BILL NUMBER: S8454

SPONSOR: CROCI
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the state finance law, in relation to
the homeless veterans assistance fund

 
PURPOSE:

To require the Division of Veterans Affairs to allocate funding donated
for the purpose of assisting homeless veterans in a timely fashion.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the State Finance Law to require that moneys currently
deposited in the Assistance and Care of Homeless Veterans fund be
expended by December 31, 2019. Further, this bill would require that
moneys received in the future be expended within two years of receipt.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

              

In 2014, NYS established a dedicated fund for the Care and Assistance of
Homeless Veterans. This dedicated fund receives the majority of its
funding from the taxpayers of New York through an optional tax-return
donation program. Taxpayers are given the option of foregoing their
state tax return, and instead having the money deposited in to this
dedicated fund. To date, this fund has $584,614 in unallocated moneys.
Despite the outpouring of public support, no funding has ever been
appropriated since the inception of the program.

It is unfair to the taxpayers of this state who have generously donated
these funds, only to have their money sit unused in the state coffers
when we have veterans in need. It is also unfair to our Homeless Veter-
ans who could benefit greatly through the use of these funds to obtain
stable, safe and secure housing. No veteran deserves to be homeless,
especially when the state has unused funding that has been dedicated for
this purpose.

This bill will ensure that the moneys collected by the state and depos-
ited in this dedicated fund are allocated in a timely fashion, in order
to ensure that our Homeless Veterans are given the assistance they need
and to ensure the continued viability of this dedicated fund.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the State.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.