Authorizes and directs the transfer of funds from the community projects fund for the operation of state parks

7 Co-sponsors

• Marcus Molinaro
• Gary Finch
• Frank Skartados
• Marc Butler
• George Amedore
• Joseph Saladino
• Phil Boyle

5 Multi-sponsors

• William A. Barclay
• Nelson Castro
• Stephen Hawley
• Brian Kolb
• David Townsend

BILL NUMBER:A10453

Title of bill

An act authorizing the transfer of funds from the commu- nity projects fund for the operation of state parks

Purpose or general idea of bill

This bill would authorize and direct the Comptroller to transfer $12 million dollars out of any available funds within the Community Projects Fund (the source of monies for legislative member items) to the General Fund for the purposes of oper- ating the State Parks.

Summary of specific provisions

§1 authorizes and directs the Comptroller to transfer the sum of $12 million dollars out of any available funds within the Community Projects Fund to the General Fund.

§2 provides for an immediate effective date.

Existing law

The Comptroller does not currently have the authority to transfer available funds from the Community Project Funds to the General Fund for the purpose of operating parks.

Justification

At a recent press conference, hosted by the Senate and Assembly committees charged with oversight of the state park system, advocates highlighted the system's contribution to our state economy. Every year, visitors bring much-needed business to the communities in and around the parks and historic sites as they shop at local stores and patronize other businesses.

According to the New York State Council of Parks, Recreation and Histor- ic Preservation, a record 56 million people visited New York State parks and historic sites in 2009, an increase of over 2 million from 2008. Trends in tourism show that during times of economic recession, people tend to stay closer to home for their vacations; indeed, a new word was coined over the last year to describe these stay-at-home vacations or "staycations." This trend is nothing new: during the Great Depression, Governor Franklin Roosevelt increased the size of the state's park system. Furthermore, his successor, Governor Herbert H. Lehman used the park system expansion as an opportunity to put to work many of those unemployed by the collapse of the private sector,

While the State struggles to seek funds for parks, schools, health facilities, and many other priorities, our working families and small businesses cannot withstand additional taxes. The solution is simple: use member item money to fill this gap.

Balancing the budget and building our economy will not happen unless everyone is willing to give, including members of the State Legislature.

Prior legislative history

New Bill.

Fiscal implications for state and local governments

The State Parks Operating Budget for State Fiscal Year 2009-2010 was $331.6 million. The Governor's proposed Budget for this year is $271.2 million, a decrease of $60.4 million. As part of the reduction, the Governor instructed the Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation to achieve agency savings of $19.8 million in operating funds. In response, the agency proposed to close and make additional service reductions at as many as 132 State Parks and Historic Sites of the 214 total facili- ties the State operates.

Based on changes proposed in the Governor's 21 day amendments, the roughly $20 million gap prompting the proposed closures has been narrowed to roughly 6 million dollars. This legislation would support those amendments, while backing out the Governor's $5 million raid of the Environmental Protection Fund by authorizing the transfer of up to $12 million dollars of state monies used for legislative member items from the Community Projects Fund.

Effective date

This bill would take effect immediately.