A 2504: Establishes the veterans' services organization capital support program to provide funding to eligible entities for payment of the capital costs of construction, improvement, repairs, rehabilitation, or reconstruction of facilities owned by eligible entities, and for the acquisition of related equipment with a useful life of not less than ten years; appropriates a sum of $10,000,000 therefor.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2504 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY January 17, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. BENDETT -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Veterans' Affairs AN ACT to amend the veterans' services law, in relation to establishing the veterans' services organization capital support program; and making an appropriation therefor The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The veterans' services law is amended by adding a new arti- 2 cle 4 to read as follows: 3 ARTICLE 4 4 VETERANS' SERVICES ORGANIZATION CAPITAL SUPPORT PROGRAM 5 Section 50. Definitions. 6 51. Establishment and criteria. 7 52. Eligible purposes. 8 § 50. Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the following 9 terms shall have the following meanings: 10 1. "Eligible entity" means a veteran service organization as defined 11 pursuant to Title 38 U.S. Code Section 5902 and that also is organized 12 as a not-for-profit organization pursuant to the Title 26 U.S. Code 13 Section 501(c), which may include but shall not be limited to the Ameri- 14 can Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, Para- 15 lyzed Veterans of America, American Veterans and Vietnam Veterans of 16 America. 17 § 51. Establishment and criteria. There is hereby established the 18 veterans' services organization capital support program for the eligible 19 purposes under section fifty-two of this article. The commissioner shall 20 develop criteria for the disbursement of funds authorized under section 21 fifty-two of this article to an eligible entity. 22 § 52. Eligible purposes. Within amounts specifically appropriated 23 therefore, the commissioner shall award grants not to exceed two hundred 24 thousand dollars for payment of the capital costs of construction, EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD06173-01-5 
 A. 2504 2 1 improvement, repairs, rehabilitation, or reconstruction of facilities 2 owned by eligible entities pursuant to this article, and for the acqui- 3 sition of related equipment with a useful life of not less than ten 4 years. Such capital costs may include, but shall not be limited to, 5 engineering and design costs. No funds authorized under this section 6 shall be used as a required match or be considered a local share to 7 other state programs or to leverage state aid or grants. 8 § 2. The sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000), or so much thereof 9 as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the department of veter- 10 ans' services out of any moneys in the state treasury in the general 11 fund to the credit of the veterans' services organization capital 12 support program, not otherwise appropriated, and made immediately avail- 13 able, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act. Such 14 moneys shall be payable on the audit and warrant of the comptroller on 15 vouchers certified or approved by the commissioner of veterans' services 16 in the manner prescribed by law. 17 § 3. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi- 18 sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of 19 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, 20 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in 21 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section 22 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg- 23 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of 24 the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such 25 invalid provisions had not been included herein. 26 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.