What's happening
This bill prohibits religious corporations that own cemeteries from selling monuments (excluding flush bronze markers) or displaying them for sale on their property.
Why it matters
Limits religious corporations' business activities. By banning the sale and display of most monuments on cemetery property, the bill restricts religious cemetery corporations from engaging in lucrative side businesses, aiming to separate burial services from monument sales and potentially prevent conflicts of interest.
Impacts consumer choice and competition. Families seeking to memorialize loved ones may be required to purchase monuments from independent vendors rather than directly from the cemetery, which could lead to more competitive pricing but may also create inconvenience or increase costs for some.
Affects small religious cemeteries as well. The restrictions apply even to religious cemeteries with thirty acres or less, meaning smaller organizations are subject to the same rules, possibly impacting their fundraising or operational models.
Attempts to address transparency and conflicts of interest. The bill includes language preventing employees or trustees from using their cemetery affiliation to promote their own monument sales, aiming to reduce the potential for self-dealing or misuse of position for personal gain.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Ban Cemetery Monument Sales
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
8 Co-sponsors
History
- Referred to ways and means
- Reported referred to rules
- Reported referred to ways and means
- Reported referred to codes
- Referred to corporations, authorities and commissions
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2293
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 17, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. MORELLE, COLTON, CYMBROWITZ, HEVESI, ABBATE, CUSICK, ABINANTI, WEPRIN, WOERNER -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BARCLAY, CROUCH, GALEF, LUPARDO, MONTESANO, NOLAN, ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions
AN ACT to amend the religious corporations law, in relation to the sale of monuments
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The fourth and fifth undesignated paragraphs of section 7 of the religious corporations law, as added by chapter 560 of the laws of 1998, are amended to read as follows:
No religious corporation owning, managing or controlling a cemetery shall, directly or indirectly:
(a) sell, or have, enter into or perform a lease of any of its real property dedicated to cemetery purposes or adjacent thereto to a funeral entity, or use any of its property for locating a funeral entity;
(b) commingle its funds with a funeral entity;
(c) direct or carry on its cemetery related business or affairs with a funeral entity;
(d) authorize control of its cemetery related business or affairs by a funeral entity;
(e) engage in any sale or cross-marketing of goods or services with a funeral entity;
(f) have, enter into or perform a management or service contract for cemetery operations with a funeral entity; [or]
(g) have, enter into or perform a management contract with any entity other than a not-for-profit cemetery or religious corporation[.];
(h) engage in the sale of monuments, not including flush bronze markers, nor shall such monuments be displayed for sale on the property of a
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00942-01-7
A. 2293 2
religious corporation, whether such property is located on cemetery grounds or elsewhere; or
(i) authorize or permit any employee or trustee or director thereof to advertise or make known his or her relationship to such religious corporation or cemetery if such person is engaged in the sale of monuments outside of his or her employment by or affiliation with the religious corporation or the cemetery.
Only the provisions of subparagraphs (a) [and], (b), (h) and (i) of the [previous] fourth undesignated paragraph of this section shall apply to religious corporations with thirty acres or less of real property dedicated to cemetery purposes, and only to the extent the sale or lease is of real property dedicated to cemetery purposes, and such cemeteries shall not engage in the sale of funeral home goods or services, except if such goods and services are otherwise permitted to be sold by cemeteries.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.