STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5838 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE March 3, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. SKOUFIS, ADDABBO, S. RYAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Corpo- rations, 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 Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The fourth undesignated paragraph and the closing paragraph 2 of section 7 of the religious corporations law, the fourth undesignated 3 paragraph as added by chapter 560 of the laws of 1998 and the closing 4 paragraph as amended by chapter 296 of the laws of 2018, are amended to 5 read as follows: 6 No religious corporation owning, managing or controlling a cemetery 7 shall, directly or indirectly: 8 (a) sell, or have, enter into or perform a lease of any of its real 9 property dedicated to cemetery purposes or adjacent thereto to a funeral 10 entity, or use any of its property for locating a funeral entity; 11 (b) commingle its funds with a funeral entity; 12 (c) direct or carry on its cemetery related business or affairs with a 13 funeral entity; 14 (d) authorize control of its cemetery related business or affairs by a 15 funeral entity; 16 (e) engage in any sale or cross-marketing of goods or services with a 17 funeral entity; 18 (f) have, enter into or perform a management or service contract for 19 cemetery operations with a funeral entity; [or] 20 (g) have, enter into or perform a management contract with any entity 21 other than a not-for-profit cemetery or religious corporation[.]; 22 (h) engage in the sale of monuments, not including flush bronze mark- 23 ers, 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. LBD09200-01-5

S. 5838 2 1 religious corporation, whether such property is located on cemetery 2 grounds or elsewhere; or 3 (i) authorize or permit any employee or trustee or director thereof to 4 advertise or make known their relationship to such religious corporation 5 or cemetery if such person is engaged in the sale of monuments outside 6 of their employment by or affiliation with the religious corporation or 7 the cemetery. 8 Only the provisions of subparagraphs (a) [~~and~~], (b), (h) and (i) of 9 the [~~previous~~] fourth undesignated paragraph of this section shall apply 10 to religious corporations with thirty acres or less of real property 11 dedicated to cemetery purposes, and only to the extent the sale or lease 12 is of real property dedicated to cemetery purposes, and such cemeteries 13 shall not engage in the sale of funeral home goods or services, except 14 if such goods and services are otherwise permitted to be sold by ceme- 15 teries. No religious corporation shall approve or authorize the 16 construction of a mausoleum or columbarium on property owned by the 17 religious corporation where such mausoleum or columbarium shall be the 18 only form of interment offered for cemetery purposes unless a management 19 contract has been entered into with an existing cemetery corporation 20 regulated under article fifteen of the not-for-profit corporation law, 21 that will provide operational management of the mausoleum or columbari- 22 um, and the owner of the mausoleum or columbarium has reserved interment 23 space and secured interment services in a cemetery regulated under this 24 article, in order to assure continued perpetual care of the remains 25 contained in the mausoleum or columbarium should such mausoleum or 26 columbarium become abandoned or choose to cease operations. 27 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 28 have become a law.

Relates to the sale of cemetery monuments

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