2023 New York Laws › VET - Veterans' Services Law › Article 1 - Department of Veterans' Services › 26 - Payment to Parents of Veterans.

§  26.  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 a parent of a veteran dying hereafter, shall
upon application to the state commissioner, 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 commissioner 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 department'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 commissioner, 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 commissioner. 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 commissioner.
(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 department.
(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
commissioner  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 commissioner 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 commissioner.
(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 commissioner 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  commissioner  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.