S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9790
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 30, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. SCARCELLA-SPANTON -- (at request of the Department of
   Veterans' Services) -- read twice and ordered printed, and when print-
   ed to be committed to the Committee on Veterans, Homeland Security and
   Military Affairs
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the veterans' services law, in relation to equitable
   treatment for all parents, spouses,  and  minor  children  of  service
   members who are killed in action
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subdivision 1  and  subdivi-
 sions 2 and 3 of section 26 of the veterans' services law are amended to
 read as follows:
   (a)  A  parent,  [identified  in  10  USC 1126 as a gold star parent,]
 SPOUSE, OR MINOR CHILD of a [veteran] SERVICE MEMBER who [heretofore has
 died or a parent of a veteran dying  hereafter]  DIED  WHILE  ON  ACTIVE
 DUTY, shall upon application to the state commissioner, be paid an annu-
 al  annuity out of the treasury of the state for the sum of five hundred
 dollars for such term as such parent, SPOUSE, OR MINOR  CHILD  shall  be
 entitled thereto under the provisions of this article. Commencing in the
 year two thousand nineteen, the amount of any annuity payable under this
 section shall be the same amount as the annuity payable in the preceding
 year  plus  a  percentage  adjustment  equal  to  the  annual percentage
 increase, if any, for compensation and pension benefits administered  by
 the  United  States Department of Veterans Affairs in the previous year.
 Such percentage increase shall be rounded up to the  next  highest  one-
 tenth  of  one  percent  and shall not be less than one percent nor more
 than four percent. The commissioner [of veterans' services],  not  later
 than February first of each year, shall publish by any reasonable means,
 including  but  not  limited to posting on the department's website, the
 amount of the annuity as adjusted payable under this section.  The  term
 "parent" for the purposes of this section includes mother, father, step-
 mother, stepfather, mother through adoption and father through adoption.
 THE  TERM "SPOUSE" FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION INCLUDES UNREMARRIED
 SPOUSE AND REMARRIED SPOUSE. THE TERM "MINOR CHILD" FOR THE PURPOSES  OF
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD06145-02-4
 S. 9790                             2
 
 THIS  SECTION  INCLUDES  MINOR  BIOLOGICAL,  STEP,  OR ADOPTED CHILDREN,
 THROUGH THE DAY BEFORE THE CHILD'S EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY.
   (b)  The  entitlement of any parent, SPOUSE, OR MINOR CHILD to receive
 the annuity provided by paragraph (a) of this subdivision  shall  termi-
 nate  upon  [his  or  her] SUCH PERSON'S death or upon [his or her] SUCH
 PERSON ceasing to continue to be a resident  of  and  domiciled  in  the
 state  of New York, but such entitlement may be reinstated upon applica-
 tion to the state commissioner, if such parent, SPOUSE, OR  MINOR  CHILD
 shall  thereafter  resume[ his or her] SUCH PERSON'S residence and domi-
 cile in the state.
   (c) The effective date of an award of the annuity to a parent, SPOUSE,
 OR MINOR CHILD shall be the day after the date of death of  the  veteran
 if  the  application  therefor  is received within one year from date of
 death. If the application is received after the expiration of the  first
 year  following  the  date of the death of the [veteran] SERVICE MEMBER,
 the effective date of an award of the annuity to a  parent,  SPOUSE,  OR
 MINOR CHILD shall be the date of receipt of the application by the state
 commissioner.  If  the  application  is denied but is granted at a later
 date upon an application for reconsideration based  upon  new  evidence,
 the  effective  date of the award of the annuity to a parent, SPOUSE, OR
 MINOR CHILD shall be the date of the  receipt  of  the  application  for
 reconsideration by the state commissioner.
   2.  Qualifications.  (a)  Any gold star parent, SPOUSE, OR MINOR CHILD
 who is the parent, SPOUSE,  OR  MINOR  CHILD  of  a  deceased  [veteran]
 SERVICE  MEMBER,  and who is a resident of and domiciled in the state of
 New York, shall make application to the department.
   (b) No entitlement shall be paid under this section to or for  a  gold
 star  parent,  SPOUSE,  OR  MINOR  CHILD  who is in prison in a federal,
 state, or local penal institution as a result of conviction of a  felony
 or misdemeanor for any part of the period beginning sixty-one days after
 [his  or  her] SUCH PERSON'S imprisonment begins and ending with [his or
 her] SUCH PERSON'S release.
   (c) Where one or more gold star parents OR MINOR CHILDREN are disqual-
 ified for the annuity for a period under paragraph (b) of this  subdivi-
 sion,  the  state commissioner shall pay the shares of such disqualified
 parents OR MINOR CHILDREN to the other parents  OR  MINOR  CHILDREN,  if
 they meet the qualifications on their own.
   (d)  The  decision  of the state commissioner on matters regarding the
 payment of such annuity shall be final.
   3. Method of payment. (a) Evidence of  the  military  service  of  the
 deceased  [veteran]  SERVICE  MEMBER of the gold star parent, SPOUSE, OR
 MINOR CHILD for each case shall be furnished  in  the  manner  and  form
 prescribed by the state commissioner.
   (b)  Upon  being satisfied that such service was honorable, that other
 facts and statements in  the  application  of  such  gold  star  parent,
 SPOUSE, OR MINOR CHILD are true, the state commissioner shall certify to
 the  state  comptroller  the  name and address of such gold star parent,
 SPOUSE, OR MINOR CHILD.
   (c) Thereafter, the department of taxation and finance, on  the  audit
 and warrant of the comptroller, shall pay such gold star parent, SPOUSE,
 OR  MINOR  CHILD  such  sum  as  is authorized by the provisions of this
 section in semi-annual installments for so long as such  qualified  gold
 star  parent, SPOUSE, OR MINOR CHILD shall meet the requirements of this
 section.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to  deaths
 of service members killed on and after such date.