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Cuomo vetoes, signs veterans bills

Nov 11, 2014 12:34 pm
Michael Virtanenin The Daily Freeman reports that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo vetoed legislation that would have authorized state and municipal pension credits for peacetime military service on Fri., Nov. 7, just ahead of Veteran's Day. Cuomo called the bill an unfunded mandate that, "would run roughshod over systemic reforms carefully negotiated with the Legislature to avoid saddling local property taxpayers with additional, unmanageable burdens,” in a statement released to the media. The Assembly passed the bill 133-1 in June. “It fixes a loophole that has excluded countless servicemen and women who served honorably,” Sen. William Larkin, a Hudson Valley Republican who sponsored the bill, said in a statement when the legislation was sent to Cuomo two weeks ago. Cuomo did sign legislation to increase the property tax exemption for veterans from $5,000 to $7,500 of assessed value and to establish a homeless veterans assistance fund authorizing gifts through a state income tax check-off. Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.