New York A 158: Relates to creating the traumatic brain injury trust fund

Bill Text

STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
158
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
(Prefiled)
January 9, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CAHILL, THIELE, SIMOTAS, BENEDETTO, ABBATE,
ORTIZ, McDONOUGH, OTIS, ENGLEBRIGHT, LUPARDO, RIVERA, COOK, D'URSO,
PALUMBO, BLAKE, LAWRENCE, AUBRY, STECK, ABINANTI, WEPRIN, WOERNER --
Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. GALEF, GIGLIO, WALSH -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
AN ACT to amend the state finance law and the vehicle and traffic law,
in relation to the creation of the traumatic brain injury trust 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-ff to read as follows:
3 § 99-ff. Traumatic brain injury 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 traumatic brain
6 injury trust fund. A traumatic brain injury trust fund authority shall
7 be appointed to administer the traumatic brain injury trust fund.
8 2.(a) The traumatic brain injury trust fund authority shall consist of
9 ten members serving for terms of three years. All members shall be
10 appointed by the governor, five of whom shall be citizens who have
11 sustained traumatic brain injury or members of such persons' immediate
12 families, no more than one of whom shall reside in the same geographic
13 area of the state. The governor shall appoint the remaining five members
14 from recommendations submitted by the Brain Injury Association of New
15 York State and other organizations or facilities that specialize in
16 brain injury rehabilitation.
17 (b) The governor shall designate a chairperson of the authority from
18 among its members, which chairperson shall serve at the pleasure of the
19 governor. The authority may elect such other officers and committees as
20 it considers appropriate.
EXPLANATION--Matter in (underscored) is new; matter in bracketsitalics
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01894-01-9

A. 158 2
1 (c) The members shall receive no compensation for their services as
2 members, but shall be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses
3 incurred in the performance of their duties.
4 (d) The authority shall have the power to accept applications for
5 disbursements of available money from the fund and authorize disburse-
6 ment of funds to qualified individuals, as defined in subdivision four
7 of this section.
8 (e) The authority shall adopt rules and regulations for the adminis-
9 tration of the fund to carry out the purposes and provisions of this
10 section. Such regulations shall be adopted in accordance with article
11 two of the state administrative procedure act.
12 3. Such fund shall consist of all moneys appropriated for the purpose
13 of such fund, moneys collected by the state from courts of the unified
14 court system pursuant to sections eighteen hundred nine and eighteen
15 hundred nine-c of the vehicle and traffic law and all other moneys
16 transferred to such fund pursuant to law. Any interest earned by the
17 investment of moneys in such fund shall be added to such fund, become a
18 part of such fund, and be used for the purpose of such fund.
19 4. Monies of the fund shall be expended only to qualified individuals
20 not eligible for Medicaid funded, or otherwise insurance covered, trau-
21 matic brain injury programs and services. Such fund shall be a payer of
22 last resort for all applicable supports and services. A qualified indi-
23 vidual must:
24 (a) provide medical documentation of a traumatic brain injury, as
25 defined by section twenty-seven hundred forty-one of the public health
26 law;
27 (b) be a New York resident for at least ninety consecutive days prior
28 to application date;
29 (c) have less than one hundred thousand dollars in liquid assets;
30 (d) provide proof of denial from other funding sources; and
31 (e) be willing to accept services from an approved facility or
32 program.
33 5. Monies shall be payable from the fund on the audit and warrant of
34 the comptroller on vouchers approved and certified by the authority.
35 Annually, payments from the fund shall be capped at three thousand
36 dollars per individual, with a lifetime cap of one hundred thousand
37 dollars per individual.
38 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 1809 of the vehicle and traffic law, as
39 amended by chapter 309 of the laws of 1996, is amended to read as
40 follows:
41 3. The mandatory surcharge provided for in subdivision one of this
42 section shall be paid to the clerk of the court or administrative tribu-
43 nal that rendered the conviction. Within the first ten days of the month
44 following collection of the mandatory surcharge the collecting authority
45 shall determine the amount of mandatory surcharge collected and, if it
46 is an administrative tribu