Bill Text: NY S00454 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Directs counties and the city of New York to contact a veterans' organization to provide for the disposition of the unclaimed remains of a deceased veteran when such veteran has no next of kin or other person designated to provide for the disposition of his or her remains; provides process.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2023-11-10 - SIGNED CHAP.620 [S00454 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S00454-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         454--A
            Cal. No. 393

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 4, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sens. GIANARIS, ADDABBO, FELDER, HELMING, LANZA, WEIK --
          read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to  be  committed  to
          the  Committee  on Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs --
          reported favorably from said committee, ordered to  first  and  second
          report,  ordered to a third reading, passed by Senate and delivered to
          the Assembly, recalled, vote reconsidered, restored to third  reading,
          amended  and  ordered  reprinted,  retaining its place in the order of
          third reading

        AN ACT to amend the general municipal law  and  the  veterans'  services
          law,  in  relation  to  directing counties and the city of New York to
          request a congressionally chartered veterans' organization to  arrange
          for  the  funeral  and burial of a deceased veteran who has no next of
          kin or other person to make such arrangements

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

     1    Section  1.  Paragraph  (a)  of  subdivision 1-a of section 148 of the
     2  general municipal law, as amended by chapter 29 of the laws of 2016,  is
     3  amended to read as follows:
     4    (a)  Notwithstanding  any other provision of this section, in the case
     5  of a veteran, as defined in section  [forty-two  hundred  three  of  the
     6  public health law] one of the veterans' services law, or who has a qual-
     7  ifying condition as defined in section one of the veterans' services law
     8  and  has received a discharge other than bad conduct or dishonorable, or
     9  is a discharged LGBT veteran as defined in section one of the  veterans'
    10  services  law  and  has  received  a discharge other than bad conduct or
    11  dishonorable, who died in a county or the city of New  York  leaving  no
    12  funds or insurance sufficient to pay funeral and burial expenses of such
    13  veteran  and  such veteran has no next of kin or person of record previ-
    14  ously designated to control his or her  final  disposition  pursuant  to
    15  section  four  thousand  two  hundred one of the public health law, such

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02695-04-3
        S. 454--A                           2

     1  county or the city of New York [may]  shall  request  a  congressionally
     2  chartered  veterans'  organization  within the county or the city of New
     3  York where the decedent resided at the time  of  death,  to  engage  the
     4  services of a funeral firm to conduct the funeral and burial services.
     5    §  2.  Section  4 of the veterans' services law is amended by adding a
     6  new subdivision 38 to read as follows:
     7    38. To develop an application process  for  congressionally  chartered
     8  veterans'  organizations  to  receive  reimbursement of costs associated
     9  with funeral and burial  services  for  indigent  veterans  pursuant  to
    10  subdivision  one-a  of  section  one  hundred forty-eight of the general
    11  municipal law. The  application  shall  contain  information  about  the
    12  funeral firm whose services were engaged pursuant to section one hundred
    13  forty-eight  of the general municipal law and any other information that
    14  the department may require. The application must be signed and dated  by
    15  the supervising funeral director.
    16    §  3. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
    17  ing the date on which it shall have become a law.