Bill Text: NY A07871 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Provides that any condition of impairment of health caused by Parkinson's Disease, resulting in total disability or death to a volunteer firefighter is presumptive evidence that such disability or death was caused by the natural and proximate result of an accident and was sustained in the performance and discharge of duty.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-10 - print number 7871a [A07871 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A07871-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Provides that any condition of impairment of health caused by Parkinson's Disease, resulting in total disability or death to a volunteer firefighter is presumptive evidence that such disability or death was caused by the natural and proximate result of an accident and was sustained in the performance and discharge of duty.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-10 - print number 7871a [A07871 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A07871-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7871 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY July 7, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. SILLITTI -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Governmental Employees AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, the education law and the volunteer firefighters' benefit law, in relation to disa- bility retirement benefits for the presumption of Parkinson's Disease for volunteer firefighters The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding 2 a new section 65 to read as follows: 3 § 65. Volunteer firefighter certain impairments of health; presump- 4 tion. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the 5 contrary, any condition of impairment of health caused by Parkinson's 6 Disease, resulting in total or partial disability or death to a member 7 who outside his or her retirement system membership is also a volunteer 8 firefighter in this state and has been for a minimum of five years, 9 where such volunteer firefighter successfully passed a physical examina- 10 tion on entry into service as a volunteer firefighter or subsequent 11 thereto, which examination failed to reveal any evidence of such condi- 12 tion, shall be presumptive evidence that, unless the contrary be proven 13 by competent evidence, such disability or death of the member (a) was 14 caused by the natural and proximate result of an accident, not caused by 15 such member's own willful negligence, and (b) was incurred in the 16 performance and discharge of the member's duty. The member shall submit 17 documentation verifying that they meet the eligibility requirements of 18 this section. 19 § 2. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new 20 section 363-g to read as follows: 21 § 363-g. Volunteer firefighter certain impairments of health; presump- 22 tion. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the 23 contrary, any condition of impairment of health caused by Parkinson's EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD03391-04-3A. 7871 2 1 Disease, resulting in total or partial disability or death to a member 2 who outside his or her retirement system membership is also a volunteer 3 firefighter in this state and has been for a minimum of five years, 4 where such volunteer firefighter successfully passed a physical examina- 5 tion on entry into service as a volunteer firefighter or subsequent 6 thereto, which examination failed to reveal any evidence of such condi- 7 tion, shall be presumptive evidence that, unless the contrary be proven 8 by competent evidence, such disability or death of the member (a) was 9 caused by the natural and proximate result of an accident, not caused by 10 such member's own willful negligence, and (b) was incurred in the 11 performance and discharge of the member's duty. The member shall submit 12 documentation verifying that they meet the eligibility requirements of 13 this section. 14 § 3. The education law is amended by adding a new section 511-b to 15 read as follows: 16 § 511-b. Volunteer firefighter certain impairments of health; presump- 17 tion. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the 18 contrary, any condition of impairment of health caused by Parkinson's 19 Disease, resulting in total or partial disability or death to a member 20 who outside his or her retirement system membership is also a volunteer 21 firefighter in this state and has been for a minimum of five years, 22 where such volunteer firefighter successfully passed a physical examina- 23 tion on entry into service as a volunteer firefighter or subsequent 24 thereto, which examination failed to reveal any evidence of such condi- 25 tion, shall be presumptive evidence that, unless the contrary be proven 26 by competent evidence, such disability or death of the member (a) was 27 caused by the natural and proximate result of an accident, not caused by 28 such member's own willful negligence, and (b) was incurred in the 29 performance and discharge of the member's duty. The member shall submit 30 documentation verifying that they meet the eligibility requirements of 31 this section. 32 § 4. The volunteer firefighters' benefit law is amended by adding a 33 new section 11-d to read as follows: 34 § 11-d. Volunteer firefighters; presumption of Parkinson's Disease. 35 Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the contrary, 36 any condition of impairment of health caused by Parkinson's Disease 37 resulting in total or partial disability or death to a volunteer fire- 38 fighter, or any retired volunteer firefighter who has been retired for 39 two or less years, where such volunteer firefighter successfully passed 40 a physical examination on entry into service or subsequent thereto, 41 which examination failed to reveal any evidence of such condition, and 42 who has been a volunteer firefighter in this state for a minimum of five 43 years, shall be presumptive evidence that such disability or death (a) 44 was caused by the natural and proximate result of an accident, not 45 caused by such firefighter's own negligence, and (b) was incurred in the 46 performance and discharge of duty, unless the contrary be proven by 47 competent evidence. 48 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would amend the Retirement and Social Security Law to provide Tier 1 and Tier 2 members of the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System (NYSLERS) and all members of the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System (NYSLPFRS) with a presumption that any disability or death resulting from impairments of health related to Parkinson's Disease are the result of an accident sustained in the performance of duty unless the contrary can be provenA. 7871 3 by competent evidence. To be eligible, the member must (1) be a volun- teer firefighter in New York State and have been for at least 5 years, (2) have passed a physical examination, and (3) submit documentation verifying these eligibility requirements are satisfied. Insofar as it will affect the New York State and Local Retirement System, if this bill is enacted it would lead to more disabilities and deaths being classified as "accidental". The cost of the revised benefit will depend upon the applicant's age, service, salary, plan and benefit type otherwise payable. Benefit without None Ordinary POD Service Death enactment: Disability Disability Cost for revised 10 times 5.5 times 3 times 2 times 13 times benefit: salary salary salary salary salary The exact number of current members as well as future members who could be affected by this legislation cannot be readily determined. Those costs arising in the NYSLERS and NYSLPFRS will be shared by the State of New York and the participating employers of each system, respectively. Summary of relevant resources: Membership data as of March 31, 2022 was used in measuring the impact of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2022 actuari- al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2022 Report of the Actuary and the 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2020, 2021, and 2022 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assump- tions, and the Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and Control. The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2022 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and Supplementary Information. I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali- fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein. This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney. This estimate, dated May 31, 2023, and intended for use only during the 2023 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2023-56, prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would amend various sections of the Education Law and the Retirement and Social Security Law to provide an accidental disability benefit to an eligible active member or an accidental death benefit to the beneficiary of an eligible deceased member of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System who has been a volunteer firefighter in New York State for a minimum of five years and develops any condition of impairment of health caused by Parkinson's Disease resulting in total or partial disability or death. Such impairment of health due to Parkinson's Disease will be considered caused by an accident, not caused by such member's own willful negligence, and will be considered to have been incurred in the performance of duty. Under current law a disability benefit is generally equal to one-third of final average salary. Ten years of service are required to be eligi-A. 7871 4 ble for a disability benefit, although this ten-year requirement is waived in the case of an accidental disability incurred during the performance of duty. The amount of the accidental disability benefit is the same as that of the ordinary disability benefit. Under current law the death benefit for an active member who dies prior to retirement is generally equal to three times the member's last year's salary, payable as a lump sum. The death benefit for an active member who dies prior to retirement as the result of an accident sustained during the performance of duty is equal to a lifetime benefit equal to 50% of the regular salary earned during the member's last year of service. The overall cost of this bill cannot be readily determined as the ultimate number of volunteer firefighter disability retirements or acci- dental deaths caused by Parkinson's Disease cannot be determined at this time. The average cost per individual member impacted is estimated as follows: Member Age Disability Benefit Accidental Death Benefit 30 $250,000 (4.3 times salary) $240,000 (4.2 times salary) 40 $320,000 (4.0 times salary) $310,000 (3.9 times salary) 50 $350,000 (3.6 times salary) $340,000 (3.4 times salary) The actual cost per member would be dependent on the member and bene- ficiary's age, tier, years of service and salary. The costs above are determined based on averages, so the actual cost for a member could be higher or lower. Member data is from the System's most recent actuarial valuation files, consisting of data provided by the employers to the Retirement System. Data distributions and statistics can be found in the System's Annual Report. System assets are as reported in the System's financial statements and can also be found in the System's Annual Report. Actuari- al assumptions and methods are provided in the System's Actuarial Valu- ation Report. The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2023-17 dated June 9, 2023 prepared by the Office of the Actuary of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System and is intended for use only during the 2023 Legisla- tive Session. I, Richard A. Young, am the Chief Actuary for the New York State Teachers' Retirement System. I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and I meet the Qualification Standards of the American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
