‘Svare OF New Yor EXECUTIVE CHAMBER Alpany 12224 VETO #69 ‘TO THE ASSEMBLY: SEP 16 2009 1am retuming herewith, without my approval, the following bill: Assembly Bill Number 6349, entitled: “AN ACT to amend the penal la, in relation to endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person’ NOT APPROVED “Endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled is presently a Class A misdemeanor pursuant to Penal Law § 260.25. Bndangesment of the welfare of a ‘vulnerable elderly person by a caregiver i separately defined in Penal Law §§ 26032 (second degree) and 260.34 (rst depres) and isa felony. This bill would amend sections 260.32 and 260.34 to add the term “incompetent or physically dssbled person,” making ‘hese statutes applicable to both vulnerable eldeely persons and to persons who ate ‘ncompetent or physically disabled | suppor the goel ofthis bill: to more severely penalize carégiver abuse of | individuals with disabilities or who are disabled and incompetent. 1am deeply concemed, however, that this offense not be made a felony without ensuring that all key terms are clearly defined. note in particular that a key term, “incompetent,” isnot defined. As the agencies ‘and organizations that care for people with disabilities (who overwhelmingly oppose this ‘ill have pointed out, “incompetent” isa broad term that covers a range of disabilities and someone may be competent to do certain things, yet unable todo others. This needs tobe clarified. In addition, the statute seems to require that the victim's disability or state of ‘competence be proven at trial. This may expose the victim to an invasion of his or her privacy that should not be occasioned by a bill ike this. Again, [believe this can be ‘addressed via the use of clearly defined categories of victims that will avoid these problems, ‘The individuals who would be subject tothe newly created offenses are cerogivers, and Thelieve we need to st forth the nature ofthe violation with prea clarity ‘before they are subject to felony penalties. However, because I support the concept of more severely penalizing caregiver abuse of disabled individuals Iam instructing my staff to work with the Legislature to fix the aforementioned problems. If bill at appropriately addresses these problems is passed, I will approve it. [look forward to ‘working with the sponsors to making that a reality. ‘This bill is disapproved.