Bill Text: NY A10602 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides for a line of duty presumption for disabilities of fire alarm dispatchers in a city with a population of one million or more.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-06-20 - referred to governmental employees [A10602 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A10602-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 10602 IN ASSEMBLY June 20, 2024 ___________ Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Pheffer Amato) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Govern- mental Employees AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to disabilities of fire alarm dispatchers in certain cities The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new 2 section 207-r to read as follows: 3 § 207-r. Disabilities of fire alarm dispatchers in certain cities. 4 Notwithstanding the provisions of any general, special or local law or 5 administrative code to the contrary, except for the purposes of the 6 workers' compensation law and the labor law, any condition of impairment 7 of health caused by diseases of the heart, resulting in total or partial 8 disability or death to a fire alarm dispatcher, a supervising fire alarm 9 dispatcher level one or a supervising fire alarm dispatcher level two of 10 a fire department in a city with a population of one million or more, or 11 any retired member of such department who has been retired for five or 12 less years, who successfully passed a physical examination on entry into 13 the service of such department, which examination failed to reveal any 14 evidence of such condition, shall be presumptive evidence that it was 15 incurred in the performance and discharge of duty, unless the contrary 16 be proved by competent evidence. 17 § 2. All past service costs associated with implementing the 18 provisions of this act shall be borne by the city of New York. 19 § 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none 20 of the provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation 21 requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law. 22 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would provide Fire Alarm Dispatch- ers of the New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS) a rebutt- able statutory presumption that a qualifying partial or total disability or death related to a heart disease was incurred in the performance of duty. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD10279-03-4A. 10602 2 ILLUSTRATION - INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Thousands) One Incident One Incident Per Year Year Disability Death Disability Death 2025 30 39 30 39 2026 30 39 62 79 2027 30 39 94 120 2028 30 39 127 163 2029 30 39 161 207 2030 30 39 196 252 2031 30 39 233 298 2032 30 39 270 346 2033 30 39 309 395 2034 30 39 348 446 2035 30 39 389 498 2036 30 39 431 552 2037 30 39 474 608 2038 30 39 519 665 2039 0 0 535 685 2040 0 0 551 705 2041 0 0 567 727 2042 0 0 584 748 2043 0 0 602 771 2044 0 0 620 794 2045 0 0 638 818 2046 0 0 657 842 2047 0 0 677 868 2048 0 0 697 894 2049 0 0 718 921 Disability costs shown are for members with less than 10 years of service. Employer contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2049 is not shown. The potential increases in employer contributions will be allocated to New York City. EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL LIABILITIES as of June 30, 2023 ($ in Thousands) Present Value (PV) Per Disability Per Death PV of Benefits: 257 329 PV of Employee Contributions: 0 0 PV of Employer Contributions: 257 329 Unfunded Accrued Liabilities: 257 329 AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY Recognized as Ongoing Gain/Loss Per Disability Per Death Number of Payments: 14 14 Amortization Payment: 30 K 39 K CENSUS DATA: The number of members who will benefit in the future from this fiscal note is unknown. The estimates presented herein are based on preliminary census data collected as of June 30, 2023. The census data for the potentially impacted population used to develop the average costs is summarized below. Disability* DeathA. 10602 3 Active Members - Number Count: 76 187 - Average Age: 34.0 41.0 - Average Service: 5.0 12.2 - Average Salary: 69,300 82,900 * Members with less than 10 years of service IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Under the proposed legislation, an active member, or retiree (within five years of their respective retirement date) of NYCERS who is employed as a Fire Alarm Dispatcher and becomes disabled or dies due to heart disease would be eligible for a perform- ance of duty disability or death benefit. Currently, an active member of NYCERS who is employed as a Fire Alarm Dispatcher and becomes disabled due to heart disease would be eligible for an applicable ordinary disability retirement benefit, after attain- ing 10 years of credited service. Members with less than 10 years of service may be eligible for a performance of duty disability benefit if current eligibility requirements are satisfied. The disability benefit is generally a lifetime payment equal to the greatest of 1/3 of Final Average Salary (FAS), 1/60th of FAS for each year of service, or the service retirement benefit, if eligible. The ordinary death benefit for Tier 4 and Tier 6 NYCERS Fire Alarm Dispatchers is generally a lump sum payment equal to three times the member's salary. The performance of duty death benefit is generally equal to a lifetime benefit of 50% of a member's wages earned during the last year of service, payable to certain beneficiaries. ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have been calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions and Methods of the impacted retirement systems. The number of members and eligible retirees who will benefit in the future from this fiscal note is unknown. The cost of this proposed legislation could vary greatly depending on the number of future members who benefit and on their length of service, age, and salary history. RISK AND UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend highly on the actuarial assumptions, methods, and models used, demo- graphics of the impacted population, and other factors such as invest- ment, contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates from actuarial assumptions, the actual costs could differ from those presented herein. Quantifying these risks is beyond the scope of this Fiscal Note. This Fiscal Note is intended to measure pension-related impacts and does not include other potential costs (e.g., administrative and Other Postemployment Benefits). STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: Marek Tyszkiewicz and Gregory Zelikov- sky are members of the Society of Actuaries and the American Academy of Actuaries. We are members of NYCERS but do not believe it impairs our objectivity and we meet the Qualification Standards of the American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein. To the best of our knowledge, the results contained herein have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted actuarial principles and procedures and with the Actuarial Standards of Practice issued by the Actuarial Standards Board. FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2024-63 dated May 17, 2024 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retirement Systems and Pension Funds. This estimate is intended for use only during the 2024 Legislative Session.
