Bill Text: NY S00020 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Authorizes the division of veterans' affairs to provide eligible veterans with financial assistance for purchasing, training and the upkeep of service dogs and emotional support dogs.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - REFERRED TO VETERANS, HOMELAND SECURITY AND MILITARY AFFAIRS [S00020 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-S00020-Introduced.html

---

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                           20
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                       (Prefiled)
                                     January 4, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen. HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Veterans, Homeland Securi-
          ty and Military Affairs
        AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to authorizing the  divi-
          sion  of veterans' affairs to provide eligible veterans with financial
          assistance for purchasing, training and the upkeep of service dogs and
          emotional support dogs
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 368-a
     2  to read as follows:
     3    § 368-a. Service dog and emotional support dog grant assistance.    1.
     4  For  the purposes of this section, the term "service dog" shall have the
     5  same meaning as provided for in subdivision seven of section  forty-sev-
     6  en-b of the civil rights law.
     7    2.  For the purposes of this section, the term "emotional support dog"
     8  shall mean a dog providing therapeutic support to an owner.
     9    3. The division  shall  provide  eligible  veterans  with:  (a)  grant
    10  assistance of up to seven thousand five hundred dollars for the purchase
    11  and  training  of  a  service dog from an organization providing service
    12  dogs for post-traumatic stress disorder and/or traumatic  brain  injury;
    13  or  (b) grant assistance of up to five thousand dollars for the purchase
    14  and training of a service dog from a professional service dog trainer or
    15  an owner-trainer. The division shall provide eligible veterans receiving
    16  grant assistance pursuant to this subdivision with an amount of not less
    17  than fifty dollars a month for the continued upkeep of the  service  dog
    18  as long as the eligible veteran is in possession of the service dog.
    19    4.  The division shall provide eligible veterans with grant assistance
    20  of up to five hundred dollars  for  the  purchase  and  training  of  an
    21  emotional support dog, as well as an amount of not less than thirty-five
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05680-01-7
        S. 20                               2
     1  dollars a month for the continued upkeep of the emotional support dog as
     2  long  as  the eligible veteran is in possession of the emotional support
     3  dog.
     4    5.  To  be eligible to receive grant assistance under this section, an
     5  individual must:
     6    (a) be a veteran, which, for the purposes of this section, shall  mean
     7  resident  of  this  state who served on active duty in the United States
     8  army, navy, marine corps, air force, coast guard or the reserves  compo-
     9  nent, or who served in active military service of the United States as a
    10  member of the army national guard, air national guard, New York guard or
    11  New York naval militia, who was released from such service other than by
    12  dishonorable discharge;
    13    (b)  receive  a diagnosis from a licensed physician or licensed mental
    14  health professional of post-traumatic stress disorder, a traumatic brain
    15  injury, or both, causing a disability as that term is defined in  subdi-
    16  vision twenty-one of section two hundred ninety-two of this chapter;
    17    (c)  receive  a  letter  from  a licensed physician or licensed mental
    18  health provider certifying that the individual would  benefit  from  the
    19  use of a service dog or emotional support dog; and
    20    (d) have an annual income of fifty thousand dollars or less.
    21    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    22  it  shall have become a law; provided, however the division of veterans'
    23  affairs is authorized and directed to promulgate regulations  to  imple-
    24  ment the provisions of this act immediately.