SENATE GIVES FINAL PASSAGE OF "GOLD ALERT"

State Senator Hugh T. Farley (R, C, I - Schenectady) announced that he and his colleagues in the New York State Senate gave final passage on June 16th of legislation that expands an existing alert system to help locate missing vulnerable adults. The "Gold Alert" bill (S.3293B) creates a system to help authorities get proper notifications, coordinate resources, and investigate incidents where individuals, such as those with illnesses or disabilities, go missing.

If signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo, the bill would use the "Gold Alert" infrastructure, which is already in place, to disseminate information about missing vulnerable adults through a statewide system, using a variety of resources, including television and radio stations, posters, highway message signs, New York State Thruway Authority services areas, e-mail alerts, and the Internet, in hopes of engaging the public in finding leads to locate the missing individual.

By enacting this law, New York would join several other states, including Illinois, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Texas, in taking steps to assist families of cognitively impaired adults with locating their missing loved ones.

The bill will be sent to the Governor.