STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6209--A
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
October 9, 2009
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Introduced by Sens. DIAZ, ADDABBO, ESPADA, HUNTLEY, PARKER -- read twice
and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee
on Rules -- recommitted to the Committee on Finance in accordance with
Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the state finance law, the tax law, the abandoned prop-
erty law, and the civil practice law and rules, in relation to estab-
lishing the New York state seniors trust fund and directing certain
moneys to be deposited into such fund
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section
2 99-t to read as follows:
3 § 99-t. New York state seniors trust fund. 1. There is hereby estab-
4 lished in the joint custody of the state comptroller and the commission-
5 er of taxation and finance a fund to be known as the New York state
6 seniors trust fund.
7 2. Such fund shall consist of all moneys appropriated for the purpose
8 of such fund and all moneys transferred to such fund pursuant to section
9 six hundred twenty-nine-a of the tax law.
10 3. Moneys of such fund shall be available for appropriation and allo-
11 cation only upon approval of the director of the New York state office
12 for the aging, for all costs associated with the funding of the home
13 delivered meals program administered by the New York state office for
14 the aging.
15 4. The moneys of the fund shall be paid out on the audit and warrant
16 of the comptroller on vouchers certified or approved by the director of
17 the New York state office for the aging or his or her duly designated
18 representative.
19 § 2. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 629-a to read as
20 follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14807-05-0
S. 6209--A 2
1 § 629-a. Gift for New York state seniors trust fund. Effective for any
2 tax year commencing on or after January first, two thousand eleven, an
3 individual in any taxable year may elect to contribute to the New York
4 state seniors trust fund for the cost associated with the funding of the
5 home delivered meals program administered by the New York state office
6 for the aging. The contribution shall be one dollar and shall not reduce
7 the amount of state tax owed by such individual. The commissioner shall
8 include space on the personal income tax return to enable a taxpayer to
9 make such contribution. Notwithstanding any other provision of law all
10 revenues collected pursuant to this section shall be credited to the New
11 York state seniors trust fund and used only for those purposes enumer-
12 ated in section ninety-nine-t of the state finance law.
13 § 3. Subdivision 4 of section 1315 of the abandoned property law, as
14 added by section 3 of part P of chapter 62 of the laws of 2003, is
15 amended to read as follows:
16 4. Any amount representing an unpaid check or draft issued by the
17 state of New York which shall have remained unpaid after one year from
18 the date of issuance in accordance with section one hundred two of the
19 state finance law shall be deemed abandoned property and shall be paid
20 to the state comptroller, provided, however, any amount deemed to be
21 abandoned property pursuant to this subdivision, which had been issued
22 to a person sixty-five years of age or older, shall be deposited into
23 the New York state seniors trust fund established pursuant to section
24 ninety-nine-t of the state finance law.
25 § 4. Subdivision 1 of section 300 of the abandoned property law is
26 amended by adding a new paragraph (a-1) to read as follows:
27 (a-1) Any amounts determined to be abandoned property pursuant to
28 paragraph (a) of this subdivision, which were entitled to a person
29 sixty-five years of age or older, shall be deposited into the New York
30 state seniors trust fund established pursuant to section ninety-nine-t
31 of the state finance law.
32 § 5. Subdivision (c) of section 904 of the civil practice law and
33 rules, as added by chapter 207 of the laws of 1975, is amended to read
34 as follows:
35 (c) The content of the notice shall be subject to court approval,
36 provided, however, that in action seeking a monetary judgment, such
37 notice shall include a space to enable the member of the class to
38 contribute the portion of the monetary judgment to which they are enti-
39 tled to the New York state seniors trust fund. In determining the method
40 by which notice is to be given, the court shall consider
41 I. the cost of giving notice by each method considered
42 II. the resources of the parties and
43 III. the stake of each represented member of the class, and the like-
44 lihood that significant numbers of represented members would desire to
45 exclude themselves from the class or to appear individually, which may
46 be determined, in the court's discretion, by sending notice to a random
47 sample of the class.
48 § 6. The civil practice law and rules is amended by adding a new
49 section 905-a to read as follows:
50 § 905-a. Contributions to the New York state seniors trust fund.
51 Where a monetary judgment has been awarded to a class, and a member or
52 members of such class chooses to contribute the portion of the judgment
53 to which they are entitled to the New York state seniors trust fund
54 pursuant to subdivision (c) of section nine hundred four of this arti-
55 cle, all such monies shall be deposited into the New York state seniors
S. 6209--A 3
1 trust fund established in section ninety-nine-t of the state finance
2 law.
3 § 7. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
4 have become a law.
