§ 26. Payment to parents of veterans. 1. Annuity established. (a) A parent, identified in 10 USC 1126 as a gold star parent, of a veteran who heretofore has died or a parent of a veteran dying hereafter, shall upon application to the state commissioner, be paid an annual annuity out of the treasury of the state for the sum of five hundred dollars for such term as such parent shall be entitled thereto under the provisions of this article. Commencing in the year two thousand nineteen, the amount of any annuity payable under this section shall be the same amount as the annuity payable in the preceding year plus a percentage adjustment equal to the annual percentage increase, if any, for compensation and pension benefits administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in the previous year. Such percentage increase shall be rounded up to the next highest one-tenth of one percent and shall not be less than one percent nor more than four percent. The commissioner of veterans' services, not later than February first of each year, shall publish by any reasonable means, including but not limited to posting on the department's website, the amount of the annuity as adjusted payable under this section. The term "parent" for the purposes of this section includes mother, father, stepmother, stepfather, mother through adoption and father through adoption.

(b) The entitlement of any parent to receive the annuity provided by paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall terminate upon his or her death or upon his or her ceasing to continue to be a resident of and domiciled in the state of New York, but such entitlement may be reinstated upon application to the state commissioner, if such parent shall thereafter resume his or her residence and domicile in the state.

(c) The effective date of an award of the annuity to a parent shall be the day after the date of death of the veteran if the application therefor is received within one year from date of death. If the application is received after the expiration of the first year following the date of the death of the veteran, the effective date of an award of the annuity to a parent shall be the date of receipt of the application by the state commissioner. If the application is denied but is granted at a later date upon an application for reconsideration based upon new evidence, the effective date of the award of the annuity to a parent shall be the date of the receipt of the application for reconsideration by the state commissioner.

(d) Any applicant convicted of making any false statement in the application for the annuity shall be subject to penalties prescribed in the penal law.

2. Qualifications. (a) Any gold star parent, who is the parent of a deceased veteran, and who is a resident of and domiciled in the state of New York, shall make application to the department.

(b) No entitlement shall be paid under this section to or for a gold star parent who is in prison in a federal, state, or local penal institution as a result of conviction of a felony or misdemeanor for any part of the period beginning sixty-one days after his or her imprisonment begins and ending with his or her release.

(c) Where one or more gold star parents are disqualified for the annuity for a period under paragraph (b) of this subdivision, the state commissioner shall pay the shares of such disqualified parents to the other parents, if they meet the qualifications on their own.

(d) The decision of the state commissioner on matters regarding the payment of such annuity shall be final.

3. Method of payment. (a) Evidence of the military service of the deceased veteran of the gold star parent for each case shall be furnished in the manner and form prescribed by the state commissioner.

(b) Upon being satisfied that such service was honorable, that other facts and statements in the application of such gold star parent are true, the state commissioner shall certify to the state comptroller the name and address of such gold star parent.

(c) Thereafter, the department of taxation and finance, on the audit and warrant of the comptroller, shall pay such gold star parent such sum as is authorized by the provisions of this section in semi-annual installments for so long as such qualified gold star parent shall meet the requirements of this section.

4. Report. The state commissioner shall submit a report to the governor, the chair of the senate finance committee, and the chair of the assembly ways and means committee not later than January fifteenth of each year this section is in effect. Such report shall include, but not be limited to regulations promulgated pursuant to this section, and a description and evaluation of the program.