NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3620
SPONSOR: Pretlow TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, in
relation to allowing off-track betting corporations to set up special
reserve funds
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to create a special reserve fund for off
track betting corporations and allow the current 1 percent take out
allowed for on exotic bet to be redirected from the capital acquisition
fund to the newly created special reserve fund to be disbursed solely
for expenses owed to New York State entities such as race tracks, horse-
men and breeding funds and state and local governments.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1
Section 2 establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Current law does not allow for Off Track Betting Corporations (OTBs) to
have a reserve fund to build a fund balance to help offset payments made
for operational expenses. While OTBs do have a capital acquisition fund,
such, monies cannot be spent on operational expenses, the bulk of which
are payments owed to New York based entities such as tracks, horsemen
and breeding funds and payments owed to state and local governments.
This legislation would modernize the laws that govern off track betting
corporation finance by creating a special reserve fund, financed by
redirecting the existing 1 percent of exotic bets revenue stream from
the capital acquisition fund to this newly created special reserve fund.
This money will then be used to pay off expenses owed to New York State
entities such as race tracks, horsemen and breeding funds and state and
local governments which is a benefit to all entities involved.
In addition, monies already collected in the capital acquisition fund
will remain.in such fund and only be allowed to be disbursed for desig-
nated capital purposes.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022 01/05/22 A2180 referred to racing and wagering
2019-2020 A8203 referred to racing and wagering None
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to state or local governments.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3620
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 3, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PRETLOW -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Racing and Wagering
AN ACT to amend the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, in
relation to allowing off-track betting corporations to set up special
reserve funds
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law is
2 amended by adding a new section 509-b to read as follows:
3 § 509-b. Special reserve fund. The corporation may create and estab-
4 lish a special reserve fund for the purpose of making any statutory
5 payments to any New York state entity as required by law, including
6 payments to New York state tracks. Such special reserve fund shall
7 consist of the amounts specified pursuant to subdivision three-a of
8 section five hundred thirty-two of this chapter. No such one percent
9 contribution may be made to the special reserve fund if such one percent
10 contribution is made to the capital acquisition fund under section five
11 hundred nine-a of this article. If such one percent contribution is
12 made to the special reserve fund:
13 1. such contribution shall not exceed the amount of one percent of the
14 total pari-mutuel wagering pools for the quarter in which such contrib-
15 ution is made;
16 2. such contribution shall not reduce the amount of quarterly net
17 revenues, exclusive of surcharge revenues, to an amount less than fifty
18 percent of such net revenues; and
19 3. the balance of such fund shall not exceed the lesser of one percent
20 of total pari-mutuel wagering pools for the previous twelve months, or
21 the undepreciated value of the corporation's offices, facilities, and
22 premises.
23 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08298-01-3
