STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1231--A
Cal. No. 801
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 8, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sens. GIANARIS, ADDABBO, FELDER, HELMING, JORDAN, WEIK --
read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to
the Committee on Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs --
recommitted to the Committee on Veterans, Homeland Security and Mili-
tary Affairs in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- reported
favorably from said committee, ordered to first and second report,
ordered to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted, retaining
its place in the order of third reading
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to directing
counties and the city of New York to request a congressionally char-
tered veterans' organization to arrange for the funeral and burial of
a deceased veteran who has no next of kin or other person to make such
arrangements
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1-a of section 148 of the
2 general municipal law, as amended by chapter 29 of the laws of 2016, is
3 amended and a new paragraph (f) is added to read as follows:
4 (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, in the case
5 of a veteran, as defined in section forty-two hundred three of the
6 public health law, who died in a county or the city of New York leaving
7 no funds or insurance sufficient to pay funeral and burial expenses of
8 such veteran and such veteran has no next of kin or person of record
9 previously designated to control his or her final disposition pursuant
10 to section four thousand two hundred one of the public health law, such
11 county or the city of New York [may] shall request a congressionally
12 chartered veterans' organization within the county or the city of New
13 York where the decedent resided at the time of death, to engage the
14 services of a funeral firm to conduct the funeral and burial services.
15 (f) (i) Such veterans' organization and/or the funeral firm engaged to
16 provide such services may make application to the division of veterans'
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03124-02-2
S. 1231--A 2
1 services for indigent burial reimbursement as provided in this section
2 as joint claimant with the veterans' organization, or with the consent
3 of such veterans' organization.
4 (ii) If such veterans' organization declines such request for any
5 reason, a county or the city of New York may directly engage the
6 services of a funeral firm which shall then serve as a sole claimant.
7 (iii) The application form shall also contain the following informa-
8 tion about the funeral firm whose services are being engaged: (1) name;
9 (2) full address; (3) telephone; (4) e-mail address; (5) name of funeral
10 director supervising the services; (6) the supervising funeral direc-
11 tor's license number; and (7) any other information the director of the
12 division of veterans' services may require.
13 (iv) Such application must also be signed and dated by the supervising
14 funeral director.
15 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
16 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.