Establishes the veterans' services organization capital support program to provide funding to eligible entities for payment of the capital costs of construction, improvement, repairs, rehabilitation, or reconstruction of facilities owned by eligible entities, and for the acquisition of related equipment with a useful life of not less than ten years; appropriates a sum of $10,000,000 therefor.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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5618
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 26, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. ASHBY, WEIK -- read twice and ordered printed, and
when printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
AN ACT to amend the veterans' services law, in relation to establishing
the veterans' services organization capital support program; and
making an appropriation therefor
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The veterans' services law is amended by adding a new arti-
2 cle 4 to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 4
4 VETERANS' SERVICES ORGANIZATION CAPITAL SUPPORT PROGRAM
5 Section 50. Definitions.
6 51. Establishment and criteria.
7 52. Eligible purposes.
8 § 50. Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the following
9 terms shall have the following meanings:
10 1. "Eligible entity" means a veteran service organization as defined
11 pursuant to Title 38 U.S. Code Section 5902 and that also is organized
12 as a not-for-profit organization pursuant to the Title 26 U.S. Code
13 Section 501(c), which may include but shall not be limited to the Ameri-
14 can Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, Para-
15 lyzed Veterans of America, American Veterans and Vietnam Veterans of
16 America.
17 § 51. Establishment and criteria. There is hereby established the
18 veterans' services organization capital support program for the eligible
19 purposes under section fifty-two of this article. The commissioner shall
20 develop criteria for the disbursement of funds authorized under section
21 fifty-two of this article to an eligible entity.
22 § 52. Eligible purposes. Within amounts specifically appropriated
23 therefore, the commissioner shall award grants not to exceed two hundred
24 thousand dollars for payment of the capital costs of construction,
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06173-01-5
S. 5618 2
1 improvement, repairs, rehabilitation, or reconstruction of facilities
2 owned by eligible entities pursuant to this article, and for the acqui-
3 sition of related equipment with a useful life of not less than ten
4 years. Such capital costs may include, but shall not be limited to,
5 engineering and design costs. No funds authorized under this section
6 shall be used as a required match or be considered a local share to
7 other state programs or to leverage state aid or grants.
8 § 2. The sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000), or so much thereof
9 as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the department of veter-
10 ans' services out of any moneys in the state treasury in the general
11 fund to the credit of the veterans' services organization capital
12 support program, not otherwise appropriated, and made immediately avail-
13 able, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act. Such
14 moneys shall be payable on the audit and warrant of the comptroller on
15 vouchers certified or approved by the commissioner of veterans' services
16 in the manner prescribed by law.
17 § 3. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
18 sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of
19 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect,
20 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in
21 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section
22 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg-
23 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of
24 the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such
25 invalid provisions had not been included herein.
26 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
