of the civil service law who are employed
42 by a state or local law enforcement agency or regional off-track betting
43 corporation; provided, however, that employment of employees of a poli-
44 tical subdivision may be prohibited by ordinance, resolution or local
45 law adopted by the local legislative body or other governing board of
46 such political subdivision.
47 (b) The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to the licens-
48 ing of a participant in horse racing activities. For the purposes of
49 this subdivision, the term "participant" shall mean a horse owner,
50 trainer, driver, jockey or groom.
51 § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
52 have become a law.
