NY State Senate Bill 2025-S6733

Senate Bill S6733

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Imposes a fee for certain convictions to benefit animal shelters and establishes the animal offenses assistance fund

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Mar 21, 2025	referred to codes

2025-S6733 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Codes
Law Section:: Penal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §60.35, Pen L; add §98-e, St Fin L

2025-S6733 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Imposes a fee for certain convictions to benefit animal shelters; establishes the animal offenses assistance fund.

2025-S6733 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S6733

SPONSOR: PALUMBO
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law and the state finance law, in relation to
a fee for certain convictions to benefit animal shelters and establish-
ing the animal offenses assistance fund

 
PURPOSE:

To impose a surcharge for certain convictions establishing the Animal
Offenses Assistance Fund to support animal shelters for expenses
incurred rehabilitating animals seized by law enforcement.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 60.35 of the penal law is amended to
include an animal offense assistance fee of five dollars.

Section 2. State finance law is amended by adding a new subsection 98-

1. Establishes the Animal Offenses Assistance Fund in the custody of the
State Comptroller and the Commissioner of Taxation and Finance.

2. The monies will come from the animal offense fee.

3. a) Funds will be available to those shelters that incurred costs
while caring for animals seized because of abuse.

b) The Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Markets will
award funds through an application process for reimbursement of expenses
paid.

c) Defines animal shelter

4. Moneys will be available to the Commissioner of the Department of
Agriculture and Markets and will be paid out of the fund on the audit
and warrant of the State Comptroller through vouchers approved by the
Commissioner.

Section 3. Sets forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Animal shelters in New York struggle daily to support operations and
day-to-day costs of housing, veterinary care and food for our beloved
animals. When abused animals are rescued through the criminal justice
system, the animals are often in need of extensive veterinary care and
the costs to nurture them back to health are extremely high. Law
enforcement must also immediately find a shelter capable of housing the
abused animals. In the recent case in Albany County, 102 animals were
living in squalor at a home that also doubled as an unregistered rescue.
In a combined effort between Humane Law Enforcement from the Mohawk
Hudson Humane Society and the Town of Colonic Animal Control, the
animals were rescued and 98 of them were placed with Mohawk Hudson. As a
result, Mohawk Hudson was required to spend $303,957.25 for only the
first 30 days of care. They sought relief from the Court, spent
$23,550.48 on legal fees and were granted only a $10,000 bond from the
Court that was eventually forfeited after the defendants were found not
guilty.

The New York State Animal Protection Federation conducted a survey and
found that of 47 cases, the cost of care was $4,426,250. The shelters
only received $795,337 in restitution, which is 18% of the total cost.
We know that these cases are just the tip of the iceberg.  It should
also be noted that in many cases the shelter must also maintain the
animals as evidence and cannot offer the rehabilitated animal for
adoption until the criminal case is resolved, no matter how long it
takes to adjudicate the pending case.

Consequently, we need to create a mechanism to relieve this undue finan-
cial stress on our shelters and there is a simple solution. Our current
judicial system requires individuals and corporate entities who are
sentenced in court to pay mandatory surcharges to the courts, namely:

1. Penal Law felony convictions carry a $300 surcharge, plus a $25 crime
victims assistance fee

2. Penal Law misdemeanors $175 plus a $25 crime victims assistance fee

3. Penal Law violations $95 plus a $25 crime victims assistance fee

4. Vehicle and Traffic offenses carry various surcharges ranging from
$88 to thousands of dollars for Driving While Intoxicated matters

5. Certain convictions also require a DNA databank fee of $50, a Sex
Offender Registration Fee

This bill will simply create an additional five-dollar ($5) surcharge
that will be earmarked for an Animal Offense Assistance Fund to help
finance the costs of caring for surrendered animals. These shelters are
saving lives and providing necessary care for abused and neglected
animals, sometimes for months, and should not have to foot the bill for
the deplorable actions of others. The Animal Offense Assistance Fund
will provide a consistent funding stream, like the existing Crime
Victim's Fund, to keep our shelters solvent so they can provide the
necessary care, treatment and services desperately needed for abused
animals.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

TBD

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately

2025-S6733 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6733
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 21, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. PALUMBO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
 
 AN ACT to amend the penal law and the state finance law, in relation  to
   a  fee  for  certain convictions to benefit animal shelters and estab-
   lishing the animal offenses assistance fund

   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 of section 60.35 of the
 penal law, as amended by section 1 of part E of chapter 56 of  the  laws
 of  2004,  subparagraphs (i), (ii) and (iii)  as amended by section 1 of
 part DD of chapter 56 of the  laws  of  2008,  is  amended  to  read  as
 follows:
   (a) Except as provided in section eighteen hundred nine of the vehicle
 and  traffic law and section 27.12 of the parks, recreation and historic
 preservation law, whenever proceedings in an administrative tribunal  or
 a  court  of this state result in a conviction for a felony, a misdemea-
 nor, or a violation, as these terms are defined in section 10.00 of this
 chapter, there shall be levied at sentencing a mandatory surcharge,  sex
 offender  registration  fee, DNA databank fee and a crime victim assist-
 ance fee in addition to any sentence required or permitted  by  law,  in
 accordance with the following schedule:
   (i)  a person convicted of a felony shall pay a mandatory surcharge of
 three hundred dollars and a crime victim assistance fee  of  twenty-five
 dollars, AND AN ANIMAL OFFENSES ASSISTANCE FEE OF FIVE DOLLARS;
   (ii)  a  person  convicted  of  a  misdemeanor  shall  pay a mandatory
 surcharge of one hundred seventy-five dollars and a crime victim assist-
 ance fee of twenty-five dollars, AND AN ANIMAL OFFENSES  ASSISTANCE  FEE
 OF FIVE DOLLARS;
   (iii)  a  person  convicted  of  a  violation  shall  pay  a mandatory
 surcharge of ninety-five dollars and a crime victim  assistance  fee  of

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10848-01-5
 S. 6733                             2

 
 twenty-five  dollars,  AND  AN  ANIMAL  OFFENSES  ASSISTANCE FEE OF FIVE
 DOLLARS;
   (iv) a person convicted of a sex offense as defined by subdivision two
 of section one hundred sixty-eight-a of the correction law or a sexually
 violent  offense  as defined by subdivision three of section one hundred
 sixty-eight-a of the correction law shall, in addition  to  a  mandatory
 surcharge  and crime victim assistance fee, pay a sex offender registra-
 tion fee of fifty dollars.
   (v) a person convicted of a designated offense as defined by  subdivi-
 sion  seven  of  section  nine  hundred ninety-five of the executive law
 shall, in addition to a mandatory surcharge and crime victim  assistance
 fee, pay a DNA databank fee of fifty dollars.
   §  2. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 98-e to
 read as follows:
   § 98-E. ANIMAL OFFENSES ASSISTANCE FUND. 1.  THERE  IS  HEREBY  ESTAB-
 LISHED  IN  THE CUSTODY OF THE STATE COMPTROLLER AND THE COMMISSIONER OF
 TAXATION AND FINANCE A FUND TO BE KNOWN AS THE "ANIMAL OFFENSES  ASSIST-
 ANCE FUND".
   2.  SUCH  FUND  SHALL  CONSIST  OF  THE ANIMAL OFFENSES ASSISTANCE FEE
 IMPOSED PURSUANT TO SECTION 60.35 OF THE PENAL LAW, AND ALL OTHER MONEYS
 CREDITED OR TRANSFERRED THERETO FROM ANY OTHER FUND OR  SOURCE  PURSUANT
 TO LAW.
   3. (A) MONEYS OF THE FUND SHALL BE AVAILABLE FOR COSTS AND EXPENSES OF
 ANIMAL  SHELTERS  INCURRED IN THE CARE AND MAINTENANCE OF ANIMALS SEIZED
 AND SURRENDERED TO SHELTERS AS A RESULT OF ABUSE OR OTHER OFFENSES UNDER
 THE PENAL LAW OR THE AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS LAW RELATED TO  THE  TREAT-
 MENT OF ANIMALS IN THIS STATE.
   (B)  THE  COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS SHALL AWARD FUNDS TO
 ANIMALS SHELTERS THROUGH AN APPLICATION PROCESS TO BE  DESIGNED  BY  THE
 COMMISSIONER WHICH SHALL DEMONSTRATE THE NEEDS OF THE SHELTER IN PROVID-
 ING  CARE  AND TREATMENT TO ABUSED AND NEGLECTED ANIMALS INCLUDING FOOD,
 SHELTER AND VETERINARY CARE.
   (C) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, "ANIMAL SHELTER"  SHALL  MEAN  A
 PUBLIC  OR  NOT-FOR-PROFIT  ENTITY OWNING, OPERATING, OR OTHERWISE MAIN-
 TAINING A BUILDING, STRUCTURE, OR FACILITY WHERE TEMPORARY OR  PERMANENT
 HOUSING  AND  CARE  IS  PROVIDED  TO  STRAY,  ABANDONED, ABUSED, SEIZED,
 IMPOUNDED, OWNER-SURRENDERED OR OTHERWISE UNWANTED ANIMALS REGARDLESS OF
 WHETHER OR NOT SUCH FACILITY ALSO SERVES AS A PERSONAL  RESIDENCE.  THIS
 INCLUDES  BUT  IS  NOT  LIMITED TO: FACILITIES OWNED, OPERATED, OR MAIN-
 TAINED BY A DULY INCORPORATED SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF  CRUELTY  TO
 ANIMALS, DULY INCORPORATED HUMANE SOCIETY, DOG OR CAT PROTECTIVE ASSOCI-
 ATION,  OR  POUND; ANY PERSON IN THE EMPLOY OF, OR ORGANIZATION OPERATED
 BY OR UNDER CONTRACT TO A MUNICIPALITY TO PROVIDE  CARE  FOR  SEIZED  OR
 IMPOUNDED  ANIMALS; OR ANY OTHER NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATION INVOLVED IN
 THE PROTECTION, CARE, OR REHOMING OF ANIMALS. THE TERM "ANIMAL  SHELTER"
 SHALL  NOT INCLUDE THE PERSONAL RESIDENCE OF ANY FOSTER CARE PROVIDER; A
 FACILITY COMMONLY KNOWN AS A BOARDING KENNEL, WHERE THE OWNERSHIP OF THE
 ANIMAL IS NOT TRANSFERRED; ANY ENTITY LICENSED AS A PET DEALER  PURSUANT
 TO  ARTICLE  TWENTY-SIX-A  OF  THE  AGRICULTURE  AND MARKETS LAW; A DULY
 INCORPORATED ANIMAL HOSPITAL OWNED, OPERATED OR  SUPERVISED  BY  A  DULY
 LICENSED  VETERINARIAN;  OR  ANY FACILITY WHERE THE OWNER OR OPERATOR IS
 LICENSED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION AS  A  NUISANCE
 WILDLIFE CONTROL AGENT OR WILDLIFE REHABILITATOR.
   4.  MONEYS  OF  THE  FUND SHALL BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF
 AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS AND SHALL BE PAID OUT OF THE FUND ON  THE  AUDIT
 AND  WARRANT OF THE STATE COMPTROLLER ON VOUCHERS APPROVED AND CERTIFIED
 S. 6733                             3
 
 BY THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS. ANY INTEREST RECEIVED BY
 THE COMPTROLLER ON MONEYS ON DEPOSIT IN THE FUND SHALL  BE  RETAINED  IN
 AND BECOME PART OF SUCH FUND.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

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