Bill Text: NY A02788 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Provides for taxpayer gifts for lupus education and prevention, and establishes the lupus education and prevention fund and outreach program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Passed) 2018-10-01 - signed chap.294 [A02788 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-A02788-Introduced.html

---

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          2788
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    January 23, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  M. of A. PEOPLES-STOKES, BRINDISI, TITONE, THIELE, McDO-
          NALD -- read once and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
        AN ACT to amend the tax law and the state finance law,  in  relation  to
          providing  for  taxpayer gifts for lupus education and prevention, and
          establishing the lupus education  and  prevention  fund  and  outreach
          program
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1.  Legislative  intent.  The  legislature  hereby  finds  the
     2  following:
     3    (a)  Lupus is a serious, complex, debilitating autoimmune disease that
     4  can cause inflammation and tissue damage to virtually any  organ  system
     5  in  the body, including the skin, joints, other connective tissue, blood
     6  and blood vessels, heart, lungs, kidney, and brain.
     7    (b) Lupus research estimates that approximately one and a half to  two
     8  million Americans live with some form of lupus; lupus affects women nine
     9  times more often than men and eighty percent of newly diagnosed cases of
    10  lupus develop among women of childbearing age.
    11    (c)  Lupus  disproportionately  affects women of color -- it is two to
    12  three times more common among African-Americans, Hispanics,  Asians  and
    13  Native Americans and is generally more prevalent in minority populations
    14  -- a health disparity that remains unexplained. According to the Centers
    15  for  Disease  Control  and  Prevention  the  rate of lupus mortality has
    16  increased since the late 1970s and is higher among older  African-Ameri-
    17  can women.
    18    (d) No new drugs have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Adminis-
    19  tration  specifically  for lupus in nearly forty years and while current
    20  treatments for the disease can be effective, they can lead  to  damaging
    21  side effects.
    22    (e)  The  pain and fatigue associated with lupus can threaten people's
    23  ability to live independently, make it difficult to maintain  employment
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03211-02-7
        A. 2788                             2
     1  and  lead normal lives, and one in five people with lupus is disabled by
     2  the disease, and consequently receives support from government programs,
     3  including Medicare, Medicaid, social  security  disability,  and  social
     4  security supplemental income.
     5    (f)  The  estimated  average  annual  cost of medical treatment for an
     6  individual with lupus can range between ten thousand dollars and  thirty
     7  thousand  dollars;  for  people who have the most serious form of lupus,
     8  medical costs can greatly exceed  this  amount,  causing  a  significant
     9  economic, emotional and social burden to the entire family and society.
    10    (g)  More than half of the people with lupus suffer four or more years
    11  and visit three or more  physicians  before  obtaining  a  diagnosis  of
    12  lupus;  early  diagnosis  of and commencement of treatment for lupus can
    13  prevent or reduce serious organ damage, disability, and death.
    14    (h) Despite the magnitude of lupus and its impact on  individuals  and
    15  families,  health professional and public understanding of lupus remains
    16  low; only one of five Americans can provide even basic information about
    17  lupus, and awareness of lupus is lowest among adults  ages  eighteen  to
    18  thirty-four -- the age group most likely to develop symptoms of lupus.
    19    (i)  Lupus  is  a  significant  national  health issue that deserves a
    20  comprehensive and coordinated response by state and federal  governments
    21  with involvement of the health care provider, patient, and public health
    22  communities.
    23    §  2.  The tax law is amended by adding a new section 209-K to read as
    24  follows:
    25    § 209-K. Gift for lupus education and prevention. A  taxpayer  in  any
    26  taxable  year may elect to contribute to the support of the lupus educa-
    27  tion and prevention fund. Such contribution shall be in any whole dollar
    28  amount and shall not reduce the amount of the state  tax  owed  by  such
    29  taxpayer.  The  commissioner shall include space on the corporate income
    30  tax return to enable a taxpayer to make  such  contribution.    Notwith-
    31  standing  any other provision of law, all revenues collected pursuant to
    32  this section shall be credited to the  lupus  education  and  prevention
    33  fund  and  shall  be  used only for those purposes enumerated in section
    34  ninety-seven-pppp of the state finance law.
    35    § 3. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 630-e to  read  as
    36  follows:
    37    § 630-e. Gift for lupus education and prevention. An individual in any
    38  taxable  year  may  elect  to  contribute  to  the  lupus  education and
    39  prevention fund. Such contribution shall be in any whole  dollar  amount
    40  and  shall  not  reduce the amount of state tax owed by such individual.
    41  The commissioner shall include space on the personal income  tax  return
    42  to  enable  a  taxpayer  to  make such contribution. Notwithstanding any
    43  other provision of law all revenues collected pursuant to  this  section
    44  shall  be  credited  to the lupus education and prevention fund and used
    45  only for those purposes enumerated in section ninety-seven-pppp  of  the
    46  state finance law.
    47    §  4. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 97-pppp
    48  to read as follows:
    49    § 97-pppp. Lupus education and prevention fund.  1.  There  is  hereby
    50  established  in  the  joint  custody of the commissioner of taxation and
    51  finance and the comptroller, a special fund to be known  as  the  "lupus
    52  education and prevention fund".
    53    2.  Such fund shall consist of all revenues received by the department
    54  of taxation and finance, pursuant  to  the  provisions  of  section  two
    55  hundred  nine-K and section six hundred thirty-e of the tax law, and all
    56  other moneys appropriated, credited  or  transferred  thereto  from  any
        A. 2788                             3
     1  other  fund or source pursuant to law. Nothing contained in this section
     2  shall prevent the state from receiving grants, gifts or bequests for the
     3  purposes of the fund as defined in this section and depositing them into
     4  the fund according to law.
     5    3.  Monies  of the fund shall be expended only for lupus education and
     6  prevention projects. As used  in  this  section,  "lupus  education  and
     7  prevention  projects"  means  educational projects, including grants for
     8  lupus education and prevention  programs,  which  are  approved  by  the
     9  department of health.
    10    4.  Monies  shall be payable from the fund on the audit and warrant of
    11  the comptroller on vouchers approved and certified by  the  commissioner
    12  of health.
    13    5.  To the extent practicable, the commissioner of health shall ensure
    14  that all monies received during a fiscal year are expended prior to  the
    15  end of that fiscal year.
    16    § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.