Enacts the "blocking illegitimate reservations and defending individual entertainment (BIRDIE) act" to prohibit third-party reservation services from listing, advertising, promoting or selling reservations for state-owned golf courses; provides monies received from penalties shall be deposited in the golf fund.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6857
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 25, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. PALUMBO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Tourism,
Parks and Recreation
AN ACT to amend the parks, recreation and historic preservation law and
the state finance law, in relation to enacting the "blocking illegit-
imate reservations and defending individual entertainment (BIRDIE)
act"
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "blocking
2 illegitimate reservations and defending individual entertainment
3 (BIRDIE) act".
4 § 2. The parks, recreation and historic preservation law is amended by
5 adding a new section 13.32 to read as follows:
6 § 13.32 Third-party reservation systems. 1. For the purposes of this
7 section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
8 (a) "Park regions" shall have the same meaning as defined in section
9 7.01 of this chapter.
10 (b) "Third-party reservation service" means any entity, other than the
11 office, that directly or indirectly facilitates the reservation of golf
12 tee times or other recreational activities, including but not limited to
13 hunting, through its platform, whether as a primary seller or as an
14 intermediary linking to other booking platforms through the use of a
15 website, mobile application, or other internet service. A third-party
16 reservation service shall not include any reservation distribution chan-
17 nels that are authorized to distribute reservations by way of a contrac-
18 tual relationship with the office.
19 2. A third-party reservation service shall not list, advertise,
20 promote, or sell reservations for any golf course located within park
21 regions through its website, mobile application or any other platform
22 without a written agreement with the office. Such agreement shall
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09885-02-5
S. 6857 2
1 explicitly authorize the third-party service to distribute reservations
2 and shall outline the terms and conditions under which reservations may
3 be made available. Any reservation service operating without such an
4 agreement shall be considered in violation of this section.
5 3. Any person or entity that violates, or causes another person to
6 violate, any provision of this section or any rule promulgated pursuant
7 thereto shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand
8 dollars for each violation. For violations committed by third-party
9 reservation services, penalties shall accrue on a daily basis for each
10 unauthorized listing of a golf course on a third-party platform. The
11 office, or any other state agency designated to enforce this section,
12 shall have the authority to investigate violations and impose penalties.
13 A proceeding to recover any civil penalty or restitution authorized
14 pursuant to this section may be brought within any agency of the state
15 designated to conduct such proceedings. Any moneys received from penal-
16 ties imposed pursuant to this section shall be deposited into the golf
17 fund as established pursuant to section ninety-nine-gg of the state
18 finance law.
19 § 3. Section 99-gg state finance law, as added by section 2 of part MM
20 of chapter 58 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
21 § 99-gg. Golf fund. 1. Notwithstanding sections eight, eight-a and
22 seventy of this chapter and any other provision of law, rule, regulation
23 or practice to the contrary, there is hereby established in the joint
24 custody of the state comptroller and the commissioner of tax and finance
25 a golf fund, which shall be classified by the state comptroller as an
26 enterprise fund, and which shall consist of moneys collected pursuant to
27 section 13.32 of the parks, recreation and historic preservation law and
28 all moneys collected from private entities and individuals for the use
29 of state-owned golf courses, any other miscellaneous fees associated
30 with the use of such golf courses, and sale of retail goods and services
31 at state owned golf courses.
32 2. Moneys within the golf fund shall be made available to the commis-
33 sioner of parks, recreation and historic preservation for services and
34 expenses of the office of parks, recreation and historic preservation
35 relating to the direct maintenance and operation of state owned golf
36 courses, and in support of the sale of retail goods and services at
37 state owned golf courses. Such funds shall be used for course reno-
38 vations, infrastructure upgrades, including but not limited to improve-
39 ment of public access which shall include facilities compliant with the
40 federal Americans with Disabilities Act, youth golf programs, acquisi-
41 tion of new equipment, technology, and amenities to enhance the golfing
42 experience and any other improvements necessary to promote the long-term
43 sustainability and quality of state-owned golf courses.
44 § 4. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
45 law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any
46 rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its
47 effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such
48 date.
