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A06845 Summary:

BILL NOA06845
 
SAME ASSAME AS S05878
 
SPONSORBarrett
 
COSPNSR
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd §§624 & 631, Exec L
 
Relates to the eligibility for awards for victims of a crime; includes the commission of suicide within two years after being a victim of a crime as a death that is the direct result of a crime.
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A06845 Actions:

BILL NOA06845
 
03/21/2019referred to governmental operations
01/08/2020referred to governmental operations
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A06845 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A6845
 
SPONSOR: Barrett
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the executive law, in relation to eligibility for awards for victims of a crime   PURPOSE: To allow the families of victims of crimes who subsequently commit suicide to receive monetary awards from the Office of Victim Services.   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1 amends Executive Law § 624, subdivision 1 by correcting a grammatical error. Section 2 amends Executive Law § 624 by adding a new subdivision 3 which states that a victim of a crime who commits suicide within two years of such crime shall be deemed to have died as a direct result of such crime, unless OVS determines that the suicide was unrelated to the crime. Section 3 amends Executive Law § 631 by adding a new paragraph (h) stat- ing the OVS shall disregard the victim's responsibility for his or her own actions where the record shows that the victim committed suicide within two years of the crime. Section 4 sets forth the effective date.   JUSTIFICATION: Under current law, the Office of Victim Services (OVS) can provide compensation to victims of crimes after an evaluation by the agency. This compensation includes lost earnings, rehabilitation services, coun- seling services, property damage, burial services, medical expenses and other related services not covered by other insurance or benefit programs, and more. But under current law, OVS is required to reject or reduce claims in cases where the victim caused injury to him or herself. This means that the family members of victims who commit suicide after being the victim of a crime are no longer eligible to receive the funds. This is an unfair statute that this legislation seeks to correct.   LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: New bill.   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: Office of Victims Services would likely pay out a small number of addi- tional awards to the families of suicide victims. This may be several thousand dollars per victim. The awards are partially funded through the federal Department of Justice.   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.
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A06845 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          6845
 
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                     March 21, 2019
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by M. of A. BARRETT -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Governmental Operations
 
        AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to eligibility for awards
          for victims of a crime
 
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Paragraphs (i) and (j) of subdivision 1 of section 624 of
     2  the executive law, subdivision (i) as amended by section 9 of  part  A-1
     3  of  chapter 56 of the laws of 2010 and subdivision (j) as added by chap-
     4  ter 427 of the laws of 1999, are amended to read as follows:
     5    (i) a surviving spouse of a crime victim  who  died  from  causes  not
     6  directly  related  to  the crime when such victim died prior to filing a
     7  claim with the office or subsequent to filing a claim but prior  to  the
     8  rendering  of  a  decision by the office. Such award shall be limited to
     9  out-of-pocket loss incurred as a direct result of the crime; [and]
    10    (j) a spouse, child or stepchild of  a  victim  of  a  crime  who  has
    11  sustained personal physical injury as a direct result of a crime[.]; and
    12    §  2.  Section  624  of  the  executive law is amended by adding a new
    13  subdivision 3 to read as follows:
    14    3. For the purposes of this article, a victim of a crime  who  commits
    15  suicide  within  two years after such crime shall be deemed to have died
    16  as a direct result of such crime, unless the office determines that  the
    17  suicide was not in any way a result of being the victim of such crime.
    18    §  3.  Subdivision 5 of section 631 of the executive law is amended by
    19  adding a new paragraph (h) to read as follows:
    20    (h) Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of  this  article,  the
    21  office  shall  disregard  the  responsibility  of the victim for his own
    22  injury where the record shows that the victim committed  suicide  within
    23  two  years  after  such  crime,  unless  the  office determines that the
    24  suicide was not in any way a result of being the victim of such crime.
    25    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10699-02-9
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