Bill Text: NY A04498 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Establishes the New York baby opportunity fund which deposits $1,000 into an account managed by the state comptroller to be available to eligible children when they reach the age of 18; provides such funds be used for education costs, the purchase of real estate, or entrepreneurship.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2024-01-03 - referred to ways and means [A04498 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A04498-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          4498

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    February 16, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  BENEDETTO  --  read once and referred to the
          Committee on Ways and Means

        AN ACT to amend the state finance law, in relation to  establishing  the
          New York baby opportunity fund

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The state finance law is amended by adding  a  new  section
     2  78-c to read as follows:
     3    § 78-c. New York baby opportunity fund. 1. There is hereby established
     4  in the joint custody of the state comptroller, the commissioner of taxa-
     5  tion and finance and the commissioner of health the New York baby oppor-
     6  tunity fund.
     7    2.  The  New York baby opportunity fund shall consist of moneys trans-
     8  ferred to the fund by the state comptroller from the  general  fund  and
     9  all other moneys appropriated, credited, or transferred thereto from any
    10  other  fund  or  source  pursuant to law. Nothing contained herein shall
    11  prevent the state from receiving  grants,  gifts  or  bequests  for  the
    12  purposes of the fund as defined in this section and depositing them into
    13  the fund according to law.
    14    3.  The  department of health shall promulgate application forms to be
    15  submitted to the comptroller upon the birth of an  eligible  child.  The
    16  fund shall provide for the deposit of one thousand dollars into an indi-
    17  vidual  account  for each eligible child within six months of receipt of
    18  an application to the fund for such child. Monies  within  each  account
    19  shall  be  invested in a manner that generates a rate of return at least
    20  equal to the rate of return earned on a thirty-year treasury bond.
    21    4. Monies in each account shall be identified by a unique  identifica-
    22  tion number and may only be accessed by the eligible child for which the
    23  account  was  originally  created.  In  order  to access such funds, the
    24  eligible child shall be at least eighteen years old and a current  resi-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05567-01-3
        A. 4498                             2

     1  dent  of  the state at the time of withdrawal. Such monies shall only be
     2  utilized for qualified expenses.
     3    5. Monies of the fund shall be expended by the state comptroller sole-
     4  ly for the purpose of administering the provisions of this section.
     5    6.  For  the  purposes of this section, the following terms shall have
     6  the following meanings:
     7    (a) "eligible child" shall mean any child  born  after  the  effective
     8  date  of  this section to parents who are residents of the state and who
     9  have an annual household income of less than five hundred percent of the
    10  federal poverty level;
    11    (b) "household income" shall  mean  the  sum  of  the  adjusted  gross
    12  incomes of the eligible child's birth parents. Such gross income amounts
    13  shall  be  calculated  based on information from the most recent taxable
    14  year available as provided and certified by the department  of  taxation
    15  and finance;
    16    (c)  "qualified expenses" shall mean expenses for the education of the
    17  account holder, ownership of a home by the  account  holder,  and  costs
    18  associated with establishing or otherwise building a business.
    19    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
    20  it  shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
    21  ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
    22  tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be  made  and
    23  completed on or before such effective date.