Directs that unclaimed or abandoned lottery prizes be used to make state aid payments due for prior years to public schools and deletes provisions allocating such funds to be used for payment of special lotto prizes.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4728
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 7, 2011
___________
Introduced by M. of A. P. RIVERA -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means
AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to unclaimed and abandoned
prize money
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 1614 of the tax law, as amended by chapter 166 of
2 the laws of 1991, subdivision a as amended by chapter 170 of the laws of
3 1994, is amended to read as follows:
4 § 1614. Unclaimed and abandoned prize money. a. No prize claim shall
5 be valid if submitted to the division following the expiration of a
6 one-year time period from the date of the drawing or from the close of
7 the game in which a prize was won, and the person otherwise entitled to
8 such prize shall forfeit any claim or entitlement to such prize moneys.
9 Unclaimed prize money, plus interest earned thereon, shall be [retained
10 in the lottery prize account to be used for payment of special lotto or
11 supplemental lotto prizes offered pursuant to the plan or plans speci-
12 fied in this article, or for promotional purposes to supplement other
13 games on an occasional basis not to exceed sixteen weeks within any
14 twelve month period pursuant to the plan or plans specified in this
15 article.
16 In the event that the director proposes to change any plan for the use
17 of unclaimed prize funds or in the event the director intends to use
18 funds in a game other than the game from which such unclaimed prize
19 funds were derived, the director of the budget, the chairperson of the
20 senate finance committee, and the chairperson of the assembly ways and
21 means committee shall be notified in writing separately detailing the
22 proposed changes to any plan prior to the implementation of the changes]
23 paid to the state comptroller. The state comptroller is directed to
24 credit such amount to the education department, general fund/aid to
25 localities, local assistance account, for general support for public
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01123-01-1
A. 4728 2
1 schools, provided that such amount shall be used solely for the purposes
2 of providing additional support for the purposes specified in paragraph
3 c of subdivision five of section thirty-six hundred four of the educa-
4 tion law, beyond moneys otherwise appropriated for such purposes.
5 b. The division may determine that a prize has been abandoned whenev-
6 er more than eighteen months have elapsed since a prize payment check
7 was mailed to the last known address of the claimant and either such
8 check has been returned undelivered by the United States postal service
9 and the claimant cannot be located or such check has not been returned
10 undelivered and has not been presented for payment. Any prize so deter-
11 mined to have been abandoned shall be paid to the state comptroller
12 [pursuant to section thirteen hundred fifteen of the abandoned property
13 law]. Notwithstanding any provision of law, rule or regulation to the
14 contrary, the state comptroller is directed to credit such prize amount
15 that has been determined to have been abandoned, and any such prize
16 amounts determined to have been abandoned which have been paid to the
17 state comptroller pursuant to section thirteen hundred fifteen of the
18 abandoned property law, to the education department, general fund/aid to
19 localities, local assistance account, for general support for public
20 schools, provided that such amount shall be used solely for the purposes
21 of providing additional support for the purposes specified in paragraph
22 c of subdivision five of section thirty-six hundred four of the educa-
23 tion law, beyond moneys otherwise appropriated for such purposes.
24 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
