STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6271--A IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 6, 2016 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SERRANO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the arts and cultural affairs law and the economic development law, in relation to creating the arts and cultural district The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The arts and cultural affairs law is amended by adding a 2 new section 3.19 to read as follows: 3 § 3.19. Arts and cultural district. 1. The council shall develop 4 criteria and guidelines for state designated arts and cultural districts 5 and shall develop an application process for receiving such a desig- 6 nation. A district shall be defined as a geographic area of a city, 7 town, or village with a concentration of arts or cultural facilities 8 located within its boundaries. Criteria developed by the council to 9 designate a district shall include determinations that such district: 10 (a) attracts artists or cultural enterprises to the community, (b) 11 encourages business and job development due to the pre-existing insti- 12 tutions, (c) attracts a sufficient amount of tourism, (d) enhances local 13 property values and fosters local cultural development, or (e) has the 14 potential to meet any of the categorical determinations if sufficient 15 state support and assistance is provided to the proposed district. The 16 council shall also develop guidelines that provide assistance to a city, 17 town, or village in developing an application for district certif- 18 ication. 19 2. For any state designated arts and cultural district, the council 20 and the urban development corporation shall provide state supported 21 assistance to the district in its activities, including but not limited 22 to technical assistance in applying for federal and non-profit grants, 23 marketing expertise, identification of other state resources that may EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD13316-04-6