Senate Bill S8455

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

                                  8455

                            I N  S E N A T E

                              July 29, 2010
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen. PERALTA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules

AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to payment of  winning  lottery
  tickets

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

  Section 1. Section 1614 of the tax law, as amended by chapter  166  of
the laws of 1991, subdivision a as amended by chapter 170 of the laws of
1994, is amended to read as follows:
  S  1614.  Unclaimed and abandoned prize money. a. No prize claim shall
be valid if submitted to the division  following  the  expiration  of  a
one-year  time  period from the date of the drawing or from the close of
the game in which a prize was won, and the person otherwise entitled  to
such  prize shall forfeit any claim or entitlement to such prize moneys.
Unclaimed prize money, plus interest earned thereon, shall  be  retained
in  the lottery prize account to be used for payment of special lotto or
supplemental lotto prizes offered pursuant to the plan or  plans  speci-
fied  in  this  article, or for promotional purposes to supplement other
games on an occasional basis not to  exceed  sixteen  weeks  within  any
twelve  month  period  pursuant  to  the plan or plans specified in this
article.
  NOTWITHSTANDING ANY INCONSISTENT PROVISION OF ANY OTHER LAW,  RULE  OR
REGULATION,  ALL  WINNING  TICKETS VALUED AT SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS OR LESS
PRESENTED FOR PAYMENT WITHIN THE EXPIRATION OF A  ONE-YEAR  TIME  PERIOD
FROM  THE  DATE  OF THE DRAWING OR FROM THE CLOSE OF THE GAME IN WHICH A
PRIZE WAS WON SHALL BE PAID BY THE LOTTERY SALES  AGENT  PRESENTED  WITH
SUCH TICKET.
  In the event that the director proposes to change any plan for the use
of  unclaimed  prize  funds  or in the event the director intends to use
funds in a game other than the game  from  which  such  unclaimed  prize
funds  were  derived, the director of the budget, the chairperson of the
senate finance committee, and the chairperson of the assembly  ways  and
means  committee  shall  be notified in writing separately detailing the
proposed changes to any plan prior to the implementation of the changes.

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

                                                           LBD18027-01-0

S. 8455                             2

  b. The division may determine that a prize has been abandoned whenever
more than eighteen months have elapsed since a prize payment  check  was
mailed  to  the last known address of the claimant and either such check
has been returned undelivered by the United States  postal  service  and
the claimant cannot be located or such check has not been returned unde-
livered  and has not been presented for payment. Any prize so determined
to have been abandoned shall be paid to the state  comptroller  pursuant
to section thirteen hundred fifteen of the abandoned property law.
  S  2.  This  act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
have become a law.