NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6332
SPONSOR: Woerner TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and
breeding law, in relation to extending the disposition of off-track
pools state tax to Saratoga county
PURPOSE: To allow Saratoga Harness Racing, Inc. to maintain its status
as the regional track in the Capital Off-Track Betting region after the
reorganization of its corporate structure.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision 1 of section 527 of the racing, pari-mutuel
wagering and breeding law. It adds Saratoga County to the exception,
already granted to Tioga County, which allows "regional payments" to be
paid to racetracks first licensed after January 1, 1986.
Section 2 states the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION: Saratoga Harness Racing, Inc. (SHRI) has been the
regional track in the Capital OTB region since the inception of off-
track betting. SHRI is reorganizing its corporate structure. Current
law provides that "racing corporations first licensed to conduct pari-
mutuel racing after January first, nineteen hundred eighty-six" are not
considered to be regional tracks in that "regional payments" are gener-
ally not required to be paid. By restructuring SHRI into a new corporate
entity, SHRI would fall under this provision and lose its regional track
payments. By adding Saratoga County to the exception that was provided
for Tioga County, SHRI will remain a regional track and the disposition
of off-track pools will continue identically to their current disposi-
tion.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: This is a new bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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6332
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 20, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WOERNER -- 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 extending the disposition of off-track pools state tax to
Saratoga county
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The opening paragraph of subdivision 1 of section 527 of
2 the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, as amended by chapter
3 18 of the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
4 The disposition of the retained commission from pools resulting from
5 regular, multiple or exotic bets, as the case may be, whether placed on
6 races run within a region or outside a region, conducted by racing
7 corporations, harness racing associations or corporations, quarter horse
8 racing associations or corporations or races run outside the state shall
9 be governed by the tables in paragraphs a and b of this subdivision. The
10 rate denominated "state tax" shall represent the rate of a reasonable
11 tax imposed upon the retained commission for the privilege of conducting
12 off-track pari-mutuel betting, which tax is hereby levied and shall be
13 payable in the manner set forth in this section. Each off-track betting
14 corporation shall pay to the racing and wagering board as a regulatory
15 fee, which fee is hereby levied, fifty hundredths of one percent of the
16 total daily pools of such corporation. Each corporation shall also pay
17 twenty per centum of the breaks derived from bets on harness races and
18 fifty per centum of the breaks derived from bets on all other races to
19 the agriculture and New York State horse breeding and development fund
20 and to the thoroughbred breeding and development fund, the total of such
21 payments to be apportioned fifty per centum to each such fund. For the
22 purposes of this section, the New York city, Suffolk, Nassau, and the
23 Catskill regions shall constitute a single region and any thoroughbred
24 track located within the Capital District region shall be deemed to be
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09551-02-5
A. 6332 2
1 within such single region. A "regional meeting" shall refer to either
2 harness or thoroughbred meetings, or both, except that a franchised
3 corporation shall not be a regional track for the purpose of receiving
4 distributions from bets on thoroughbred races conducted by a thorough-
5 bred track in the Catskill region conducting a mixed meeting. With the
6 exception of a harness racing association or corporation first licensed
7 to conduct pari-mutuel wagering at a track located in Tioga or Saratoga
8 county after January first, two thousand five, racing corporations first
9 licensed to conduct pari-mutuel racing after January first, nineteen
10 hundred eighty-six or a harness racing association or corporation first
11 licensed to conduct pari-mutuel wagering at a track located in Genesee
12 County after January first, two thousand five, and quarter horse tracks
13 shall not be "regional tracks"; if there is more than one harness track
14 within a region, such tracks shall evenly divide payments made pursuant
15 to the tables in paragraphs a and b of this subdivision when neither
16 track is running. In the event a track elects to reduce its retained
17 percentage from any or all of its pari-mutuel pools, the payments to the
18 track holding the race and the regional track required by paragraphs a
19 and b of this subdivision shall be reduced in proportion to such
20 reduction. Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the
21 conduct of off-track betting contrary to the provisions of section five
22 hundred twenty-three of this article.
23 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
