§ 330 — Agriculture and New York state horse breeding development fund

§ 330. Agriculture and New York state horse breeding development fund.\n1. There is hereby created within the state gaming commission the\n"agriculture and New York state horse breeding development fund". Such\nfund shall be a body corporate and politic constituting a public benefit\ncorporation. It shall be administered by a board of directors consisting\nof the chair of the commission or his or her designee, the commissioner\nof agriculture and markets, and three members appointed by the governor,\nall of whom are experienced or have been actively engaged in the\nbreeding of standardbred horses in New York state, one upon the\nrecommendation of the temporary president of the senate and one upon the\nrecommendation of the speaker of the assembly. The governor shall\ndesignate the chair from among the sitting members of such board of\ndirectors, who shall serve as such at the pleasure of the governor.\nAppointed members shall serve for a term of four years and shall\ncontinue to hold office until their successors are appointed and\nqualified. The members of the board of directors of the fund shall\nreceive no compensation from the fund for their services as such members\nbut shall be reimbursed by the fund for the expenses actually and\nnecessarily they incur in the performance of their duties under sections\ntwo hundred twenty-two through seven hundred five of this chapter. Such\nfund shall have perpetual existence and shall exercise all powers\nauthorized by this chapter and reasonably necessary for accomplishing\nits purposes. Such powers shall be exercised in the name of the fund.\n 2. The board of directors of the fund may delegate to one or more of\nthe members or officers of the fund such powers and duties as it may\ndeem proper and shall use, pursuant to a contract or memorandum of\nunderstanding approved by the director of the budget, the service\nemployees of the commission and the state office of racing promotion and\ndevelopment.\n 3. The fund is created in order that it may promote the breeding of\nhorses and the conduct of equine research in this state on its own\nresponsibility and under its own business management. The policy, good\nfaith and interest of the state are concerned with the management and\ndevelopment of the fund and are committed to promotion of horse breeding\nand equine research in this state in active cooperation with the fund.\nThe promotion and encouragement of equine research shall be through a\nfund of a land grant university within this state with a regents\napproved veterinary college facility. Nothing herein, however, shall be\ndeemed in any way to obligate the state to any bondholder or other\ncreditor of the fund.\n 4. The fund is directed to report annually, on or before January\nthirty-first, to the governor and the legislature, on the state of the\nstandardbred breeding industry in this state. Such reports shall\ninclude, but not be limited to, the impact of the fund's programs on the\nbreeding and racing aspects of the industry; economic factors affecting\nthe industry such as employment and employment growth, state and local\nbenefits of breeding farms, income and the production of income within\nthis state, economic comparisons with other states; and data relative to\nmares and stallions standing in this state to include such information\nas the number in this state, racing quality as measured by wins and\nstakes won and placed and money won, the number of foals and foal racing\nquality as measured by sales value and number of starts, races and money\nwon, the progeny quality, including earnings, and the success of New\nYork-breds nationally.\n 5. The fund is further directed to incorporate into its reports\ncomments from spokesmen representing all segments of the industry as\nwell as recommendations on preserving and enhancing the standardbred\nbreeding industry in this state.\n