Bill Text: NY A08461 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Creates a series of distinctive license plates for law enforcement officers who were wounded in the line of duty or the spouse of such, which shall bear the words "Wounded in the Line of Duty"; includes the New York state sheriff's association, New York state association of chiefs of police, police benevolent association of the New York state troopers, the New York state police benevolent association, and the New York city police benevolent association; provides that proceeds from the service charge shall be used for a fund to assist wounded/fallen officers and their families.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-07-17 - print number 8461b [A08461 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A08461-Amended.html

---

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         8461--A

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    December 29, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. GALLAHAN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee  on  Transportation -- recommitted to the Committee on Transporta-
          tion  in  accordance  with  Assembly  Rule  3,  sec.  2  --  committee
          discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
          to said committee

        AN  ACT  to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to creating a
          series of distinctive license plates for law enforcement officers  who
          were wounded in the line of duty

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

     1    Section 1. The vehicle and traffic law is  amended  by  adding  a  new
     2  section 404-ff to read as follows:
     3    §  404-ff. Distinctive plates for New York state law enforcement offi-
     4  cers who were injured in the line of duty.    1.  Any  officer  who  was
     5  wounded  in  the  line  of duty or the spouse of any such officer shall,
     6  upon request, be issued a license plate containing the seal  of  one  of
     7  the  following  five  police  associations: (a) New York state sheriff's
     8  association; (b) New York state association of  chiefs  of  police;  (c)
     9  police  benevolent  association  of the New York state troopers; (d) the
    10  New York state police benevolent association; and (e) the New York  city
    11  police  benevolent  association.  Any  plate issued pursuant to this act
    12  shall bear the words "Wounded in the Line of Duty". For the purposes  of
    13  this section:
    14    i. "Wounded in the line of duty" shall be defined as a law enforcement
    15  officer  who  has sustained personal injury, in the intelligent perform-
    16  ance of duty, inflicted by an assailant  with  a  dangerous  and  deadly
    17  weapon.
    18    ii.  Eligibility  shall be verified by the department who employed the
    19  officer at the time of injury and shall be reviewed by the department.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13807-02-3
        A. 8461--A                          2

     1    iii. If a distinctive plate is issued to  a  law  enforcement  officer
     2  pursuant  to  this section, such a distinctive plate shall not be issued
     3  to the spouse of such officer.
     4    iv.  The  application  for  such license plate shall be filed with the
     5  commissioner in such form and detail as prescribed by the commissioner.
     6    2. The distinctive plate authorized  under  subdivision  one  of  this
     7  section  shall  be  issued upon proof, satisfactory to the commissioner,
     8  that the applicant or the spouse of the applicant is a  law  enforcement
     9  officer who was wounded in the line of duty.
    10    3.    (a) A distinctive plate issued pursuant to this section shall be
    11  issued in the same manner as other number plates under this article upon
    12  the payment of the required registration fee prescribed by section  four
    13  hundred one of this article; provided, however, that an additional annu-
    14  al  service  charge  of  twenty-five  dollars  shall be charged for such
    15  plates.  Such annual service charge shall be deposited pursuant  to  the
    16  provisions of section four hundred four-oo of this article, to the cred-
    17  it  of  the  department  of motor vehicles distinctive plate development
    18  fund established by section ninety-five-g of the state finance law.
    19    (b) Moneys from such deposit shall be used for the production, design,
    20  advertising, and marketing of distinctive  license  plates  pursuant  to
    21  section  ninety-five-g of the state finance law; provided, however, that
    22  annual service charges collected in excess of six  thousand  dollars  be
    23  deposited  to  the  "wounded officers support fund" or "the fund" estab-
    24  lished by section ninety-seven-zzzz of the state finance law.
    25    (c) Moneys from the fund will be directed for purposes  deemed  appro-
    26  priate by the five law enforcement associations as long as the funds are
    27  used  for  the  purpose  of  assisting wounded or fallen law enforcement
    28  officers and their families.
    29    § 2. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section  97-zzzz
    30  to read as follows:
    31    §  97-zzzz.  Wounded officers support fund.  1. There is hereby estab-
    32  lished in the joint custody of the commissioner of taxation and  finance
    33  and  the  comptroller,  a  special  fund  known as the "wounded officers
    34  support fund" or "the fund".
    35    2. Such fund shall consist of all revenues received  pursuant  to  the
    36  provisions  of  section  four hundred four-ff of the vehicle and traffic
    37  law and other moneys appropriated, credited, or transferred thereto from
    38  any other fund or source pursuant to law.
    39    3. Nothing contained in this section  shall  prevent  the  state  from
    40  receiving  grants,  gifts,  or  bequests for the purposes of the fund as
    41  defined in this section and depositing them into the fund  according  to
    42  the law.
    43    4.  Moneys  of  the  fund  shall  be  expended for the sole purpose of
    44  supporting wounded law enforcement officers and their families, as  well
    45  as the families of fallen law enforcement officers. This includes but is
    46  not  limited to providing: medical treatments, mental health counseling,
    47  home accessibility improvements, service animals, transportation  needs,
    48  and funeral services.
    49    5.  Moneys  of  the fund shall be used solely for the wounded officers
    50  support fund and may not be diverted into any general fund.
    51    § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    52  it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition,  amend-
    53  ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
    54  tation  of  this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
    55  completed on or before such effective date.