Creates the New York DREAM fund commission, which shall be committed to advancing the educational opportunities of children of immigrants through scholarship programs that provide assistance with the costs of higher education; makes family tuition accounts available to account owners who provide a valid taxpayer identification number.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3953--A
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 28, 2013
___________
Introduced by Sens. KLEIN, ESPAILLAT -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education
-- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended
and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing the New
York DREAM fund commission and making family tuition accounts avail-
able to account owners who provide a taxpayer identification number
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 609 to
2 read as follows:
3 § 609. New York DREAM fund commission. 1. (a) There shall be estab-
4 lished a New York DREAM fund commission, hereinafter referred to in this
5 section as the "commission", which shall be committed to advancing the
6 educational opportunities of the children of immigrants.
7 (b) The commission shall be composed of twelve members to be appointed
8 as follows:
9 (i) Four members shall be appointed by the governor;
10 (ii) Three members shall be appointed by the temporary president of
11 the senate;
12 (iii) Three members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly;
13 (iv) One member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the
14 senate;
15 (v) One member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the assem-
16 bly;
17 (c) To the extent practicable, the membership of the commission shall
18 reflect the racial, ethnic, gender, language and geographic diversity of
19 the state.
20 (d) To the extent practicable, the membership of the commission shall
21 include college and university administrators and faculty and other
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05361-03-3
S. 3953--A 2
1 individuals who are committed to advancing the educational opportunities
2 of the children of immigrants.
3 (e) The members of the commission shall receive no compensation for
4 their services.
5 2. (a) The commission shall have the power to:
6 (i) Administer the provisions of this section;
7 (ii) Create and raise funds for the New York DREAM fund;
8 (iii) Establish a not-for-profit entity charged and authorized to
9 solicit, accept, allocate and distribute funds for the administration of
10 this section and any educational or training programs the commission is
11 tasked with administrating and for funding scholarships to students who
12 are children of immigrants to the United States;
13 (iv) Publicize the availability of scholarships from the New York
14 DREAM fund;
15 (v) Develop criteria and a selection process for the recipients of
16 scholarships from the New York DREAM fund;
17 (vi) Research issues pertaining to the availability of assistance with
18 the costs of higher education for the children of immigrants and other
19 issues regarding access for and the performance of the children of immi-
20 grants within higher education;
21 (vii) Establish, publicize, and administer training programs for high
22 school counselors, admissions officers, and financial aid officers of
23 institutions of higher education. The training programs shall instruct
24 participants on the educational opportunities available to college-bound
25 students who are the children of immigrants, including, but not limited
26 to, in-state tuition and scholarship programs. To the extent practica-
27 ble, the commission shall offer the training program to school districts
28 and boards of cooperative educational services throughout the state,
29 provided however, that priority shall be given to school districts and
30 boards of cooperative educational services with a higher portion or
31 number of students who are the children of immigrants over school
32 districts and boards of cooperative educational services with a lesser
33 portion or number of students who are the children of immigrants;
34 (viii) Establish a public awareness campaign regarding educational
35 opportunities available to college bound students who are the children
36 of immigrants; and
37 (ix) Establish, publish and make available to the public, procedures
38 and guidelines for accepting and evaluating applications for scholar-
39 ships from the children of immigrants and issuing scholarships to
40 selected student applicants;
41 (b) To receive a scholarship pursuant to this section, a student
42 applicant must meet the following qualifications:
43 (i) Have resided with his or her parents or guardians while attending
44 a public or private high school in this state;
45 (ii) Have graduated from a public or private high school or received
46 the equivalent of a high school diploma in this state;
47 (iii) Have attended a public or private high school in this state for
48 at least two years as of the date he or she graduated from high school
49 or received the equivalent of a high school diploma;
50 (iv) Have at least one parent or guardian who immigrated to the United
51 States.
52 (c) The commission and the New York DREAM fund shall be funded entire-
53 ly by private contributions and no state funds shall be appropriated to
54 or used by the New York DREAM fund. No funds of the New York DREAM fund
55 or the commission shall be transferred to the general fund or any
S. 3953--A 3
1 special revenue fund or shall be used for any purpose other than the
2 purposes set forth in this section.
3 3. The commission and the New York DREAM fund shall be subject to the
4 provisions of articles six and seven and section seventy-four of the
5 public officers law.
6 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 695-e of the education law, as amended
7 by chapter 593 of the laws of 2003, is amended to read as follows:
8 2. A family tuition account may be opened by any person who desires to
9 save money for the payment of the qualified higher education expenses of
10 the designated beneficiary. Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
11 a family tuition account shall be available to any account owner with a
12 valid social security number, taxpayer identification number, or employ-
13 er identification number for the benefit of any designated beneficiary
14 with a valid social security number or taxpayer identification number,
15 unless a tuition savings agreement in effect on the effective date of
16 the chapter of the laws of two thousand thirteen which amended this
17 subdivision does not allow for a taxpayer identification number, in
18 which case taxpayer identification numbers shall be allowed upon the
19 expiration of the contract. An account owner may designate another
20 person as successor owner of the account in the event of the death of
21 the original account owner. Such person who opens an account or any
22 successor owner shall be considered the account owner as defined in
23 section six hundred ninety-five-b of this article.
24 a. An application for such account shall be in the form prescribed by
25 the program and contain the following:
26 (i) the name, address and social security number, taxpayer identifica-
27 tion number or employer identification number of the account owner;
28 (ii) the designation of a designated beneficiary;
29 (iii) the name, address, and social security number or taxpayer iden-
30 tification number of the designated beneficiary; and
31 (iv) such other information as the program may require.
32 b. The comptroller and the corporation may establish a nominal fee for
33 such application.
34 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
