S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  7184

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             March 19, 2010
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  SKELOS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection

AN ACT to amend the general business law and the abandoned property law,
  in relation to requiring a  merchant  to  accept  a  gift  certificate
  issued by such merchant as payment for credit extended by the merchant
  to the holder of the gift certificate

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 396-i of the general business law,
as amended by chapter 170 of the laws of 2004, is  amended  to  read  as
follows:
  1.  For  the purposes of this section, "gift certificate" shall mean a
written promise or electronic payment device that: (i) is  usable  at  a
single  merchant or an affiliated group of merchants that share the same
name, mark, or logo, or is usable at multiple, unaffiliated merchants or
service providers; and (ii) is issued in a specified amount;  and  (iii)
may  or may not be increased in value or reloaded; and (iv) is purchased
and/or loaded on a prepaid basis for the future purchase or delivery  of
any  goods  or  services;  and  (v) IF ISSUED BY A SINGLE MERCHANT OR AN
AFFILIATED GROUP OF MERCHANTS THAT SHARE THE SAME NAME,  MARK  OR  LOGO,
MAY  BE  USED  TO PAY DOWN ANY DEBT OWED TO OR ANY CREDIT CARD ISSUED BY
SUCH MERCHANT OR AFFILIATED GROUP OF MERCHANTS; AND (VI) is honored upon
presentation. Gift certificate shall not include an  electronic  payment
device  linked  to a deposit account, or prepaid telephone calling cards
regulated under section ninety-two-f of the  public  service  law.  Gift
certificate  also  shall  not  include flexible spending arrangements as
defined in Section 106(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26  U.S.C.  S
106(c)(2);  flexible  spending  accounts  subject  to Section 125 of the
Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C.  S  125;  Archer  MSAs  as  defined  in
Section 220(d) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. S 220(d); depend-
ent  care  reimbursement accounts subject to Section 129 of the Internal
Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C.  S  129;  health  savings  accounts  subject  to
Section  223(d)  of  the  Internal  Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. S 223(d), as
amended by Section 1201 of the Medicare Prescription Drug,  Improvement,

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                           LBD15369-01-0

S. 7184                             2

and Modernization Act of 2003, Pub. L.  No. 108-173; or similar accounts
from  which,  under the Internal Revenue Code and its implementing regu-
lations, individuals may pay medical  expenses,  health  care  expenses,
dependent  care  expenses,  or  similar expenses on a pretax basis. Gift
certificate also shall not include a prepaid discount  card  or  program
used  to  purchase identified goods or services at a price or percentage
below the normal and customary price; provided that the expiration  date
of  the  prepaid  discount  card or program is clearly and conspicuously
disclosed. Gift certificate also shall  not  include  payroll  cards  or
other  electronic  payment devices which are linked to a deposit account
and which are given in exchange for goods or services rendered.
  S 2. Section 396-i of the general business law is amended by adding  a
new subdivision 3-d to read as follows:
  3-D.  NO  SINGLE  MERCHANT OR AFFILIATED GROUP OF MERCHANTS THAT SHARE
THE SAME NAME, MARK OR LOGO, WHICH ISSUES  GIFT  CERTIFICATES  OR  STORE
CREDITS SHALL IN ANY MANNER RESTRICT THE HOLDER OF A GIFT CERTIFICATE OR
STORE  CREDIT FROM ELECTING TO USE SUCH GIFT CERTIFICATE OR STORE CREDIT
TO PAY DOWN ANY DEBT OWED TO OR ANY CREDIT CARD ISSUED BY SUCH  MERCHANT
OR AFFILIATED GROUP OF MERCHANTS.
  S  3. Subdivision (g) of section 103 of the abandoned property law, as
added by chapter 170 of the laws of 2004, is amended to read as follows:
  (g) "Gift certificate" shall mean  a  written  promise  or  electronic
payment device that: (i) is usable at a single merchant or an affiliated
group of merchants that share the same name, mark, or logo, or is usable
at  multiple,  unaffiliated  merchants or service providers; and (ii) is
issued in a specified amount; and (iii) may or may not be  increased  in
value  or  reloaded;  and  (iv)  is purchased and/or loaded on a prepaid
basis for the future purchase or delivery of any goods or services;  and
(v)  IF  ISSUED BY A SINGLE MERCHANT OR AN AFFILIATED GROUP OF MERCHANTS
THAT SHARE THE SAME NAME, MARK OR LOGO, MAY BE USED TO PAY DOWN ANY DEBT
OWED TO OR CREDIT CARD ISSUED BY SUCH MERCHANT OR  AFFILIATED  GROUP  OF
MERCHANTS; AND (VI) is honored upon presentation. Gift certificate shall
not include an electronic payment device linked to a deposit account, or
prepaid  telephone calling cards regulated under section ninety-two-f of
the public service law. Gift certificate also shall not include flexible
spending arrangements as defined in Section 106(c)(2)  of  the  Internal
Revenue  Code, 26 U.S.C. S 106(c)(2); flexible spending accounts subject
to Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code, 26  U.S.C.  S  125;  Archer
MSAs  as  defined  in  Section  220(d)  of the Internal Revenue Code, 26
U.S.C. S  220(d);  dependent  care  reimbursement  accounts  subject  to
Section  129  of  the  Internal  Revenue  Code,  26 U.S.C. S 129; health
savings accounts subject to Section 223(d) of the Internal Revenue Code,
26 U.S.C.  S  223(d),  as  amended  by  Section  1201  of  the  Medicare
Prescription  Drug,  Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, Pub. L.
No. 108-173; or similar accounts from which, under the Internal  Revenue
Code  and  its  implementing  regulations,  individuals  may pay medical
expenses, health care expenses,  dependent  care  expenses,  or  similar
expenses  on  a  pretax basis. Gift certificate also shall not include a
prepaid discount card or program used to purchase  identified  goods  or
services  at a price or percentage below the normal and customary price;
provided that the expiration  date  of  the  prepaid  discount  card  or
program  is  clearly  and conspicuously disclosed. Gift certificate also
shall not include payroll cards  or  other  electronic  payment  devices
which  are  linked  to a deposit account and which are given in exchange
for goods or services rendered.
  S 4. This act shall take effect immediately.