§ 168. Inter-agency tourism task force. (a) There is hereby
established an inter-agency tourism task force consisting of the
following members:

(1) the commissioner or his or her designated representative from the
department and the departments of transportation, parks, recreation and
historic preservation, environmental conservation, agriculture and
markets, and health;

(2) the chairman or his or her designated representative of the New
York state thruway authority, the New York power authority, and the
tourism advisory council, the New York state council on the arts, the
canal corporation, the canal recreationway commission, the Olympic
regional development authority, and the Hudson River park trust;

(3) the chairpersons or their designated representatives of the senate
standing committee on tourism, recreation and sports development, and
the assembly standing committee on tourism, arts and sports development,
who shall serve as ex-officio, non-voting members; and

(4) upon designation by the governor, the chief executive officer or
his or her designated representative of any department, board, bureau,
commission, office, agency, or other instrumentality of the state
providing services or programs for travelers, travel-related businesses
or other public bodies which operate a travel-related program.

(b) The chairman of the task force shall be the commissioner. The
members of the task force may elect such other officers as they may deem
necessary.

(c) The task force shall meet at least four times each year at the
call of the chairman.

(d) Members of the task force shall receive no compensation for their
services as members, but shall be compensated for their actual and
necessary expenses by warrant of the comptroller and voucher of their
department, agency, authority or council.

(e) The task force shall:

(1) receive the report of each member on programs and services
provided to the traveling public, travel-related businesses and other
public bodies providing services or programs for travelers, and evaluate
such reports to determine opportunities for coordination of efforts,
prevention of duplication of services, and sharing of resources;

(2) evaluate and recommend to the governor and the legislature
initiatives to enhance or facilitate the effectiveness of current or
planned state traveler services or tourism marketing programs;

(3) evaluate and make recommendations to prevent overlapping of
promotion efforts and programs;

(4) submit not more than two weeks after each meeting copies of the
meeting minutes to each member of the inter-agency tourism task force
including ex-officio, non-voting members; and

(5) report on or before January first of each year to the governor,
the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, and
the chairman of the appropriate legislative committees on the activities
of the task force with respect to its functions, powers and duties.