Senate Bill S3781

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S3781A

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend chapter 122 of the laws of 2000, amending the
environmental conservation law relating to authorizing sweepstakes
with respect to subscriptions to "The Conservationist", in relation to
the effectiveness thereof

 PURPOSE OF THE BILL :
The purpose of this bill is to extend the sunset provision related to
the authority of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to
conduct sweepstakes to increase the number of The Conservationist
(Conservationist) magazine subscribers.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS ;
Section 1 of this bill amends Chapter 122 of the Laws of 2000 to
extend until August 1, 2012 the expiration date of Environmental
Conservation Law (ECL) §3-0301(2)(y), which authorizes DEC to engage
in sweepstakes or contests intended to stabilize, improve or otherwise
increase the subscriber base of the Conservationist magazine.

Section 2 of this bill provides for an immediate effective date.

 EXISTING LAW :
DEC currently has authority to conduct sweepstakes under ECL
§3-0301(2)(y); however, pursuant to Chapter 122 of the laws of 2000,
              

this authority expires on August 1, 2009.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :
DEC was originally granted authority to engage in sweepstakes to
increase the subscribers of the Conservationist magazine in 1995
(Chapter 548 of the Laws of 1995). This authority expired on August 1,
1999. Chapter 122 of the Laws of 2000 granted this authority until
August 1, 2003. Chapter 304 of the Laws of 2003 and Chapter 269 of the
Laws of 2006 extended this authority until August 1, 2006 and August
1, 2009, respectively.

 STATEMENT IN SUPPORT :
Promotion and marketing is an integral component of the magazine
industry. In the absence of efforts to replace lost subscribers, a
magazine would cease to exist in a matter of years. Although the
renewal rate for the Conservationist has been the envy of many other
state agencies that sponsor similar publications, DEC must replace
approximately 19,000 subscribers each year to maintain the magazine's
current subscriber base. It makes good business sense to get the
highest return rates possible from recurring marketing efforts.
Conducting sweepstakes, under the authority of this legislation, would
allow DEC to continue to achieve high return rates through its
marketing efforts.

DEC conducted sweepstakes from February 1996 through May 1997 and
during the period from March 2006 through July 2006, which generated
increased renewal rates. Through efforts at outdoor shows and the New
York State Fair, DEC has demonstrated that offering sweepstakes/prize
drawings increases the response rate for new subscribers as well as
for renewing subscribers. Although it is hard to directly attribute
any specific promotional performance to sweepstakes alone, the overall
renewal rate from all sources in 1996 increased by 6.0% over 1995 and
in 2006 the renewal rate increased by 7.7% over 2005.

DEC's marketing consultant, with more than 30 years in the business,
has conducted marketing research which demonstrated that no other
single marketing technique works as well as sweepstakes to increase
renewal and new subscriber response rates. Therefore, DEC wants to
ensure that it will continue to have the authority to conduct
sweepstakes with respect to the Conservationist.
 BUDGET IMPLICATIONS :
This bill will have no negative fiscal impacts to the State, and
sweepstakes activities can be addressed with existing staff resources.
DEC anticipates that holding a sweepstakes may result in approximately
10,000 new subscribers to the Conservationist, and a concomitant
increase in revenue of $100,000 to the Conservationist magazine SRO.
In addition, sweepstakes may increase the renewal rates of current
subscribers.

 EFFECTIVE DATE ;
This bill takes effect upon enactment.