2019 New York Laws
EXC - Executive
Article 17 - Veterans' Services
367 - Payment to Parents of Veterans.

§  367. Payment to parents of veterans. 1. Annuity established.  (a) A
parent, identified in 10 USC 1126 as a gold star parent,  of  a  veteran
who  heretofore  has  died or parent of a veteran dying hereafter, shall
upon application to the state director, be paid an annual annuity out of
the treasury of the state for the sum of five hundred dollars  for  such
term  as  such  parent shall be entitled thereto under the provisions of
this article. Commencing in the year two thousand nineteen,  the  amount
of  any  annuity  payable under this section shall be the same amount as
the annuity payable in the preceding year plus a  percentage  adjustment
equal  to  the  annual percentage increase, if any, for compensation and
pension  benefits  administered  by  the  United  States  department  of
veterans affairs in the previous year. Such percentage increase shall be
rounded up to the next highest one-tenth of one percent and shall not be
less  than  one  percent  nor  more  than  four percent. The director of
veterans' services, not later than February first of  each  year,  shall
publish by any reasonable means, including but not limited to posting on
the  division's  website,  the amount of the annuity as adjusted payable
under this section. The term "parent" for the purposes of  this  section
includes mother, father, stepmother, stepfather, mother through adoption
and father through adoption.
  (b)  The  entitlement of any parent to receive the annuity provided by
paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall terminate upon his or her  death
or upon his or her ceasing to continue to be a resident of and domiciled
in  the  state  of New York, but such entitlement may be reinstated upon
application to the state  director,  if  such  parent  shall  thereafter
resume his or her residence and domicile in the state.
  (c) The effective date of an award of the annuity to a parent shall be
the  day  after  the  date  of  death  of the veteran if the application
therefor is received  within  one  year  from  date  of  death.  If  the
application is received after the expiration of the first year following
the  date of the death of the veteran, the effective date of an award of
the annuity to a parent shall be the date of receipt of the  application
by  the state director. If the application is denied but is granted at a
later date upon  an  application  for  reconsideration  based  upon  new
evidence,  the  effective  date  of the award of the annuity to a parent
shall be the date of the receipt of the application for  reconsideration
by the state director.
  (d)  Any  applicant  convicted  of  making  any false statement in the
application for the annuity shall be subject to penalties prescribed  in
the penal law.
  2.  Qualifications.  (a)  Any gold star parent, who is the parent of a
deceased veteran, and who is a resident of and domiciled in the state of
New York, shall make application to the division.
  (b) No entitlement shall be paid under this section to or for  a  gold
star  parent  who  is  in  prison  in  a  federal, state, or local penal
institution as a result of conviction of a felony or misdemeanor for any
part  of  the  period  beginning  sixty-one  days  after  his   or   her
imprisonment begins and ending with his or her release.
  (c)  Where  one  or  more  gold  star parents are disqualified for the
annuity for a period under paragraph (b) of this subdivision, the  state
director  shall pay the shares of such disqualified parents to the other
parents, if they meet the qualifications on their own.
  (d) The decision of  the  state  director  on  matters  regarding  the
payment of such annuity shall be final.
  3.  Method  of  payment.  (a)  Evidence of the military service of the
deceased veteran of  the  gold  star  parent  for  each  case  shall  be
furnished in the manner and form prescribed by the state director.
  (b)  Upon  being satisfied that such service was honorable, that other
facts and statements in the application of such  gold  star  parent  are
true, the state director shall certify to the state comptroller the name
and address of such gold star parent.
  (c)  Thereafter,  the department of taxation and finance, on the audit
and warrant of the comptroller, shall pay such gold star parent such sum
as is authorized by  the  provisions  of  this  section  in  semi-annual
installments  for  so long as such qualified gold star parent shall meet
the requirements of this section.
  4. Report. The state director shall submit a report to  the  governor,
the chair of the senate finance committee, and the chair of the assembly
ways  and  means committee not later than January fifteenth of each year
this section is in effect. Such report shall include, but not be limited
to regulations promulgated pursuant to this section, and  a  description
and evaluation of the program.