S 4608: Relates to the acceleration of the downstate casino licenses; sets forth fixed deadlines for different steps of the application process.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4608 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE February 10, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. ADDABBO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wager- ing AN ACT to amend the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, in relation to the acceleration of the downstate casino licenses The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 7 of section 109-a of the racing, pari-mutuel 2 wagering and breeding law, as amended by section 9 of part RR of chapter 3 56 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as follows: 4 7. Utilizing the powers and duties prescribed for it by article thir- 5 teen of this chapter, the board shall select, through a competitive 6 process consistent with provisions of article thirteen of this chapter, 7 not more than seven gaming facility license applicants. Such selectees 8 shall be authorized to receive a gaming facility license, if found suit- 9 able by the commission. The board may select another applicant for 10 authorization to be licensed as a gaming facility if a previous selectee 11 fails to meet licensing thresholds, is revoked or surrenders a license 12 opportunity. For the purposes of title two-a of article thirteen of 13 this chapter, such selection shall take place pursuant to section thir- 14 teen hundred twenty-one-d of this chapter. 15 § 2. Section 1321-b of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding 16 law, as added by section 7 of part RR of chapter 56 of the laws of 2022, 17 is amended to read as follows: 18 § 1321-b. Requests for applications. Requests for applications shall 19 be handled in the same manner as provided for in section thirteen 20 hundred twelve of this article for gaming licenses authorized but not 21 awarded, provided however that any requests for applications for gaming 22 facility licenses authorized but not awarded may be for gaming facility 23 licenses in any region in zone one or in regions one, two and five in EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD09121-01-5 
 S. 4608 2 1 zone two. All applications under this section must be submitted by June 2 twenty-seventh, two thousand twenty-five. 3 § 3. Subdivision 3 of section 1321-d of the racing, pari-mutuel wager- 4 ing and breeding law, as added by section 7 of part RR of chapter 56 of 5 the laws of 2022, is amended and two new subdivisions 5 and 6 are added 6 to read as follows: 7 3. (a) For each applicant who proposes a gaming facility located in 8 region two of zone one, there shall be established a community advisory 9 committee. The establishment of such committees shall occur immediately 10 after receiving applications. Each committee shall consist of six 11 members, one to be appointed by the governor, one to be appointed by the 12 senator representing the senate district where the proposed facility is 13 to be located, one to be appointed by the assemblymember representing 14 the assembly district where the proposed facility is to be located, one 15 to be appointed by the borough president where the facility is proposed 16 to be located, one to be appointed by the city councilmember represent- 17 ing the district where the facility is proposed to be located, and one 18 to be appointed by the New York city mayor. 19 (b) For each applicant who proposes a gaming facility located in 20 regions one or three of zone one, or regions one, two or five of zone 21 two there shall be established a community advisory committee. The 22 establishment of such committees shall occur immediately after receiving 23 applications. Each committee shall consist of five members, one to be 24 appointed by the governor, one to be appointed by the senator represent- 25 ing the senate district where the proposed facility is to be located, 26 one to be appointed by the assemblymember representing the assembly 27 district where the proposed facility is to be located, one to be 28 appointed by the county executive of the county where the facility is 29 proposed to be located, and one to be appointed as follows: 30 (i) If the proposed facility is to be located in a city, one to be 31 appointed by the mayor of such city; 32 (ii) If the proposed facility is to be located in a town, one to be 33 appointed by the town supervisor of such town; or 34 (iii) If the proposed facility is to be located in a village, one 35 representative to be appointed jointly by the village mayor and the town 36 supervisor. 37 (c) The activities of the community advisory committees constituted 38 pursuant to this subdivision shall be subject to the open meetings 39 provisions contained in article seven of the public officers law. 40 (d) [The commission may hire a consultant to serve as a community 41 consultant to assist and manage the community advisory committee proc- 42 ess. The commission or community consultant shall provide administrative 43 support and technical assistance for the establishment and activities of 44 committees constituted pursuant to this subdivision. 45 (e) Prior to a determination on any application by the board, the 46 following community advisory committee process shall apply: 47 (i) Upon the majority of members of the board being appointed, a 48 community consultant may be hired by the commission to manage the proc- 49 ess and any other activities as determined by the commission; 50 (ii) the commission shall issue a request for applications no later 51 than ninety days following the majority of members of the board being 52 appointed; 53 (iii) interested entities may submit an application to the board who 54 shall provide such application to the community consultant; 55 (iv) the community consultant shall notify the commission of all 56 applications and notify the appropriate appointing authorities of their 
 S. 4608 3 1 responsibility to submit appointments for each required community advi- 2 sory committee established pursuant to this section; 3 (v) the community consultant shall ensure the formation of each 4 committee, as necessary; 5 (vi) upon notification, the appointing authority shall appoint their 6 respective appointees; 7 (vii) upon a committee's first meeting the respective appointees shall 8 elect by majority vote a committee chair; 9 (viii) the community consultant shall assign applications to each 10 appropriate committee; 11 (ix) each committee shall review, solicit public comments and written 12 submissions of such comments, and hold public hearings; 13 (x) upon a two-thirds vote, each committee shall issue a finding 14 either establishing public support approving or disapproving the appli- 15 cation. 16 (f) Following a two-thirds vote by the applicable] The community advi- 17 sory committee[, the following shall apply:] shall vote on their respec- 18 tive project by September thirtieth, two thousand twenty-five. 19 [(i)] (e) (i) Upon notification of a finding of [support in] approval, 20 or a finding of disapproval, of an application following a [two-thirds] 21 vote by the appropriate committee, [the community consultant shall noti- 22 fy the applicant, board, and commission;] those applicants approved 23 shall submit supplemental material to the board, including a proposed 24 tax rate. 25 (ii) [following such notification,] Before being eligible for consid- 26 eration by the board, the applicant must comply and receive approval 27 under the applicable state and local zoning requirements[;]. 28 (iii) [the] The board shall not issue a final decision on the applica- 29 tion until the applicant presents evidence of compliance and approval 30 with all necessary state and local zoning requirements. 31 5. The board shall complete a review of all applications that have 32 received approval from the applicable community advisory committee 33 pursuant to subparagraph (i) of paragraph (e) of subdivision three of 34 this section and submit decisions to the commission for the selection of 35 up to three licenses by December first, two thousand twenty-five. 36 6. The commission shall select up to three applicants to receive 37 licenses by December thirty-first, two thousand twenty-five. 38 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.