Senate Bill S1558

2011-2012 Legislative Session

Provides additional opportunity for new registrant by mail to indicate choice of party enrollment where original choice omitted

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Elections Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 04, 2012	referred to elections
Jan 10, 2011	referred to elections

2011-S1558 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A5901
Current Committee:: Senate Elections
Law Section:: Election Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§5-210 & 5-302, El L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2009-2010: S3995, A8349
2013-2014: S2543, A2040
2015-2016: A5714

2011-S1558 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides additional opportunity for new registrant by mail to indicate choice of party enrollment where original choice was omitted or void, by requiring board of elections to notify registrant of ineffective enrollment and ineligibility to vote in a party primary and providing a place for the registrant to enroll or decline to enroll in a party by mail.

2011-S1558 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S1558

TITLE  OF  BILL:   An act to amend the real property tax law and the tax
law, in relation to reinstating the "Middle Class STAR" rebate program

PURPOSE:

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:   This bill would  reinstate  the  "Middle  Class
STAR" rebate program.

Section  1  adds  a  new  Real Property Tax Law Section 1306-b, entitled
"Middle Class STAR" rebate program. This  section  provides  that  if  a
parcel  is  entitled  to  the  enhanced  STAR exemption pursuant to RPTL
section 425 for the 2013-2014 school year and thereafter, a  local  real
property  tax  rebate  shall  be provided to the owner or owners of such
parcel. In addition, this section provides that if a parcel is  Entitled
to  the  basic  STAR  exemption  pursuant  to  RPTL  section 425 for the
2014-2015; school year and thereafter, a local real property tax  rebate
shall  be  provided  to  the owner or owners of such parcel. The section
sets forth the process by which such rebate shall be determined.

The "Middle Class STAR" rebate program provides rebate checks to  eligi-
ble  star  recipients  utilizing  three  income brackets. Senior rebates
checks based on the senior STAR exemption eligibility are already income
based and do not utilize any income brackets.

For the downstate counties including Nassau,  Suffolk,  Rockland,  West-
chester, Putnam, Orange, Duchess, and New York. City, the income bracket
shall be as follows:

Income Bracket One   Income Bracket Two     Income Bracket Three
$0 - $120,000        $120,001 - $175,000    $175,001 - $250,000

For the rest of State the following income brackets would be utilized:

Income Bracket One   Income Bracket Two     Income Bracket Three
$0 - $90,000          $90,001 - $150,000      $150,001 - $250,000

Section 2 adds a new Tax law section 178 entitled "Middle Class STAR"
rebate program. The section sets forth the mechanism by which
the Department of taxation shall issue STAR Rebate checks to those
entitled to receive such checks.

Section 3 adds a new subsection n-1 to section 606 of the Tax Law to
allow for a property tax credit in any year when there is no
appropriation for the payment of "Middle Class STAR" rebate checks,
eligible recipients shall be provided an advanced credit in an equal
amount to their respective middle class star rebate check.

Section 4 provides that this act shall take effect immediately.

JUSTIFICATION:
Real property taxes are a serious burden for many homeowners, from
young families to senior citizens. School taxes represent a
substantial portion of the property taxes that homeowners pay. The
Legislature has provided increasing state aid to school districts year
after year, but school property taxes seem to rise anyway. Five years
ago, the Legislature gave additional assistance to hard-pressed
homeowners through the STAR Rebate program. The STAR Rebate program
was discontinued in the SFY 2009-10 Budget, but this is an important
program that gives help to homeowners who are struggling to pay
local property taxes. With homeowners also facing difficulties keeping
their homes because of the current troubled economy, it is more
important than ever to maintain the STAR Rebate Program.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2012 S.7447

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Enactment of this legislation would cost the State $202 million
dollars in the 2012-13 State fiscal year.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2011-S1558 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  1558

                       2011-2012 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 10, 2011
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen. ADDABBO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections

AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to failure of  new  regis-
  trants to enroll

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Subdivision 9 of section 5-210  of  the  election  law,  as
amended  by  chapter  179  of  the  laws  of 2005, is amended to read as
follows:
  9. The county board of elections shall, promptly and in any event, not
later than twenty-one days after receipt by it of the application, veri-
fy the identity of the applicant. In order to do so, the county board of
elections shall utilize the information provided in the application  and
shall  attempt  to verify such information with the information provided
by the department of motor vehicles, social security administration  and
any  other  lawful  available information source. If the county board of
elections is unable to verify the identity of the applicant within twen-
ty-one days of the receipt of the application, it shall immediately take
steps to confirm that the information  provided  by  the  applicant  was
accurately  utilized  by  such county board of elections, was accurately
verified with other information sources and that no data entry error, or
other similar type of  error,  occurred.  Following  completion  of  the
preceding  steps,  the county board of elections shall mail (a) a notice
of its approval, (b) a notice of its approval which  includes  an  indi-
cation  that  such board has not yet been able to verify the identity of
the applicant and a request for more information so that such  verifica-
tion  may be completed, or (c) a notice of its rejection of the applica-
tion to the  applicant  in  a  form  approved  by  the  state  board  of
elections.  Notices  of  approval, notices of approval with requests for
more information or notices of rejection shall be sent by nonforwardable
first class [or] return postage guaranteed mail  on  which  is  endorsed

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD00806-01-1

S. 1558                             2

"ADDRESS  CORRECTION  REQUESTED"  and  which contains a request that any
such mail received for persons not residing at the  address  be  dropped
back  in  the  mail.  The  voter's  registration and enrollment shall be
complete upon receipt of the application by the appropriate county board
of  elections.  The  failure of a county board of elections to verify an
applicant's identity shall not be the  basis  for  the  rejection  of  a
voter's  application,  provided, however, that such verification failure
shall be the basis for requiring county board of elections to  take  the
additional verification steps provided by this chapter. The notice shall
also advise the registrant of the date when his registration and enroll-
ment is effective, of the date and the hours of the next regularly sche-
duled  primary or general election in which he will be eligible to vote,
of the location of the polling place of the election district  in  which
he is or will be a qualified voter, whether such polling place is acces-
sible  to  physically  handicapped voters, an indication that physically
handicapped voters or voters who are ill or voters who will  be  out  of
the  city  or  county on the day of the primary or general election, may
obtain an absentee ballot and the phone  number  to  call  for  absentee
ballot  applications,  the phone numbers to call for location of polling
places, to obtain registration forms and the phone  number  to  call  to
indicate  that  the  voter  is  willing  to  serve on election day as an
inspector, poll clerk or interpreter. The notice of approval, notice  of
approval  with request for more information or notice of rejection shall
also advise the applicant to notify the board of elections if  there  is
any  inaccuracy.  SUCH  NOTICE  SHALL  INCLUDE  A STATEMENT OF THE PARTY
ENROLLMENT OF THE REGISTRANT, OR, IF NO PARTY WAS SELECTED BY THE REGIS-
TRANT, A STATEMENT THAT THE REGISTRANT DID NOT ENROLL IN A PARTY AND  IS
NOT  ELIGIBLE  TO VOTE IN A PARTY PRIMARY ELECTION, AND, INSTRUCTIONS ON
HOW TO ENROLL IN A PARTY. The form of such mail  notification  shall  be
prescribed  by the state board of elections and shall contain such other
information and instructions as it may reasonably require to  carry  out
the  purposes  of  this  section. The request for more information shall
inform the voter that "THE FAILURE TO CONTACT THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS AND
CORRECT ANY INACCURACIES IN THE APPLICATION OR PROVIDE  REQUESTED  ADDI-
TIONAL  INFORMATION  MAY  RESULT  IN A REQUEST FOR IDENTIFICATION AT THE
POLLS IN ORDER TO CAST A VOTE ON A VOTING MACHINE." If  such  notice  is
returned  undelivered  without  a new address, the board shall forthwith
send such applicant a confirmation notice pursuant to the provisions  of
section  5-712  of  this  article  and  place such applicant in inactive
status. The state board of elections shall prepare  uniform  notices  by
this  section  as  provided for in subdivision eight of section 3-102 of
this chapter.
  S 2. Subdivision 3 of section 5-302 of the election law, as amended by
chapter 659 of the laws of 1994, is amended to read as follows:
  3. If marks are found in more than one of the boxes or circles  or  if
no  marks  are  found  in any of the boxes or circles of any application
form, the voter who used the application form shall be deemed not to  be
enrolled,  and  the  words  blank  or void shall be entered in the space
reserved on his registration poll record for the  name  of  a  political
party  or in the computer files from which the computer generated regis-
tration lists are prepared. However if such application form sets  forth
the  address  of  prior registration and such prior registration had not
been previously cancelled, the party enrollment, if any, which  is  part
of such prior registration shall be entered in such space on such regis-
tration  poll  record  or  in such computer files.  IF A NEW APPLICATION
FORM DOES NOT CONTAIN A MARK FOR A PARTY ENROLLMENT, BUT, NO LATER  THAN

S. 1558                             3

THIRTY  DAYS  AFTER  THE REGISTRANT WAS SENT NOTICE OF THE LACK OF PARTY
ENROLLMENT AS REQUIRED BY SUBDIVISION NINE  OF  SECTION  5-210  OF  THIS
TITLE  AND  AT  LEAST  TWENTY-FIVE  DAYS  BEFORE A PRIMARY ELECTION, THE
REGISTRANT MAKES A PARTY ENROLLMENT CHOICE ON THE CARD PROVIDED WITH THE
NOTICE,  SIGNS  THE  AFFIRMATION  CONTAINED  THEREIN AND MAILS IT TO THE
BOARD OF ELECTIONS, THEN THE REGISTRANT'S PARTY ENROLLMENT SHALL NOT  BE
DEEMED  TO  BE A CHANGE OF ENROLLMENT AND SHALL BE EFFECTIVE ON THE DATE
IT IS RECEIVED BY THE COUNTY BOARD  OF  ELECTIONS.  A  PARTY  ENROLLMENT
MAILED  MORE THAN THIRTY DAYS AFTER MAILING OF THE NOTICE OF THE LACK OF
ENROLLMENT SHALL BE DEEMED TO BE A CHANGE OF ENROLLMENT.
  S 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
have become a law.

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Senate Bill S1558

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Elections Committee

Actions

2011-S1558 (ACTIVE) - Details

2011-S1558 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2011-S1558 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2011-S1558 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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Senate Bill S1558

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Sponsored By

Joseph P. Addabbo Jr.

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Elections Committee

Actions

2011-S1558 (ACTIVE) - Details

2011-S1558 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2011-S1558 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2011-S1558 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments