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History
- Referred to ways and means
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 57–1
- Amended on third reading 899a
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.655
- Referred to finance
- Returned to senate
- Died in assembly
- Referred to ways and means
- Delivered to assembly
Show 5 earlier actions
- Passed senateVote 61–1
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.653
- Referred to finance
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Relates to the publication by the state of the receipt of unclaimed funds
In Assembly Committee · Ways And Means · Sponsor Dan Quart
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S899A
Title of bill
An act to amend the abandoned property law and the state technology law, in relation to unclaimed funds
Purpose
The purpose of this bill is to eliminate barriers for the visually impaired to access and obtain unclaimed funds from the state comp- troller's office, and ensure that all New Yorkers are made aware that they can obtain unclaimed funds directly from the state free of charge.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 of the bill amends paragraph (b) subdivision 1 of section 1402 of the abandoned property law to require the state comptroller twice a year to publish via newspaper a statement of what abandoned property is held by the state. The publication would also include, in type suffi- cient for a visually impaired person to read, a notice that a large- print listing of abandoned property can be obtained by writing the state comptroller's office.
Section 2 amends subdivision 1 of section 1416 of the abandoned property law to add a new paragraph (d), requiring that an agreement between an owner of unclaimed funds and an investigation agency retain a recitation to the effect that the owner understands the funds can be obtained with- out the help of the investigation agency.
Section 3 amends section 103 of the state technology law by adding a subdivision 18 requiring the Office of Information Technology Services to consult with the state commission on the blind and visually hand- icapped to develop accessibility standards for typeface and font size that would assist the visually impaired.
Justification
New Yorkers with visual impairments have difficulty determining whether they have unclaimed funds held by the state comptroller. Notification provisions have never been friendly to those with visual impairment. As a result, many New Yorkers learn about their unclaimed funds through solicitations from private investigators. The investigators charge a fee, typically equal to the statutory maximum of 15%, to collect the fund, usually without informing the owner of the funds that they can be collected free of charge directly from the comptroller. This legislation addresses both concerns, first by requiring notification in a visually- impaired friendly format, and second by requiring disclosure by private investigators of an unclaimed fund owner's rights.
Fiscal implications
Minimal to the state.
Effective date
This Act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.