Establishes an arts fund to receive contributions for the support of the New York state council on the arts through a personal income tax return check-off; provides that for tax years on or after January 1, 2019, any individual may elect to contribute to the arts fund by indicating such intent on a tax form.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7994
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 30, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WEPRIN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Ways and Means
AN ACT to amend the tax law and the state finance law, in relation to
gifts for the support of the New York state council on the arts
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The legislature hereby finds and determines that, due to
2 severe budgetary constraints, the amount of state funds available for
3 the support of the New York state council on the arts has been sharply
4 diminished over the past few years. This decrease in support has had a
5 devastating effect upon many of New York's cultural institutions, as
6 well as many related or dependent businesses and employees. Accordingly,
7 the legislature hereby finds and determines that taxpayers of the state
8 of New York should have the opportunity to use the New York state
9 personal income tax form as a mechanism for making voluntary contrib-
10 utions for the support of the New York state council on the arts. It is
11 the intent of the legislature that any funds so contributed shall
12 supplement and not offset or diminish in any way the amount of funds
13 made available to the New York state council on the arts pursuant to
14 annual budget appropriations.
15 § 2. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 630-g to read as
16 follows:
17 § 630-g. Gift to the arts fund. Effective for any tax year commencing
18 on or after January first, two thousand nineteen, an individual may
19 elect to contribute to the arts fund created pursuant to section nine-
20 ty-seven-yyyy of the state finance law for the support of the New York
21 state council on the arts. Such contribution shall be in any whole
22 dollar amount and shall not reduce the amount of tax owed by such indi-
23 vidual. The commissioner shall include space on the personal income tax
24 return to enable a taxpayer to make such contribution. Notwithstanding
25 any other provision of law, all revenue collected pursuant to this
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03562-01-9
A. 7994 2
1 section shall be credited to the arts fund established by section nine-
2 ty-seven-yyyy of the state finance law and used only for the purposes of
3 the New York state council on the arts.
4 § 3. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 97-yyyy
5 to read as follows:
6 § 97-yyyy. Arts fund. 1. There is hereby created in the joint custody
7 of the state comptroller and the commissioner of taxation and finance a
8 fund to be known as the "arts fund".
9 2. Such fund shall consist of all revenues received by the department
10 of taxation and finance, pursuant to the provisions of section six
11 hundred thirty-g of the tax law and all other moneys appropriated, cred-
12 ited, or transferred thereto from any other fund or source pursuant to
13 law. For each state fiscal year, there shall be appropriated to the
14 fund by the state, in addition to all other moneys required to be depos-
15 ited into such fund, an amount equal to the amounts of moneys collected
16 and deposited into the fund pursuant to section six hundred thirty-g of
17 the tax law during the preceding calendar year, as certified by the
18 comptroller. Nothing contained herein shall prevent the state from
19 receiving grants, gifts or bequests for the purposes of the fund as
20 defined in this section and depositing them into the fund according to
21 law.
22 3. Moneys of the fund may be invested by the state comptroller, and
23 income from the investments of moneys deposited to this fund pursuant to
24 section six hundred thirty-g of the tax law shall be credited solely to
25 this fund.
26 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
