STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5859--B
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 3, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sen. RITCHIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Veterans, Homeland Securi-
ty and Military Affairs -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- recommitted
to the Committee on Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs
in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to enacting the "behav-
ioral health services for veterans act"
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "behavioral
2 health services for veterans act".
3 § 2. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 368-a to
4 read as follows:
5 § 368-a. Behavioral health services for veterans advisory board. 1.
6 There is hereby established within the division, a behavioral health
7 services for veterans advisory board. Such board shall consist of nine
8 members, three of whom shall be appointed by the governor, two of whom
9 shall be appointed by the temporary president of the senate, two of whom
10 shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly, one of whom shall be
11 appointed by the minority leader of the senate and one of whom shall be
12 appointed by the minority leader of the assembly. Such members shall
13 serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority. Vacancies on the
14 board shall be filled in the manner of the original appointment. Members
15 of the board shall receive no compensation for their services but shall
16 be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the perform-
17 ance of their duties.
18 2. The behavioral health services for veterans advisory board shall
19 study and analyze both the adequacy of existing and the need for new
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08349-04-8
S. 5859--B 2
1 behavioral health services for veterans. In providing such analysis, the
2 board shall work in cooperation with the division, the office of alco-
3 holism and substance abuse services, the department of health and the
4 department of mental hygiene. The board shall report the findings of
5 such study to the governor and the legislature along with recommenda-
6 tions it deems necessary for expanded and improved behavioral health
7 services on or before October first, two thousand nineteen.
8 § 3. This act shall take effect April 1, 2019; provided that effective
9 immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regu-
10 lation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective
11 date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such date.
