Senate Bill S454A

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  454--A
     Cal. No. 393
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (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:
 
   Section  1.  Paragraph  (a)  of  subdivision 1-a of section 148 of the
 general municipal law, as amended by chapter 29 of the laws of 2016,  is
 amended to read as follows:
   (a)  Notwithstanding  any other provision of this section, in the case
 of a veteran, as defined in section  [forty-two  hundred  three  of  the
 public health law] ONE OF THE VETERANS' SERVICES LAW, OR WHO HAS A QUAL-
 IFYING CONDITION AS DEFINED IN SECTION ONE OF THE VETERANS' SERVICES LAW
 AND  HAS RECEIVED A DISCHARGE OTHER THAN BAD CONDUCT OR DISHONORABLE, OR
 IS A DISCHARGED LGBT VETERAN AS DEFINED IN SECTION ONE OF THE  VETERANS'
 SERVICES  LAW  AND  HAS  RECEIVED  A DISCHARGE OTHER THAN BAD CONDUCT OR
 DISHONORABLE, who died in a county or the city of New  York  leaving  no
 funds or insurance sufficient to pay funeral and burial expenses of such
 veteran  and  such veteran has no next of kin or person of record previ-
 ously designated to control his or her  final  disposition  pursuant  to
 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
 
 county or the city of New York [may]  SHALL  request  a  congressionally
 chartered  veterans'  organization  within the county or the city of New
 York where the decedent resided at the time  of  death,  to  engage  the
 services of a funeral firm to conduct the funeral and burial services.
   §  2.  Section  4 of the veterans' services law is amended by adding a
 new subdivision 38 to read as follows:
   38. TO DEVELOP AN APPLICATION PROCESS  FOR  CONGRESSIONALLY  CHARTERED
 VETERANS'  ORGANIZATIONS  TO  RECEIVE  REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS ASSOCIATED
 WITH FUNERAL AND BURIAL  SERVICES  FOR  INDIGENT  VETERANS  PURSUANT  TO
 SUBDIVISION  ONE-A  OF  SECTION  ONE  HUNDRED FORTY-EIGHT OF THE GENERAL
 MUNICIPAL LAW. THE  APPLICATION  SHALL  CONTAIN  INFORMATION  ABOUT  THE
 FUNERAL FIRM WHOSE SERVICES WERE ENGAGED PURSUANT TO SECTION ONE HUNDRED
 FORTY-EIGHT  OF THE GENERAL MUNICIPAL LAW AND ANY OTHER INFORMATION THAT
 THE DEPARTMENT MAY REQUIRE. THE APPLICATION MUST BE SIGNED AND DATED  BY
 THE SUPERVISING FUNERAL DIRECTOR.
   §  3. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.