Establishes an account to promote the standardbred breeding industry

BILL NUMBER:S3290

Title of bill

An act to amend the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, in relation to establishing an account to promote the standardbred breeding industry

Purpose or general idea of bill

To provide a secure, stable funding stream from the Agriculture and New York State Horse Breeding Development Fund to support the education, promotion and protection of the standardbred breeding industry.

Summary of specific provisions

Section 332 Racing, Pari-mutuel Wagering and Breeding law is amended to provide a percentage of funding from the Agriculture and New York State Horse Breeding Development Fund to enhance the educational, administrative and promotional efforts of the Harness Horse Breeders of New York state.

Justification

The New York Sire Stakes program established in 1961, was created by the Harness Horse Breeders of New York State (HHBNY) and was the first program of its kind developed in North America and later became the model for state-bred racing programs in nearly all of the major harness racing states and provinces on the continent. HHBNY was also instrumental in establishing the Agriculture and New York State Horse Breeding Development Fund, which collects a portion of handle to redistribute to state-bred horses through the New York Sire Stakes program. Under the leadership of the Fund and in concert with HHBNY, purses for the New York Sire Stakes have grown from $300,000 in 1961 to over $13 million today.

HHBNY has a longstanding history of planning and managing the New York Sire Stakes racing program, while working to educate the public about standardbred breeding and racing in New York. For almost 50 years, the Fund has contracted with the organization to perform many of these critical functions, but the annual contracting process has become time consuming,cumbersome and has led to drastically reduced funding for HHBNY. This in turn has forced the organization to layoff staff and curtail their crucial duties. This bill seeks to remove HHBNY from yearly contract uncertainty and provide a steady, secure funding stream from the Fund to the organization so that they can best fulfill their longstanding and critical duties.

Prior legislative history

S7437 04/09/10 REFERRED TO RACING, GAMING AND WAGERING 06/08/10 REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE

Fiscal implications to state and local government

None to the General Fund.

Effective date

Immediately.