BILL NUMBER: S8442

SPONSOR: WALCZYK
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to creating a
series of distinctive license plates for law enforcement officers who
were wounded in the line of duty; and to amend the state finance law, in
relation to creating a wounded officers support fund

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This bill directs the Department of Motor Vehicles to create a series of
specialty license plates for law enforcement officers who were wounded
in the line of duty. There would be five plates in this series repres-
enting the  
1 New York State Sheriff's Association,  
2 New York State
Association of Chief's of Police,  
3 Police Benevolent Association of
the New York State Troopers,  
4 the New York State Police Benevolent
Association, and the  
              

5 New York City Police Benevolent Association.
Proceeds from the service charge will be deposited into a fund to assist
wounded and fallen police officers and their families.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new
section 404-ff to read as follows: § 404-ff. Distinctive plates for New
York state law enforcement officers who were injured in the line of
duty.

a. Any officer who was wounded in the line of duty or the spouse of any
such officer shall, upon request, be issued a license plate containing
the seal of one of the following five police associations:

(1) New York State Sheriff's Association, (2) New York State Association
of Chief's of Police, (3) Police Benevolent Association of the New York
State Troopers, (4) the New York State Police Benevolent Association,
and the (5) New York City Police Benevolent Association. Each plate
shall bear the words "Wounded in the Line of Duty".

a. Wounded in the line of duty is defined as a law enforcement officer
who has sustained personal injury, in the intelligent performance of
duty, inflicted by an assailant with a dangerous and deadly weapon.

b. Eligibility is to be verified by the department who employed the
officer at the time of injury and reviewed by the Department of Motor
Vehicles.

c. If a distinctive plate is issued to a law enforcement officer pursu-
ant to this section, such a distinctive plate shall not be issued to the
spouse of such officer.

d. Application for such license plate shall be filed with the commis-
sioner in such form and detail as the commissioner shall prescribe.

b. The distinctive plate authorized in subdivision one of this section
shall be issued upon proof, satisfactory to the commissioner, that the
applicant or the spouse of the applicant is a law enforcement officer
who was wounded in the line of duty.

c. A distinctive plate issued pursuant to this section shall be issued
in the same manner as other number plates upon the payment of the
required registration fee prescribed by section four hundred one of this
article; provided, however, that an additional annual service charge of
twenty-five dollars shall be charged for such plates.

a. Such annual service charge shall be deposited pursuant to the
provisions of section four hundred four -oo of this article, to the
credit of the department of motor vehicles distinctive plate development
fund established by section ninety-five-g of the state finance law.

i. This deposit shall be used for the production, design, advertising,
and marketing of distinctive license plates pursuant to such section
ninety-five-g; provided, however, that annual service charges collected
in excess of six thousand dollars be deposited to the Wounded Officers
Support Fund established by section ninety-seven-zzzz of the state
finance law.

ii. Moneys from this fund will be directed purposes deemed appropriate
by the five law enforcement associations as long as the funds are used
for the purpose of assisting wounded or fallen law enforcement officers
and their families.

Section 2. The State Finance Law is amended by adding a new section
97-zzzz to read as follows: 97-zzzz Wounded Officers Support Fund.

a. There is hereby established in the joint custody of the commissioner
of taxation and finance and the comptroller, a special fund known as the
"wounded officers support fund".

b. Such fund shall consist of all revenues received pursuant to the
provisions of section four hundred four-ff of the vehicle and traffic
law and other moneys appropriated, credited, or transferred thereto from
any other fund or source pursuant to law.

c. Nothing contained in this section shall prevent the state from
receiving grants, gifts, or bequests for the purposes of the fund as
defined in this section and depositing them into the fund according to
the law.

d. Moneys of the fund shall be expended for the sole purpose of support-
ing wounded law enforcement officers and their families, as well as the
families of fallen law enforcement officers. This includes but is not
limited to: medical treatments, mental health counseling for officers as
well as family members, home accessibility improvements, service
animals, transportation needs, funeral services, etc.

e. Moneys of the fund shall be used solely for the wounded officers
support fund and may not be diverted into any general fund.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Our brave men and women in law enforcement put their lives on the line
every day to ensure the safety of our communities and protect the most
vulnerable among us. Some of these brave men and women have sustained
serious personal injury in the line of duty. As a small token of our
gratitude for their service, this series of specialty license plates
will give recognition while helping to maintain a fund to support wound-
ed officers, their families, and the families of fallen law enforcement
officers.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Minimal.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment
and/or repealed of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementa-
tion of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
completed on or before such effective date.