What's happening
This bill allows New York towns and cities to waive marriage license fees for active duty armed forces members and prevents the state from collecting its portion of the fee.
Why it matters
Removes a potential financial barrier for active duty service members. by allowing towns and cities to waive marriage license fees, making it easier for military personnel to get married without extra costs.
Shifts financial responsibility away from both local governments and the state. for these licenses: towns and cities cannot collect or transmit the state’s portion of the fee for qualifying applicants, meaning the state will forgo this revenue.
Gives local governments flexibility. to choose whether to waive their own portion of the fee, enabling communities to directly support military families as they see fit.
Signals symbolic appreciation and support for active duty military. by recognizing their service through a tangible benefit, potentially improving morale and demonstrating state and local commitment to the armed forces.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Waive Marriage Fees for Troops
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Signed chap.177
- Delivered to governor
- Returned to senate
- Passed assembly
- Ordered to third reading rules cal.311
- Substituted for A55
- Referred to ways and means
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 62–0
- Ordered to third reading cal.1184
- Committee discharged and committed to rules
- Reported and committed to finance
Show 1 earlier action
- Referred to judiciary
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.
Waive Marriage Fees for Military
Assembly Floor Calendar · Sponsor David Buchwald
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3756
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 13, 2019
Introduced by Sen. MAYER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the domestic relations law, in relation to waiving the fee for marriage licenses for active duty members of the armed forces
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 14-a of the domestic relations law, as amended by chapter 297 of the laws of 1963, is amended to read as follows:
3. a. No fee shall be charged for any certificate when required by the veterans administration or by the division of veterans' affairs of the state of New York to be used in determining the eligibility of any person to participate in the benefits made available by the veterans administration or by the state of New York.
b. A town or city may elect to waive the fee for a certificate when either of the parties making application for such certificate is a member of the armed forces of the United States on active duty.
§ 2. Subdivision 4 of section 15 of the domestic relations law, as amended by chapter 35 of the laws of 2017, is amended to read as follows:
4. Before issuing any licenses herein provided for, the town or city clerk shall be entitled to a fee of thirty dollars, which sum shall be paid by the applicants before or at the time the license is issued; provided, however, that when either of the parties applying for such license is a member of the armed forces of the United States on active duty (i) a town or city may not collect that portion of the fee which would otherwise be transmitted to the state commissioner of health pursuant to this subdivision and (ii) such town or city may elect to waive the portion of the fee which the town or city is entitled to. Any town or city clerk who shall issue a license to marry any persons one or both of whom shall not be at the time of the marriage under such license
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00461-01-9
S. 3756 2
legally competent to marry without first requiring the parties to such marriage to make such affidavits and statements or who shall not require the production of documentary proof of age or the procuring of the approval and consents provided for by this article, which shall show that the parties authorized by said license to be married are legally competent to marry, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall be fined in the sum of one hundred dollars for each and every offense. On or before the fifteenth day of each month, each town and city clerk, except in the city of New York, shall transmit to the state commissioner of health twenty-two dollars and fifty cents of the amount received for each fee collected, which shall be paid into the vital records management account as provided by section ninety-sevencccc of the state finance law; provided, however, that no fee shall be collected on behalf of or paid to the commissioner of health when either of the parties applying for such license is a member of the armed forces of the United States on active duty. In any city the balance of all fees collected for the issuing of a marriage license, or for solemnizing a marriage, so far as collected for services rendered by any officer or employee of such city, shall be paid monthly into the city treasury and may by ordinance be credited to any fund therein designated, and said ordinance, when duly enacted, shall have the force of law in such city. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article, the clerk of any city with the approval of the governing body of such city is hereby authorized to designate, in writing filed in the city clerk's office, a deputy clerk, if any, and/or other city employees in such office to receive applications for, examine applications, investigate and issue marriage licenses in the absence or inability of the clerk of said city to act, and said deputy and/or employees so designated are hereby vested with all the powers and duties of said city clerk relative thereto. Such deputy and/or employees shall perform said duties without additional compensation.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the domestic relations law, in relation to waiving the fee for marriage licenses for active duty members of the armed forces
Purpose
This bill waives the state fee for marriage licenses for active duty members of the armed forces and allows localities to do likewise.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 of the bill amends subdivision 3 of section 14-a of the domes- tic relations law to permit towns and cities to waive the fees they charge for marriage certificates for active duty members of the U.S. armed forces or their spouses.
Section 2 of the bill amends subdivision 4 of section 15 of the domestic relations law to permit towns and cities to waive their fees for marriage licenses for active duty members of the U.S. armed forces and their spouses, and waives the $22.50 New York State fee for marriage licenses for such couples and prohibits towns and cities from collecting that portion of the fee that would otherwise be transmitted to the State Commissioner of Health when that state portion of the fee has been waived pursuant to this subdivision.
Justification
Our freedoms are protected by the men and women in our military. We are free to live our lives as we choose because of the security provided by our military and more specifically, the young men and women who are actively serving. Their commitment to our nation and the communities we live in is something we should all be grateful for. This bill simply says thank you to any man or women actively serving and wishing to get married in New York State. It waives the state portion of the marriage license fees for young men and women who are actively serving in our military while providing local governments the option to do the same. It is but a small gesture to show our gratitude and thanks for the service of members of our country's armed forces.
Legislative history
2017 - 2018: A.1268B (Buchwald) - Passed Judiciary Committee, Died in Ways and Means - Amended / S.7424 (Avella) - Referred to Judiciary
2016: A.9645 (Buchwald) - Passed Judiciary & Ways and means/ S.6808 (Latimer) - Passed Judiciary
Fiscal implications
$22.50 multiplied by the number of active duty members of the armed forces who get married in New York State.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.