STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6538
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 5, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SCHIAVONI -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs
AN ACT to amend the county law, the labor law, the mental hygiene law,
the military law, the public health law and the real property tax law,
in relation to changing references to the name of the division of
veterans' services to the department of veterans' services
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 10 of section 677 of the coun-
2 ty law, as added by chapter 95 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read
3 as follows:
4 (a) The coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner shall report
5 to the [division] department of veterans' services, in a form, and time
6 frame developed by the department of health in a manner that is protec-
7 tive of privacy and contains aggregate, rather than individual data to
8 the extent practicable, any death which appears to be caused by suicide
9 by a person who, to the knowledge of the coroner, coroner's physician or
10 medical examiner, is a veteran.
11 § 2. Section 201-h of the labor law, as added by chapter 584 of the
12 laws of 2022, is amended to read as follows:
13 § 201-h. Posting of veterans' benefits and services. 1. The department
14 shall consult with the [division] department of veterans' services to
15 create and distribute a veterans' benefits and services poster.
16 2. Such poster shall, at a minimum, include information regarding the
17 following services available to veterans:
18 a. contact and website information for the [division] department of
19 veterans' services and the [department's] department of labor's veter-
20 ans' program;
21 b. substance abuse and mental health treatment;
22 c. educational, workforce, and training resources;
23 d. tax benefits;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10556-01-5
A. 6538 2
1 e. New York state veteran drivers' licenses and non-driver identifica-
2 tion cards;
3 f. eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits under state and/or
4 federal law;
5 g. legal services; and
6 h. contact information for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
7 Veterans Crisis Line.
8 3. Every employer in the state with more than fifty full-time equiv-
9 alent employees shall display the poster created pursuant to this
10 section in a conspicuous place accessible to employees in the workplace.
11 § 3. Subdivision (a) of section 33.27 of the mental hygiene law as
12 separately amended by chapters 517 and 522 of the laws of 2022, is
13 amended to read as follows:
14 (a) There is hereby established the office of the independent
15 substance use disorder and mental health ombudsman program that will be
16 operated or selected by the office of addiction services and supports,
17 in consultation with the office of mental health for the purpose of
18 assisting individuals with a substance use disorder and/or mental
19 illness to ensure that they receive appropriate health insurance cover-
20 age. The office of addiction services and supports in consultation with
21 the office of mental health shall provide annual outreach services to
22 other state and local entities, including but not limited to the [divi-
23 sion] department of veterans' services, the office for people with
24 developmental disabilities, the office of children and family services,
25 the department of corrections, or providers contracted by such agencies
26 to provide assistance to the impacted populations to make them aware of
27 the independent substance use disorder and mental health ombudsman
28 program and the assistance they provide.
29 § 4. Subdivisions 1-d and 1-e of section 247 of the military law,
30 subdivision 1-d as added by chapter 582 of the laws of 2022 and subdivi-
31 sion 1-e as added by chapter 583 of the laws of 2022 and separately
32 renumbered by chapters 609 and 610 of the laws of 2023, are amended to
33 read as follows:
34 1-d. The governor is hereby authorized to present in the name of the
35 legislature of the state of New York, a medal, to be known as the "New
36 York State Vietnam War Commemorative Medal", bearing a suitable
37 inscription, to any person: (i) who is a resident of the state of New
38 York; or (ii) who was a resident of the state of New York while serving
39 in the armed forces of the United States; (iii) who served in the United
40 States Armed Forces, defined as army, air force, navy, marine corps, or
41 coast guard, or the organized militia defined as the army national
42 guard, the air national guard, the New York naval militia, or the New
43 York guard, on active duty abroad in Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia,
44 or in the contiguous waters or air space thereof during the period of
45 time from November first, nineteen hundred fifty-five through May
46 seventh, nineteen hundred seventy-five; and (iv) who was honorably
47 discharged or released under honorable circumstances or who has a quali-
48 fying condition, as defined in section [three hundred fifty] one of the
49 [executive] veterans' services law, and received a discharge other than
50 bad conduct or dishonorable discharge, or is a discharged LGBT veteran,
51 as defined in section [three hundred fifty] one of the [executive]
52 veterans' services law, and received a discharge other than bad conduct
53 or dishonorable discharge. No person shall receive more than one New
54 York State Vietnam War Commemorative Medal. In the event of the death of
55 any eligible person prior to the receipt of such commemorative medal,
56 such commemorative medal shall be presented to the designated represen-
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1 tative of the deceased. The adjutant general, in consultation with the
2 director of the [division] department of veterans' services, shall make
3 such rules and regulations as may be deemed necessary for the proper
4 presentation and distribution of such medals.
5 1-e. The governor is hereby authorized to present in the name of the
6 legislature of the state of New York, a medal, to be known as the "New
7 York State Korean War Commemorative Medal", bearing a suitable
8 inscription, to any person: (i) who is a resident of the state of New
9 York, or (ii) who was a resident of the state of New York while serving
10 in the armed forces of the United States; (iii) who served in the United
11 States Armed Forces, defined as army, air force, navy, marine corps, or
12 coast guard, or the organized militia defined as the army national
13 guard, the air national guard, the New York naval militia or the New
14 York guard, on active duty on the Korean peninsula, its contiguous
15 waters, or its airspace in the Korean War defined as the period of time
16 from June twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred fifty through January thir-
17 ty-first, nineteen hundred fifty-five; and (iv) who was honorably
18 discharged or released under honorable circumstances or who has a quali-
19 fying condition, as defined in section [three hundred fifty] one of the
20 [executive] veterans' services law, and received a discharge other than
21 bad conduct or dishonorable discharge, or is a discharged LGBT veteran,
22 as defined in section [three hundred fifty] one of the [executive]
23 veterans' services law, and received a discharge other than bad conduct
24 or dishonorable discharge. No person shall receive more than one New
25 York State Korean War Commemorative Medal. In the event of the death of
26 any person prior to the receipt of such commemorative medal, such comme-
27 morative medal shall be presented to the designated representative of
28 the deceased. The adjutant general, in consultation with the director of
29 the [division] department of veterans' services, shall make such rules
30 and regulations as may be deemed necessary for the proper presentation
31 and distribution of such medals.
32 § 5. Paragraph (y) of subdivision 1 of section 201 of the public
33 health law, as added by chapter 95 of the laws of 2022, is amended to
34 read as follows:
35 (y) To develop a form by which a coroner, coroner's physician or
36 medical examiner, pursuant to section six hundred seventy-seven of the
37 county law, shall report to the [division] department of veterans'
38 services any death which appears to be caused by suicide by a person
39 who, to the knowledge of the coroner, coroner's physician or medical
40 examiner, is a veteran. This form shall at a minimum: (i) ensure
41 compliance with the strictest privacy protections and encourage data
42 aggregation to the extent feasible; (ii) provide the address to which
43 the form is to be mailed or submitted electronically; and (iii) include
44 the county of residence and the branch of service of deceased veterans
45 during the reporting period.
46 § 6. Subdivision 3 of section 2805-o of the public health law, as
47 added by chapter 75 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as follows:
48 3. Every nursing home, residential health care facility and every
49 adult care facility licensed and certified by the department pursuant to
50 title two of article seven of the social services law or article forty-
51 six-B of this chapter, including all adult homes, enriched housing
52 programs, residences for adults, assisted living programs, and assisted
53 living residences, with the permission of individuals identifying them-
54 selves as veterans or spouses of veterans, shall transmit such veteran
55 status information to the [division] department of veterans' services.
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1 § 7. Subdivision 10 of section 458 of the real property tax law, as
2 added by section 35 of part AA of chapter 56 of the laws of 2019, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 10. The commissioner shall develop in consultation with the director
5 of the New York state [division] department of veterans' services a
6 listing of documents to be used to establish eligibility under this
7 section, including but not limited to a certificate of release or
8 discharge from active duty also known as a DD-214 form or an Honorable
9 Service Certificate/Report of Causality from the department of defense.
10 Such information shall be made available to each county, city, town or
11 village assessor's office, or congressional chartered veterans service
12 officers who request such information. The listing of acceptable mili-
13 tary records shall be made available on the internet websites of the
14 [division] department of veterans' services and the office of real prop-
15 erty tax services.
16 § 8. This act shall take effect immediately.
