twenty-year retirement program for uniformed sanitation workers of the New York City department of sanitation who are subject to articles 11 and 15 of such law. It is estimated that if such an amendment were to be enacted in the 1992 Legislative Session the annual cost to the city would be zero. This estimate was prepared by Program Planners, Inc. and is intended for use only during the 1992 Legislative Session. CHAPTER 548 AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to profit-making dental referral service organizations Became a law July 24, 1992, with the approval of the Governor. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. Section 4501 of the public health law, as added by chapter 725 of the laws of 1971 and as renumbered by chapter 17 of the laws of 1972, is amended to read as follows: § 4501. Medical referral service businesses prohibited. 1. No person, firm, partnership, association or corporation, or agent or employee thereof, shall engage in for profit any business or service which in whole or in part includes the referral or recommendation of persons to a physician, dentist, hospital, health related facility, or dispensary for any form of medical or dental care or treatment of any ailment or physical condition. The imposition of a fee or charge for any such referral or recommendation shall create a presumption that the business or service is engaged in for profit. 2. No physician, dentist, hospital, health related facility or dispensary shall enter into a contract or other form of agreement to accept for medical or dental care or treatment any person referred or recommended for such care or treatment by a medical or dental referral service business located in or doing business in another state if the medical or dental referral service business would be prohibited under this section if the business were located in or doing business in this state. § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. CHAPTER 549 AN ACT to require the office of mental health to submit recommendations in relation to expansion of the medical assistance presumptive eligibility program to persons discharged from psychiatric hospitals Became a law July 24, 1992, with the approval of the Governor. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. Legislative intent. The legislature finds that individuals who are discharged from acute care in psychiatric hospitals in the state often need a variety of services, treatments or medications in order to assist them to successfully remain in the community, and to prevent readmissions into costly inpatient settings. Many individuals previously have been determined to be eligible for benefits under the medical assistance program which will pay for necessary medical care and services. However, some individuals who are discharged from hospitals may not yet qualify for medical assistance because application was not made or because their short length of stay did not provide sufficient time to process all necessary paperwork. For these individuals the lack of medical assistance benefits may make it impossible for them to purchase necessary medications. The legislature further finds that presumptive eligibility for medical assistance benefits for persons diagnosed with mental illness may prevent lengthy and costly stays in psychiatric hospitals and may prevent premature readmissions into such hospitals. These savings could offset some or all of the costs of expanding the existing presumptive eligibility program, applicable to certain persons who are discharged from acute general hospitals. § 2. In an effort to address the issues established in section one of this act, the office of mental health, in consultation with the state department of health and the department of social services, shall prepare a report which evaluates the programmatic, clinical and fiscal implications of expanding the presumptive eligibility program, established pursuant to section 364-i of the social services law, to include persons diagnosed with mental illness who are discharged from hospitals licensed or operated by the office of mental health. The report shall estimate the numbers of persons who would be presumptively eligible for medical assistance benefits if the existing presumptive eligibility program were extended to include persons discharged from hospitals licensed or operated by the office of mental health to outpatient programs licensed or operated by the office. The report shall also evaluate the state and local costs of expanding this program, as well as any offsetting savings that may result from shorter stays in hospitals or reduced readmissions to inpatient settings. The office of mental health may request and shall receive information necessary to comply with this act from hospitals, as defined in subdivision 10 of section 1.03 of the mental hygiene law. The report shall be submitted to the governor and the legislature on or before February 1 1993. 3. This act shall take effect immediately. CHAPTER 550 AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to applications for certificate of title Became a law July 24, 1992, with the approval of the Governor. Passed on message of necessity pursuant to Article III, section 14 of the Constitution by a majority vote, three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. Paragraph (f) of subdivision 1 of section 201 of the vehicle and traffic law, as added by chapter 380 of the laws of 1980, is amended to read as follows: (f) any application [for the registration], including supporting documents, for [the] registration and/or title of a motorboat, other than [a] an application for renewal of [a] registration, [of] or any notice of a lien on a motorboat after such application shall have been on file for a period of four years; § 2. Section 201 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new subdivision 1-a to read as follows: 1-a. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (f) of subdivision one of this section, whenever a procedure which causes an image of an application for a certificate of title to be created and stored is in use in the department and such image constitutes the official record of the department, such application, including supporting documents, may be destroyed after the images have been created and stored in accordance with such procedure. § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 201 of the vehicle and traffic law, as added by chapter 380 of the laws of 1980, is amended to read as follows: EXPLANATION-Matter in italics is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law 2. Reproduction of documents by commissioner. The provisions of subdivision one of this section shall not prevent the commissioner from reproducing a copy of any document specified in that subdivision in reduced form [and designating such] or from electronically creating and storing an image of applications and other documents required for the issuance of certificate of title. Such image or reproduction may be designated as the official departmental record. [In such case, the] The original document may be destroyed after such reproduction or image has been made and filed and the destruction of the reproduction or image shall be governed by the provisions of subdivision one of this section. § 4. Section 2125 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new subdivision (f) to read as follows: (f) Whenever the commissioner prescribes a procedure which causes images relating to an application for a certificate of title to be created and stored an additional fee not to exceed one dollar above the actual cost of producing a certificate of title rounded to the nearest twenty-five cents shall be paid to the commissioner upon the filing of an application for a certificate or duplicate certificate of title. § 5. This act shall take effect September 1, 1992. CHAPTER 551 AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to including implantation within the definition of exposure for the purposes of the statute of limitations for personal injury or injury to property caused by latent effects of exposure Became a law July 24, 1992, with the approval of the Governor. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 214-c of the civil practice law and rules, as added by chapter 682 of the laws of 1986, is amended to read as follows: 1. In this section: "exposure" means direct or indirect exposure by absorption, contact, ingestion, inhalation, implantation or injection. § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. CHAPTER 552 AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to the provision of family support services Became a law July 24, 1992, with the approval of the Governor. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. Legislative findings and declaration. The legislature hereby finds and declares: (a) children, regardless of the severity of their disabilities, need families and enduring relationships with adults in a nurturing home environment to have the best opportunity to develop to their fullest potential; (b) children with developmental disabilities should have the freedom to remain at home with their families; (c) families caring for a child or adult family member with developmental disabilities should have the option, when it is in the best interests of the child or adult with developmental disabilities and of the family, of receiving services and supports necessary to maintain the individual at home; (d) families caring for a family member with developmental disabilities should be offered assistance to make informed choices and access, purchase, or otherwise obtain the goods and services necessary to to maintain that family member at home and strengthen the family's caregiving capacity; (e) the services which should be made generally available to families caring at home for a family member with developmental disabilities should include information and referral to available community services, benefits counseling, coordination of services, crisis and emergency services, and assistance in the securing of needed goods and services; (f) additional goods and services or assistance in the payment for such, whether by allowance, voucher, credit, reimbursement or other means shall be offered to families to the extent allowable by existing state resources and legislative appropriations for such purposes; (g) family support services should be family-driven, designed to meet the needs of the particular family requesting assistance as well as the needs of the individual with developmental disabilities, and flexible enough to meet the changing needs of such families and individuals; (h) the needs of the entire family should be considered in the development of family support services for individual families; (i) family support services should be delivered in a manner which is culturally and linguistically appropriate to families; and (j) family support services should promote the use of existing generic community resources, informal and natural sources of support, and the coordination of federal, state and local programs and services. The legislature also finds that families caring for a family member who has a developmental disability often experience substantial physical, emotional and financial stress associated with that care; that it is often cost effective to provide services to persons with developmental disabilities at home instead of in an out-of-home placement; and that there remains a great number of families in New York state that are not yet receiving needed family support services despite the existence beginning in 1985, of a family support services program which has served over thirty thousand families. In recognition of these needs, the legislature supports, to the extent allowable by existing state resources and legislative appropriations, the continued development and expansion of family support services, and the empowerment of families through the design of services which maximize the family's control over the nature of such services, provided such services are in the best interests of the individual with developmental disabilities and provided further that out-of-home placements continue to be made available for those individuals for whom such placements are appropriate. In those instances in which an individual with developmental disabilities continues to reside in the family home awaiting placement in a more appropriate residential arrangement, family support services may be provided. § 2. Section 41.43 of the mental hygiene law, as amended by chapter 249 of the laws of 1987, is amended to read as follows: § 41.43 Family support [programs] services. (a) The commissioner of the office of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, directly or through contract, and within amounts made available therefor, shall establish a family-directed, statewide system of comprehensive family support [program] services. The purpose of [the program] family support services will be to enhance a family's ability to provide in-home care to their [disabled] family members with a developmental disability. [Families caring at home for family members with developmental disabilities including disabilities such as prader willi, autism, neurological impairments and epilepsy, shall be eligible for such services. Such services shall include but not be limited to outreach services, family member training, counseling, respite, and transportation. ] (b) In administering family support services, the commissioner may, to the extent practicable, establish standards for outcome assessment and performance reviews of the goods and services obtained whether such goods and services are purchased pursuant to contract with the state, through reimbursement of families, through the issuance of vouchers to families for the purchase of goods and services, or through other means. (c) For purposes of this section, family supports are goods, services, and subsidies, determined by the family and the commissioner of the office of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, which are provided to meet the goals of: (i) providing a quality of life comparable, to the extent practicable, to that of similarly situated families without a family member having a developmental disability; (ii) mainEXPLANATION-Matter in italics is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law taining family unity; (iii) preventing premature or inappropriate outof-home placement; (iv) reuniting families; (v) enhancing parenting skills; and (vi) maximizing the potential of the family member with a developmental disability. com (d) The mental retardation and developmental disabilities advisory council created by section 13.05 of this chapter shall establish a mittee pursuant to the provisions of paragraph one of subdivision (c) of section 13.05 of this chapter, comprised of members selected by the commissioner, to be called the committee on family support services. The Committee shall (i) provide information to the commissioner on the needs of families caring at home for a family member with a developmental disability; (ii) advise the commissioner on policies related to family supports and services; and (iii) offer advice to the commissioner on the design, implementation and monitoring of family support services. Members of the committee shall include persons with a developmental disability, family members of persons with a developmental disability, and professionals and others with an interest in the care of persons with developmental disabilities. A majority of the committee shall be family members of persons with developmental disabilities. Members shall only receive reimbursement for expenses incurred in connection with their duties on the committee. (e) The commissioner, in consultation with the committee on family support services, shall submit by January first, nineteen hundred ninety-three, and annually thereafter for four years, reports to the governor and the legislature concerning family support services. Such reports shall include, but not be limited to, the following: an analysis of family support services provided by contract agencies and those provided by the state, the amounts and sources of funds expended annually for family support services by region and by type of service, the number of families receiving services, the number of families estimated to be in need of family support services, the results of consumer and family member assessments of family support services, and a description of any new initiatives and recommendations for future action. § 3. This act shall take effect immediately. CHAPTER 553 AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to the improper expenditure of moneys by mental hygiene service providers Became a law July 24, 1992, with the approval of the Governor. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. Section 16. 32 of the mental hygiene law, as added by chapter 232 of the laws of 1991, is amended to read as follows: 16.32 Improper expenditure of moneys. (a) No No provider of services certified pursuant to this article shall make any charitable contribution of any state moneys, medical assistance payments or social security or supplemental security income or any interest or other income earned thereon, except as authorized by the commissioner. Provided, however, the provisions of this section shall not apply to receipts or donations from private or non-governmental sources and any interest or other income earned thereon. (b) No loans, other than through the purchase of bonds, debentures, or similar obligations of the type customarily sold in public offerings, or through ordinary deposit of funds in a bank, shall be made by a not-forprofit corporation which is certified as a provider of services pursuant to this article to its employee who receives an annual salary in excess of thirty thousand dollars, or to any other corporation, firm, association or other entity in which such employee is a director or officer or employee or holds a direct or indirect substantial financial interest, except a loan by one corporation incorporated as a type B corporation pursuant to the not-for-profit corporation law to another type B corporation, or a loan for a temporary or emergency purpose which will fur |