Bill Text: NY S06253 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Provides for a line of duty disability presumption for any condition of impairment of health caused by diseases of the lung, resulting in total or partial disability or death of certain deputy sheriff members of a retirement system in certain cities.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2023-12-08 - VETOED MEMO.104 [S06253 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S06253-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          6253

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                     April 10, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities 1

        AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation  to  disabilities
          of deputy sheriff members of a retirement system 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 deputy sheriff members of a retirement system
     4  in  certain  cities.  1.  Notwithstanding the provisions of any general,
     5  special or local law or administrative code to the contrary, but  except
     6  for the purposes of the workers' compensation law and the labor law, any
     7  condition  of  impairment  of  health  caused  by  diseases of the lung,
     8  resulting in total or partial disability or death  to  a  paid  employee
     9  performing the duties of a deputy sheriff in the sheriff's department of
    10  a  city  with a population of one million or more where such employee is
    11  drawn from competitive civil service lists, or  any  retired  member  of
    12  such  department  who  retired  from a title whose duties are those of a
    13  deputy sheriff and has been retired for five or less years, who success-
    14  fully passed a physical examination on entry into the  service  of  such
    15  department,  which  examination  failed  to  reveal any evidence of such
    16  condition, shall be presumptive evidence that it  was  incurred  in  the
    17  performance  and  discharge  of  duty,  unless the contrary be proved by
    18  competent evidence.
    19    2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a deputy sheriff member
    20  retiring pursuant to the provisions of subdivision one of  this  section
    21  shall receive a pension equal to three-fourths of his or her final aver-
    22  age  salary, and a retired member who has been retired for five years or
    23  less and would have been able to retire pursuant to  the  provisions  of
    24  subdivision one of this section if such subdivision had been in force at
    25  the  time  of  such  retired  member's  retirement, shall be entitled to

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10216-02-3

        S. 6253                             2

     1  receive a pension equal to three-fourths of his  or  her  final  average
     2  salary  and  have  his  or  her pension recalculated commencing with the
     3  later of the effective date of  this  section  or  the  first  day  that
     4  diseases  of the lung resulted in the full or partial disability of such
     5  retired member.
     6    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          SUMMARY OF BILL: This proposed legislation, as it relates to  the  New
        York  City Retirement Systems and Pension Funds (NYCRS), would add a new
        General Municipal Law (GML) Section  207-r  to  provide  certain  Deputy
        Sheriff  members  or  retirees  (within  five  years of their respective
        retirement dates) of the New  York  City  Employees'  Retirement  System
        (NYCERS) a rebuttable statutory presumption that a qualifying partial or
        total  disability or death related to a lung disease was incurred in the
        performance of duty.
          The presumption of causation could be rebutted by  competent  evidence
        to the contrary.
          Effective Date: Upon enactment.
          IMPACT  ON BENEFITS PAYABLE: Currently, a New York City Deputy Sheriff
        who becomes disabled or dies due to lung disease would be  eligible  for
        an  applicable  ordinary  disability  retirement,  generally  a lifetime
        payment of 1/3 of salary, or a lump sum ordinary death benefit,  respec-
        tively.
          Those  eligible  to receive the performance of duty disability retire-
        ment under the proposed legislation would receive a benefit  similar  to
        the  current  accidental  disability retirement afforded to Deputy Sher-
        iffs.
          The current accidental disability benefit for Tier 4 and Tier 6 NYCERS
        Deputy Sheriff members is equal to:
          * 75% of final average compensation, where
          * the average compensation is computed using five consecutive years of
        wages, less
          * any applicable Workers' Compensation benefit.
          Under the proposed legislation, the  performance  of  duty  disability
        benefit  for  NYCERS  Deputy  Sheriff members who are disabled from lung
        disease would be equal to:
          * 75% of Final Average Salary (FAS), where
          * FAS is defined as 3-Year FAS for Tier 4 and 5-Year FAS for  Tier  6,
        without
          * an explicit Workers' Compensation offset.
          The ordinary death benefit for Tier 4 and Tier 6 NYCERS Deputy Sheriff
        members  is  a lump sum payment equal to three times the member's salary
        multiplied by the member's years of service, up to a  maximum  of  three
        years.  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.
          FINANCIAL  IMPACT  -  OVERVIEW: There is no data available to estimate
        the number of members and eligible retirees who might develop and become
        disabled or die due to lung disease, and potentially benefit  from  this
        proposed  legislation.    Therefore,  the estimated financial impact has
        been calculated on a per event basis equal to the increase in the  pres-
        ent  value  of  future  employer contributions for an average member who
        could potentially be diagnosed with disabling lung disease and who would
        benefit from the proposed legislation.
          In determining the increase in the present value for members who could
        benefit from the presumption provided by the proposed  legislation  upon

        S. 6253                             3

        disability,  it  has  been  assumed  that  50% of the members would have
        retired under an Ordinary Disability Retirement (ODR) benefit,  and  the
        remaining  50%  of  members  would have continued working and eventually
        retired for service if the proposed legislation were not passed.
          In determining the increase in the present value for beneficiaries who
        could  benefit from the presumption provided by the proposed legislation
        upon death, it has been assumed that  100%  of  such  members  would  be
        eligible  for an Ordinary Death Benefit if the proposed legislation were
        not passed.
          With respect to an individual member,  the  additional  cost  of  this
        proposed legislation could vary greatly depending on the member's length
        of  service, age, and salary history. In particular, the increase due to
        the proposed legislation would be greater for a member who  is  not  yet
        eligible  for  an  ODR  benefit when the disabling lung disease is diag-
        nosed.
          FINANCIAL IMPACT - PRESENT VALUES: Based on the census  data  and  the
        actuarial  assumptions  and  methods  described herein, the enactment of
        this proposed legislation would increase the  present  value  of  future
        employer  contributions  by approximately $426,700, on average, for each
        occurrence of Performance of Duty  Disability  Retirement  due  to  lung
        disease  and $349,000, on average, for each occurrence of Performance of
        Duty Death due to lung disease.
          FINANCIAL IMPACT - ANNUAL EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS:  Enactment  of  this
        proposed  legislation  would increase employer contributions, where such
        amount would depend on the number of members affected as well  as  other
        characteristics  including the age, years of service, and salary history
        of each member.
          Based on the actuarial assumptions and methods described  herein,  the
        enactment  of  this proposed legislation is estimated to increase annual
        employer contributions by approximately $50,500 for each Performance  of
        Duty  Disability  Retirement  due  to  lung disease and by approximately
        $41,300 for each Performance of Duty Death due to lung disease.
          As there is no data currently available  to  estimate  the  number  of
        members  who  might be diagnosed with lung disease, the financial impact
        would be recognized at the time of  event.    Consequently,  changes  in
        employer contributions have been estimated assuming that the increase in
        the present value of future employer contributions will be financed over
        a closed 15-year period (14 payments under the One-Year Lag Methodology)
        using level dollar payments.
          With  respect to the timing, increases in employer contributions would
        depend upon when members would retire or die due to  lung  disease  but,
        generally,  increased employer contributions will first occur the second
        fiscal year following approval of the performance of duty disability  or
        death benefit.
          CENSUS  DATA:  The  estimates presented herein are based on the census
        data used in the June 30, 2022 actuarial valuation of NYCERS  to  deter-
        mine the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2024 employer contributions.
          The  146 NYCERS Deputy Sheriffs as of June 30, 2022 had an average age
        of approximately 42.0  years,  average  service  of  approximately  11.6
        years, and an average salary of approximately $85,700.
          There  are  approximately 34 retired NYCERS Deputy Sheriffs as of June
        30, 2022 who retired between July 1, 2017 and  June  30,  2022  and  are
        receiving  a  pension benefit, other than Accidental Disability or Acci-
        dental Death, and could potentially benefit  from  the  proposed  legis-
        lation.  These  retired members had an average age of approximately 58.5
        years and an average pension benefit of approximately $64,900.

        S. 6253                             4

          ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have
        been calculated based on the actuarial assumptions and methods used  for
        the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2024 employer contributions of NYCERS.
          RISK  AND  UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend
        highly on the realization of the actuarial assumptions used,  demograph-
        ics  of  the  impacted  population and other factors such as investment,
        contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates from  actu-
        arial  assumptions,  the  actual costs could differ from those presented
        herein.
          Costs are also dependent on the actuarial methods used, and  therefore
        different actuarial methods could produce different results. Quantifying
        these risks is beyond the scope of this Fiscal Note.
          Not measured in this Fiscal Note are the following:
          *  The  initial  additional  administrative  costs  to  implement  the
        proposed legislation.
          * The impact of this  proposed  legislation  on  Other  Postemployment
        Benefit costs.
          STATEMENT  OF  ACTUARIAL  OPINION:  I, Marek Tyszkiewicz, am the Chief
        Actuary for, and independent of, the New York  City  Retirement  Systems
        and  Pension  Funds. I am an Associate of the Society of Actuaries and a
        Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. I am a member of NYCERS but
        do not believe it impairs my objectivity and I  meet  the  Qualification
        Standards  of  the American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial
        opinion contained herein. To the  best  of  my  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 2023-23 dated April 5,
        2023 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City  Employees'
        Retirement  System.    This estimate is intended for use only during the
        2023 Legislative Session.
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