Bill Text: NY S07615 | 2013-2014 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Relates to out-of-state races, VLT flex hours, and increased free play at VLT facilities.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-06-17 - referred to racing and wagering [S07615 Detail]
Download: New_York-2013-S07615-Amended.html
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 7615--A I N S E N A T E May 16, 2014 ___________ Introduced by Sen. BONACIC -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wager- ing -- 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 out-of-state or out-of-country races; to amend the tax law, in relation to video lottery terminal flex hours and increasing free play at video lottery facilities; and to repeal certain provisions of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law relat- ing thereto THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: 1 Section 1. Clauses (E) and (F) of subparagraph 5 of paragraph b of 2 subdivision 1 of section 1016 of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and 3 breeding law are REPEALED. 4 S 2. Clauses (F) and (G) of subparagraph 6 of paragraph b of subdivi- 5 sion 1 of section 1016 of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding 6 law are REPEALED. 7 S 3. Section 1017 of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding 8 law, as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2008, subdivision 2 as 9 amended by chapter 174 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as 10 follows: 11 S 1017. Out-of-state or out-of-country races. [1.] Licensed simulcast 12 facilities may accept wagers and display the signal of out-of-state or 13 out-of-country thoroughbred tracks after 7Labor P.M. in accordance with 14 the provisions of this section. Such simulcasting may include mixed 15 meetings if such meetings are integral to such racing programs and all 16 such wagering on such races shall be construed to be thoroughbred races. 17 For facilities located within the special betting district, such 18 approval shall also be required from a thoroughbred racing corporation 19 during the period a racing program is being conducted at such track. 20 Such approval shall not be required on any day such thoroughbred racing 21 corporation is also accepting an out-of-state or out-of-country signal 22 and wager, as authorized by this section. The provisions of section one EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD15207-03-4 S. 7615--A 2 1 thousand sixteen of this article shall be applicable to the conduct of 2 such simulcasting and the provisions of clauses (A) and (B) of subpara- 3 graph four of paragraph b of subdivision one of section one thousand 4 sixteen of this article shall apply to those facilities licensed in 5 accordance with sections one thousand eight and one thousand nine of 6 this article and the provisions of clauses (A) and (B) of subparagraph 7 six of paragraph b of subdivision one of section one thousand sixteen of 8 this article shall apply to those facilities licensed in accordance with 9 section one thousand seven of this article, when such provisions are in 10 full force and effect pursuant to such section. Provided, however, the 11 provisions of section one thousand fourteen of this article shall be 12 applicable to the conduct of such simulcasting, when such provisions are 13 in full force and effect pursuant to such section. 14 [2. a. Maintenance of effort. Any off-track betting corporation which 15 engages in accepting wagers on the simulcasts of thoroughbred races from 16 out-of-state or out-of-country as permitted under subdivision one of 17 this section shall submit to the commission, for its approval, a sched- 18 ule of payments to be made in any year or portion thereof, that such 19 off-track corporation engages in nighttime thoroughbred simulcasting. In 20 order to be approved by the commission, the payment schedule shall be 21 identical to the actual payments and distributions of such payments to 22 tracks and purses made by such off-track corporation pursuant to the 23 provisions of section one thousand fifteen of this article during the 24 year two thousand two, as derived from out-of-state harness races 25 displayed after 6:00 P.M. If approved by the commission, such scheduled 26 payments shall be made from revenues derived from any simulcasting 27 conducted pursuant to this section and section one thousand fifteen of 28 this article. 29 b. Additional payments. During each calendar year, to the extent, and 30 at such time in the event, that aggregate statewide wagering handle 31 after 7Labor P.M. on out-of-state and out-of-country thoroughbred races 32 exceeds one hundred million dollars, each off-track betting corporation 33 conducting such simulcasting shall pay to its regional harness track or 34 tracks, an amount equal to two percent of its proportionate share of 35 such excess handle. In any region where there are two or more regional 36 harness tracks, such two percent shall be divided between or among the 37 tracks in a proportion equal to the proportion of handle on live harness 38 races conducted at such tracks during the preceding calendar year. Fifty 39 percent of the sum received by each track pursuant to this paragraph 40 shall be used exclusively for increasing purses, stakes and prizes at 41 that regional harness track. For the purpose of determining whether such 42 aggregate statewide handle exceeds one hundred million dollars, all 43 wagering on such thoroughbred races accepted by licensed multi-jurisdic- 44 tional account wagering providers from customers within New York state 45 shall be excluded.] 46 S 4. Subdivision 1 of section 1012 of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering 47 and breeding law, as amended by chapter 174 of the laws of 2013, is 48 amended to read as follows: 49 1. Racing associations and corporations, franchised corporations, 50 off-track betting corporations and multi-jurisdictional account wagering 51 providers may form partnerships, joint ventures, or any other affil- 52 iations or contractual arrangement in order to further the purposes of 53 this section. Multi-jurisdictional account wagering providers involved 54 in such joint affiliations or contractual arrangements shall follow the 55 same distributional policy with respect to retained commissions as 56 [their in-state affiliate or contractual partner] A MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL S. 7615--A 3 1 ACCOUNT WAGERING PROVIDER DEFINED IN THIS ARTICLE; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, 2 THAT SUCH JOINT AFFILIATION OR CONTRACTUAL ARRANGEMENT ENTERED INTO ON 3 OR AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE CHAPTER OF THE LAWS OF TWO THOUSAND 4 FOURTEEN THAT AMENDED THIS SUBDIVISION SHALL BE SUBJECT TO THE REVIEW 5 AND APPROVAL OF THE NEW YORK STATE GAMING COMMISSION TO DETERMINE IF 6 SUCH AFFILIATION OR CONTRACTUAL ARRANGEMENT IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF 7 THE RACING INDUSTRY OF THIS STATE. 8 S 5. Clause (H) of subparagraph (ii) of paragraph 1 of subdivision b 9 of section 1612 of the tax law, as amended by section 1 of part BB of 10 chapter 59 of the laws of 2014, is amended to read as follows: 11 (H) notwithstanding clauses (A), (B), (C), (D), (E), (F) and (G) of 12 this subparagraph, the track operator of a vendor track shall be eligi- 13 ble for a vendor's capital award of up to four percent of the total 14 revenue wagered at the vendor track after payout for prizes pursuant to 15 this chapter, which shall be used exclusively for capital project 16 investments to improve the facilities of the vendor track which promote 17 or encourage increased attendance at the video lottery gaming facility 18 including, but not limited to hotels, other lodging facilities, enter- 19 tainment facilities, retail facilities, dining facilities, events 20 arenas, parking garages and other improvements that enhance facility 21 amenities; provided that such capital investments shall be approved by 22 the division, in consultation with the state racing and wagering board, 23 and that such vendor track demonstrates that such capital expenditures 24 will increase patronage at such vendor track's facilities and increase 25 the amount of revenue generated to support state education programs. The 26 annual amount of such vendor's capital awards that a vendor track shall 27 be eligible to receive shall be limited to two million five hundred 28 thousand dollars, except for Aqueduct racetrack, for which there shall 29 be no vendor's capital awards. Except for tracks having less than one 30 thousand one hundred video gaming machines, and except for a vendor 31 track located west of State Route 14 from Sodus Point to the Pennsylva- 32 nia border within New York, each track operator shall be required to 33 co-invest an amount of capital expenditure equal to its cumulative 34 vendor's capital award. For all tracks, except for Aqueduct racetrack, 35 the amount of any vendor's capital award that is not used during any one 36 year period may be carried over into subsequent years ending before 37 April first, two thousand fifteen. Any amount attributable to a capital 38 expenditure approved prior to April first, two thousand fifteen and 39 completed before April first, two thousand seventeen; or approved prior 40 to April first, two thousand nineteen and completed before April first, 41 two thousand twenty-one for a vendor track located west of State Route 42 14 from Sodus Point to the Pennsylvania border within New York, shall be 43 eligible to receive the vendor's capital award. In the event that a 44 vendor track's capital expenditures, approved by the division prior to 45 April first, two thousand fifteen and completed prior to April first, 46 two thousand seventeen, exceed the vendor track's cumulative capital 47 award during the five year period ending April first, two thousand 48 fifteen, the vendor shall continue to receive the capital award after 49 April first, two thousand fifteen until such approved capital expendi- 50 tures are paid to the vendor track subject to any required co-invest- 51 ment. In no event shall any vendor track that receives a vendor fee 52 pursuant to clause [(F) or] (G) of this subparagraph be eligible for a 53 vendor's capital award under this section. Any operator of a vendor 54 track which has received a vendor's capital award, choosing to divest 55 the capital improvement toward which the award was applied, prior to the 56 full depreciation of the capital improvement in accordance with general- S. 7615--A 4 1 ly accepted accounting principles, shall reimburse the state in amounts 2 equal to the total of any such awards. Any capital award not approved 3 for a capital expenditure at a video lottery gaming facility by April 4 first, two thousand fifteen shall be deposited into the state lottery 5 fund for education aid; and 6 S 6. Subdivision b of section 1617-a of the tax law, as amended by 7 section 5 of part K of chapter 57 of the laws of 2010, is amended to 8 read as follows: 9 b. Video lottery gaming shall only be permitted for no more than twen- 10 ty consecutive hours per day and on no day shall such operation be 11 conducted past [4:00] 6:00 a.m. 12 S 7. Paragraph 3 of subdivision f of section 1617-a of the tax law, as 13 added by section 2 of part O of chapter 61 of the laws of 2011, is 14 amended to read as follows: 15 (3) For each video lottery facility, the annual value of the free play 16 allowance credits authorized for use by the operator pursuant to this 17 subdivision shall not exceed an amount equal to [ten] FIFTEEN percent of 18 the total amount wagered on video lottery games after payout of prizes. 19 The division shall establish procedures to assure that free play allow- 20 ance credits do not exceed such amount. 21 S 8. This act shall take effect immediately.