S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
6538
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
March 5, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SCHIAVONI -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs
AN ACT to amend the county law, the labor law, the mental hygiene law,
the military law, the public health law and the real property tax law,
in relation to changing references to the name of the division of
veterans' services to the department of veterans' services
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 10 of section 677 of the coun-
ty law, as added by chapter 95 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) The coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner shall report
to the [division] DEPARTMENT of veterans' services, in a form, and time
frame developed by the department of health in a manner that is protec-
tive of privacy and contains aggregate, rather than individual data to
the extent practicable, any death which appears to be caused by suicide
by a person who, to the knowledge of the coroner, coroner's physician or
medical examiner, is a veteran.
§ 2. Section 201-h of the labor law, as added by chapter 584 of the
laws of 2022, is amended to read as follows:
§ 201-h. Posting of veterans' benefits and services. 1. The department
shall consult with the [division] DEPARTMENT of veterans' services to
create and distribute a veterans' benefits and services poster.
2. Such poster shall, at a minimum, include information regarding the
following services available to veterans:
a. contact and website information for the [division] DEPARTMENT of
veterans' services and the [department's] DEPARTMENT OF LABOR'S veter-
ans' program;
b. substance abuse and mental health treatment;
c. educational, workforce, and training resources;
d. tax benefits;
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10556-01-5
A. 6538 2
e. New York state veteran drivers' licenses and non-driver identifica-
tion cards;
f. eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits under state and/or
federal law;
g. legal services; and
h. contact information for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Crisis Line.
3. Every employer in the state with more than fifty full-time equiv-
alent employees shall display the poster created pursuant to this
section in a conspicuous place accessible to employees in the workplace.
§ 3. Subdivision (a) of section 33.27 of the mental hygiene law as
separately amended by chapters 517 and 522 of the laws of 2022, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) There is hereby established the office of the independent
substance use disorder and mental health ombudsman program that will be
operated or selected by the office of addiction services and supports,
in consultation with the office of mental health for the purpose of
assisting individuals with a substance use disorder and/or mental
illness to ensure that they receive appropriate health insurance cover-
age. The office of addiction services and supports in consultation with
the office of mental health shall provide annual outreach services to
other state and local entities, including but not limited to the [divi-
sion] DEPARTMENT of veterans' services, the office for people with
developmental disabilities, the office of children and family services,
the department of corrections, or providers contracted by such agencies
to provide assistance to the impacted populations to make them aware of
the independent substance use disorder and mental health ombudsman
program and the assistance they provide.
§ 4. Subdivisions 1-d and 1-e of section 247 of the military law,
subdivision 1-d as added by chapter 582 of the laws of 2022 and subdivi-
sion 1-e as added by chapter 583 of the laws of 2022 and separately
renumbered by chapters 609 and 610 of the laws of 2023, are amended to
read as follows:
1-d. The governor is hereby authorized to present in the name of the
legislature of the state of New York, a medal, to be known as the "New
York State Vietnam War Commemorative Medal", bearing a suitable
inscription, to any person: (i) who is a resident of the state of New
York; or (ii) who was a resident of the state of New York while serving
in the armed forces of the United States; (iii) who served in the United
States Armed Forces, defined as army, air force, navy, marine corps, or
coast guard, or the organized militia defined as the army national
guard, the air national guard, the New York naval militia, or the New
York guard, on active duty abroad in Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia,
or in the contiguous waters or air space thereof during the period of
time from November first, nineteen hundred fifty-five through May
seventh, nineteen hundred seventy-five; and (iv) who was honorably
discharged or released under honorable circumstances or who has a quali-
fying condition, as defined in section [three hundred fifty] ONE of the
[executive] VETERANS' SERVICES law, and received a discharge other than
bad conduct or dishonorable discharge, or is a discharged LGBT veteran,
as defined in section [three hundred fifty] ONE of the [executive]
VETERANS' SERVICES law, and received a discharge other than bad conduct
or dishonorable discharge. No person shall receive more than one New
York State Vietnam War Commemorative Medal. In the event of the death of
any eligible person prior to the receipt of such commemorative medal,
such commemorative medal shall be presented to the designated represen-
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tative of the deceased. The adjutant general, in consultation with the
director of the [division] DEPARTMENT of veterans' services, shall make
such rules and regulations as may be deemed necessary for the proper
presentation and distribution of such medals.
1-e. The governor is hereby authorized to present in the name of the
legislature of the state of New York, a medal, to be known as the "New
York State Korean War Commemorative Medal", bearing a suitable
inscription, to any person: (i) who is a resident of the state of New
York, or (ii) who was a resident of the state of New York while serving
in the armed forces of the United States; (iii) who served in the United
States Armed Forces, defined as army, air force, navy, marine corps, or
coast guard, or the organized militia defined as the army national
guard, the air national guard, the New York naval militia or the New
York guard, on active duty on the Korean peninsula, its contiguous
waters, or its airspace in the Korean War defined as the period of time
from June twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred fifty through January thir-
ty-first, nineteen hundred fifty-five; and (iv) who was honorably
discharged or released under honorable circumstances or who has a quali-
fying condition, as defined in section [three hundred fifty] ONE of the
[executive] VETERANS' SERVICES law, and received a discharge other than
bad conduct or dishonorable discharge, or is a discharged LGBT veteran,
as defined in section [three hundred fifty] ONE of the [executive]
VETERANS' SERVICES law, and received a discharge other than bad conduct
or dishonorable discharge. No person shall receive more than one New
York State Korean War Commemorative Medal. In the event of the death of
any person prior to the receipt of such commemorative medal, such comme-
morative medal shall be presented to the designated representative of
the deceased. The adjutant general, in consultation with the director of
the [division] DEPARTMENT of veterans' services, shall make such rules
and regulations as may be deemed necessary for the proper presentation
and distribution of such medals.
§ 5. Paragraph (y) of subdivision 1 of section 201 of the public
health law, as added by chapter 95 of the laws of 2022, is amended to
read as follows:
(y) To develop a form by which a coroner, coroner's physician or
medical examiner, pursuant to section six hundred seventy-seven of the
county law, shall report to the [division] DEPARTMENT of veterans'
services any death which appears to be caused by suicide by a person
who, to the knowledge of the coroner, coroner's physician or medical
examiner, is a veteran. This form shall at a minimum: (i) ensure
compliance with the strictest privacy protections and encourage data
aggregation to the extent feasible; (ii) provide the address to which
the form is to be mailed or submitted electronically; and (iii) include
the county of residence and the branch of service of deceased veterans
during the reporting period.
§ 6. Subdivision 3 of section 2805-o of the public health law, as
added by chapter 75 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as follows:
3. Every nursing home, residential health care facility and every
adult care facility licensed and certified by the department pursuant to
title two of article seven of the social services law or article forty-
six-B of this chapter, including all adult homes, enriched housing
programs, residences for adults, assisted living programs, and assisted
living residences, with the permission of individuals identifying them-
selves as veterans or spouses of veterans, shall transmit such veteran
status information to the [division] DEPARTMENT of veterans' services.
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§ 7. Subdivision 10 of section 458 of the real property tax law, as
added by section 35 of part AA of chapter 56 of the laws of 2019, is
amended to read as follows:
10. The commissioner shall develop in consultation with the director
of the New York state [division] DEPARTMENT of veterans' services a
listing of documents to be used to establish eligibility under this
section, including but not limited to a certificate of release or
discharge from active duty also known as a DD-214 form or an Honorable
Service Certificate/Report of Causality from the department of defense.
Such information shall be made available to each county, city, town or
village assessor's office, or congressional chartered veterans service
officers who request such information. The listing of acceptable mili-
tary records shall be made available on the internet websites of the
[division] DEPARTMENT of veterans' services and the office of real prop-
erty tax services.
§ 8. This act shall take effect immediately.