Bill Text: NY A08559 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Enacts the "public benefits for professional facilities act"; defines terms; provides that any state or local authority that grants any benefit, for the purpose of construction, reconstruction, repair or rehabilitation of a professional sports facility, shall, as a condition of such benefit, require that at least seven percent of all tickets for each event be sold at prices affordable to residents of the host community.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 29-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-12-15 - enacting clause stricken [A08559 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-A08559-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          8559
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                      July 10, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by M. of A. KAVANAGH, DINOWITZ, JAFFEE, LIFTON, ORTIZ, PRET-
          LOW, ZEBROWSKI,  COLTON,  DenDEKKER,  GLICK,  HOOPER,  LENTOL,  PERRY,
          RIVERA,  CAHILL, AUBRY, ROSENTHAL, COOK, GUNTHER -- Multi-Sponsored by
          -- M. of A. GALEF, GOTTFRIED, HEVESI, JENNE, LUPARDO, MAGEE,  PEOPLES-
          STOKES,  RAIA,  RAMOS, THIELE, TITONE -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Ways and Means
        AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, in relation to enacting  the
          "public benefits for professional facilities act"
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may  be  cited  as
     2  the "public benefits for professional facilities act".
     3    §  2.  Article  9 of the public authorities law is amended by adding a
     4  new title 3-B to read as follows:
     5                                   TITLE 3-B
     6                 PUBLIC BENEFITS FOR PROFESSIONAL FACILITIES
     7  Section 2860. Professional facilities.
     8     § 2860. Professional facilities.  1. No later than ninety days  after
     9  the  effective  date  of  this subdivision, the Empire state development
    10  corporation shall publish on its website and provide to the  legislature
    11  an  accounting  of  all  benefits  that any state or local authority has
    12  granted or obligated itself to grant for the  purpose  of  construction,
    13  reconstruction, repair or rehabilitation of a professional sports facil-
    14  ity.  Such  accounting  shall include all such benefits granted or obli-
    15  gated to be granted at any time on or after January first, two  thousand
    16  eleven.  Thereafter,  the  Empire  state  development  corporation shall
    17  publish on its website and provide to the legislature an update of  such
    18  accounting  by  February  fifteenth  of  each  year, covering the period
    19  ending December thirty-first of the preceding year. Any state  or  local
    20  authority that has granted or obligated itself to grant any such benefit
    21  shall  report  the terms of such benefit to the Empire state development
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01589-01-7
        A. 8559                             2
     1  corporation no later than the earlier of the date the benefit is granted
     2  or the date the benefit is obligated to be granted.
     3    2.  For  the  purposes of this section, the following terms shall have
     4  the following meanings:
     5    (a) "Benefit" shall mean any direct or indirect grant  of  funds,  tax
     6  reductions,  tax  preferences, subsidies, payments in lieu of any tax or
     7  tax obligation, or any other form of public support.
     8    (b) "Affordable" shall mean within the  economic  ability  of  persons
     9  whose  income is at or below sixty percent of the area median income for
    10  a four-person household to purchase tickets without economic hardship.
    11    (c) "Affordable ticket agreement" shall mean a binding agreement among
    12  the state or local authority granting a benefit, the recipient  of  such
    13  benefit,  and  any  other party necessary to give such agreement effect,
    14  the terms of which are publicly disclosed  not  less  than  thirty  days
    15  before the state or local authority grants any benefit or undertakes any
    16  obligation  to  grant  such  benefit.    Such  agreement  shall  include
    17  provisions to prevent resale of tickets  subject  to  the  agreement  at
    18  prices above face value.
    19    3.  Any  state  or  local  authority  that grants any benefit, for the
    20  purpose of construction, reconstruction, repair or rehabilitation  of  a
    21  professional  sports  facility,  shall,  as a condition of such benefit,
    22  require that at least seven percent of all tickets  for  each  event  be
    23  subject  to  an  affordable  ticket agreement. Furthermore, such benefit
    24  shall be conditioned upon a facility policy  that  limits  ticket  price
    25  increases  to  no more than two percent annually for the next ten years,
    26  if at any time in the last three years season or individual tickets have
    27  been offered for sale with cumulative price increases of more than thir-
    28  ty percent.
    29    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.