Pending Local and State Equine Legislation

Although the Horse Council is not a lobbying group itself, we do keep a keen eye out for legislation that can help the equine community in part by close involvement with other local organizations such as the Erie and Niagara County Farm Bureaus and the New York Farm Bureau.  We encourage everyone, whether a member or not, to get to know your local and state legislators and to voice your opinion on pending legislation that can positively or adversely affect life with horses in Western New York.  The summary below is provided as a reference to some current legislative actions that may be of interest.

There are three major pieces of legislation introduced in Albany that will benefit NYS horse owners.  The bills, if passed, will result in the establishment of an inherent risk law for equine activities, repeal of sales tax on boarding, and repeal of sales tax on farrier services.  These are crucially important to the equine industry and we urge you to contact your representatives and the bill sponsors and support all of the bills.

The inherent risk bill will legally establish that participants in equine activities accepting that work or play around horses can be dangerous and limits the liability of those sponsoring or leading defined equine activities. The bill formally defines the expectations of those who work in the equine industry with regards to safety and limits their liability in those areas.  This legislation brings NY up to date with 46 other states that have already taken this action and is important to helping revive the equine tourism industry.  We urge you to contact you’re the sponsors and your representatives and support this bill.

The bills to repeal the sales tax on boarding and farrier service are in an excellent position to be passed this year if the equine community is vocally in support of them.  The power is in our hands to reduce taxes on our horse expenses.  Please take the time to call or email your representatives in support of this legislation.

The bills, sponsors, and contact information are summarized in the tables below.  Note that the phone number for Senator Rath in a recent newsletter was unfortunately out of date.  The updated phone number is included below.

Topic	Senate		Contact Information
	Bill #	Sponsor
Inherent Risk	S6821	Catherine Young	518-455-3563 young@senate.state.ny.us
Boarding Sales Tax	S6658	Mary Lou Rath	518-455-3161 rath@senate.state.ny.us
Farrier Sales Tax	S3927A

 

Topic	Assembly		Contact Information
	Bill #	Sponsor
Inherent Risk	None	None	Call your representative.
Boarding Sales Tax	A9770	Sam Hoyt	518-852-2795 hoyts@assembly.state.ny.us
Farrier Sales Tax	A3071A