Bill Text: NY A10663 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Preserves premium reimbursement eligibility for organizations which are unable to have fairs or expositions due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 12-2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-06-17 - referred to agriculture [A10663 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A10663-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10663

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      June 17, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  COMMITTEE  ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Tague) --
          read once and referred to the Committee on Agriculture

        AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to preserv-
          ing premium reimbursement eligibility for fairs and expositions  which
          are unable to have events due to the outbreak of COVID-19

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 286 of the agriculture and markets
     2  law, as amended by chapter 600 of the laws of 2019, is amended  to  read
     3  as follows:
     4    1.  (a)  There  shall  be appropriated annually for the department [of
     5  agriculture and markets] an amount of money sufficient to pay and satis-
     6  fy the reimbursement moneys herein specified and which  money  shall  be
     7  disbursed  by  the commissioner on behalf of the state for the promotion
     8  of agriculture and domestic arts, to duly incorporated  agricultural  or
     9  horticultural  corporations  as defined in section fourteen hundred nine
    10  of the not-for-profit corporation  law,  the  county  extension  service
    11  association  in the county of Orange, the American institute in the city
    12  of New York, the Goshen Historic Track, Inc., the Genesee Valley  Breed-
    13  ers'  Association,  Inc.  and  county  extension service associations in
    14  proportion to the actual premiums paid during the previous year  includ-
    15  ing  premiums paid for trials or tests of speed and endurance of harness
    16  horses.
    17    (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to  the  contrary,  the
    18  annual  appropriation made for the two thousand twenty-one--two thousand
    19  twenty-two state fiscal year for  the  department  for  the  purpose  of
    20  paying and satisfying reimbursement moneys shall be in proportion to the
    21  actual premiums paid during two thousand nineteen.
    22    §  2.  Subdivision 2 of section 286 of the agriculture and markets law
    23  is amended by adding a new paragraph (d) to read as follows:
    24    (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to  the  contrary,  all
    25  organizations  otherwise  eligible to receive moneys appropriated by the
    26  state pursuant to paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision  shall  not
    27  be  deemed  ineligible for premium reimbursement because of a failure to

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD16555-03-0
        A. 10663                            2

     1  hold a fair or exposition during the previous calendar year due  to  the
     2  COVID-19 pandemic.
     3    §  3. Subdivision 4 of section 286 of the agriculture and markets law,
     4  as amended by chapter 600 of the laws of 2019, is  amended  to  read  as
     5  follows:
     6    4.  Any organization that shall fail or neglect to hold an annual fair
     7  or exposition and file its annual  report  for  two  consecutive  years,
     8  shall forfeit any privileges or money to which it may otherwise be enti-
     9  tled pursuant to the provisions of this article. In computing such peri-
    10  od  of  two  consecutive  years,  no year shall be counted in which such
    11  failure was deemed by the commissioner to be attributable to a cause  or
    12  condition  with  respect  to  which the organization or its directors or
    13  officers had no control, including but not limited to  the  outbreak  of
    14  novel  coronavirus,  COVID-19, or for any other reason which the commis-
    15  sioner deems justified.
    16    § 4. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any  moneys
    17  appropriated  in the state fiscal year 2020-2021 pursuant to section 286
    18  of the agriculture and markets law which have not been  disbursed  shall
    19  be  reappropriated  for  the  same  purpose  in  the  state  fiscal year
    20  2021-2022.
    21    § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.