Bill Text: NY S05416 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Relates to certificates of honorable separation from or service in the armed forces of the United States; provides that such certificates shall be forwarded to the appropriate local veterans' service agency within 60 days of receipt.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO VETERANS, HOMELAND SECURITY AND MILITARY AFFAIRS [S05416 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S05416-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          5416

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                      March 3, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sen. SCARCELLA-SPANTON -- read twice and ordered printed,
          and when printed to be committed to the Committee on  Veterans,  Home-
          land Security and Military Affairs

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the veterans' services law, the military law and the
          civil rights law, in relation to certificates of honorable  separation
          from or service in the armed forces of the United States

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

     1    Section 1. Section 4 of the  veterans'  services  law  is  amended  by
     2  adding a new subdivision 38 to read as follows:
     3    38.  To receive a certificate of release or discharge from active duty
     4  which was issued by the United States government and  delivered  to  the
     5  department,  and  shall  forward  such  certificate within sixty days of
     6  receipt to the appropriate local veterans' service  agency,  based  upon
     7  the  mailing  address  after  separation noted on such certificate. Such
     8  transmission may be made electronically. Information contained  in  such
     9  certificates  shall  be  protected  as personal confidential information
    10  under article six-A of the public officers  law  against  disclosure  of
    11  confidential material, and used only for information and assistance with
    12  regards to state benefits and entitlements under federal and state law.
    13    § 2. Section 250 of the military law, as amended by chapter 298 of the
    14  laws of 2005, is amended to read as follows:
    15    § 250. Recording  certificates of honorable discharge. Any certificate
    16  issued after April sixth, nineteen hundred seventeen, of  the  honorable
    17  separation  from  or service in the armed forces of the United States of
    18  any veteran, may be recorded in any one county, in  the  office  of  the
    19  county clerk, and when so recorded shall constitute notice to all public
    20  officials  of  the  facts set forth therein. It shall be the duty of the
    21  county clerk to record the certificate upon presentation thereof without
    22  the payment of any fee. For any purpose for which the  original  certif-
    23  icate  may be required in the state of New York, a certified copy of the

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02904-01-3

        S. 5416                             2

     1  record shall be deemed sufficient and shall be accepted in lieu thereof.
     2  Notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of law, it shall be the duty
     3  of the county clerk of each county, to furnish  without  charge  to  any
     4  veteran,  or parent, spouse, dependent or child of the veteran, a certi-
     5  fied copy of the certificate of the veteran so recorded in the office of
     6  the county clerk. No filed  certificate  or  any  information  contained
     7  therein,  shall be disclosed to any person except the veteran or parent,
     8  spouse, dependent or child of the veteran, representative of the  estate
     9  of the deceased veteran, an authorized representative of a funeral firm,
    10  as  defined  in  section  thirty-four  hundred of the public health law,
    11  which assists with the burial of a veteran, or a public official, acting
    12  within the scope of his or her employment,  unless  such  disclosure  is
    13  authorized  in  writing  by  the veteran. The provisions of this section
    14  also apply to the counties within the city of New York.
    15    § 3. Section 79-g of the civil rights law is amended by adding  a  new
    16  subdivision c to read as follows:
    17    c. Notwithstanding any provision in this section to the contrary, such
    18  certificate shall be made available for public inspection and copying in
    19  accordance  with  the archival schedule adopted by the national archives
    20  and record administration (NARA) together with the United States depart-
    21  ment of defense (DOD), signed on July eighth, two thousand eight, making
    22  the official military personnel files permanent records  of  the  United
    23  States. Such schedule mandates the legal transfer of such files from DOD
    24  ownership  to  NARA ownership sixty-two years after the service member's
    25  separation from the military.
    26    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately; provided,  however,  that
    27  section  two  of this act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth
    28  day after it shall have become a law.  Effective immediately, the  addi-
    29  tion,  amendment and/or repeal of any rules or regulations necessary for
    30  the implementation of this act on its effective date are  authorized  to
    31  be made and completed on or before such effective date.
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