Bill Text: NY A08194 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Establishes a temporary relocation assistance for asylum seekers fund to assist certain localities with a significant number of asylum seekers in providing services including healthcare, housing, free and/or subsidized legal services for low-income individuals, education and language services, free and/or subsidized child care programs, and job training and trade certificate programs.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to ways and means [A08194 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A08194-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          8194

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    October 27, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. SEPTIMO -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Ways and Means

        AN ACT to amend the state finance law, in  relation  to  establishing  a
          fund  to  support  localities  which  voluntarily  shelter and provide
          direct services to a significant population of  newly  arrived  asylum
          seekers

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  The state finance law is amended by adding a new  section
     2  98-e to read as follows:
     3    §  98-e.  Temporary  relocation assistance for asylum seekers fund. 1.
     4  There is hereby established in the joint custody of the comptroller  and
     5  the  commissioner  of taxation and finance a special fund to be known as
     6  the temporary relocation assistance for asylum seekers fund.
     7    2. Such fund shall consist of all moneys appropriated for the purposes
     8  of such fund, all other moneys required to be paid into or  credited  to
     9  such  fund,  and all moneys received by the fund or donated to it by any
    10  source. Any funds expended  by  a  locality  for  services  or  programs
    11  supporting the newly arrived asylum seekers as set forth in this section
    12  shall  be  matched  up  to  two hundred percent by the state. Out of any
    13  federal funds received by the state for such purposes, expenditures by a
    14  local government shall be matched up to three hundred percent.
    15    3. (a) The purpose of the fund shall be to support counties and  other
    16  municipalities    with  a significant population of newly arrived asylum
    17  seekers with providing direct services  to  such  individuals.  For  the
    18  purposes of this section, "significant population" shall mean five thou-
    19  sand  asylum  seekers  for a county or municipality with a population of
    20  over one million, and a number of asylum seekers which is at  least  two
    21  percent of the population for any other county or municipality.
    22    (b) For the purposes of this section "direct services" shall  include,
    23  but  are  not  limited  to:  healthcare, housing, free and/or subsidized

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13337-01-3
        A. 8194                             2

     1  legal  services  for  low-income  individuals,  education  and  language
     2  services  such  as  English  as  a  second language (ESL) classes, adult
     3  continuing education  programs  including  General  Equivalency  Diploma
     4  (GED)  instruction,  free and/or subsidized child care programs, and job
     5  training and trade certificate programs.
     6    (c) Services are not required  to  be  limited  exclusively  to  newly
     7  arrived asylum seekers; provided that the majority of the services which
     8  are  funded  under  this  section  shall  be  provided directly to newly
     9  arrived asylum seekers.
    10    (d) To be eligible for funds under this section,  localities  may  not
    11  impose  any limits or conditions, including age, on asylum seekers which
    12  are accepted and served by such locality.
    13    4. Upon the conclusion of any programs or services provided by a coun-
    14  ty or municipality to asylum seekers, any remaining monies in  the  fund
    15  may  be  applied  to  reduce any indebtedness or obligations incurred to
    16  effectuate the purposes of this section.
    17    5. For the purposes of this section "asylum seeker" shall refer to  an
    18  individual  who  changes their country of usual residence to seek tempo-
    19  rary or permanent residence in another country, and who has applied  for
    20  asylum  under  8  U.S.  Code § 1158 or is eligible to apply; or who is a
    21  refugee as defined by section 101(a)(42) of the Immigration and  Nation-
    22  ality Act (INA).
    23    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.