New NY laws include tax break

New NY laws include tax break

	Published : Mon, 31 Dec 2007 20:15 By : Agencies Print this Story

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - It just got harder for New Yorkers to get stuck with unaffordable mortgages and trapped in waylaid planes on tarmacs. It's also now easier for some to pay their property taxes and for people to play bingo without facing a misdemeanor charge.

Yes, New York laws taking effect Jan. 1 include the deregulation of free bingo.

Beginning in 2008, running a free bingo game at senior centers, schools, offices, schools and at home will no longer be a crime punishable by as much as a year in jail. Operators of low-stakes bingo games, in which there is no fee to play, will no longer be subject to licensing backed up by the misdemeanor. The licensing requirements still apply to anyone running bingo for profit or proceeds.

For children born on or after Jan. 1, a new law means they'll have to be immunized against pneumococcal disease, also known as pneumonia, before they enroll in a public or private school, day care center or nursery school.

Other laws approved by the Senate, Assembly and Gov. Eliot Spitzer that take effect Jan. 1 include:

--Tax rebates totaling $1 billion and worth from a few hundred to several hundred dollars each, depending on tax bills and regions. This is the second year of a tax rebate program.

'You ask any homeowner where our number one priority should be focused, and they will tell you it is reducing the crushing burden of high property taxes in New York State,' said Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, whose chamber pushed for the bill.

--An airline passenger bill of rights, the first in the nation and likely a model for other states. The law followed a series of delays last winter John F. Kennedy International Airport left some passengers stranded on the tarmac for more than 10 hours with no food or water, overflowing toilets and no air conditioning.

The new law requires airlines to provide food, water, clean toilets and fresh air to passengers stuck on the ground for more than three hours. The airline industry lost a challenge to the law in court this month.

The law also creates an Office of Airline Consumer Advocate to help address passenger complaints. Violations could cost an airline $1,000 per passenger.

'New York is home to some of the world's busiest airports, and in enacting this new law, we have taken the lead in protecting the rights of passengers,' said Sen. Charles Fuschillo, a Long Island Republican who co-sponsored the bill.

--Measures to improve the oversight of the mortgage industry. The law sets standards to better track unscrupulous individuals who move from company to company, leaving borrowers with unaffordable mortgages.

--Standards for the licensing and certification of real estate appraisers. The measure also requires continuing education of these professionals who establish the value of homes and greatly affect how much a prospective homeowner must borrow.