Bill Text: NY S06529 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to disability benefits for firefighters employed by the division of military and naval affairs.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)
Status: (Vetoed) 2017-12-18 - VETOED MEMO.246 [S06529 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-S06529-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6529 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN SENATE June 1, 2017 ___________ Introduced by Sen. MURPHY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to disability benefits for firefighters employed by the division of mili- tary and naval affairs 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 two new sections 63-g and 63-h to read as follows: 3 § 63-g. Performance of duty disability retirement. a. Any member of 4 the retirement system employed by the division of military and naval 5 affairs shall be eligible to retire pursuant to the provisions of this 6 section if he or she is an airport firefighter apprentice, airport fire- 7 fighter I, airport firefighter II, airport firefighter III or training 8 and safety officer. 9 b. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or of any general or 10 special law to the contrary, any member who becomes physically or 11 mentally incapacitated as the result of a disability from any condition 12 of impairment of health caused by: (1) diseases of the heart; or (2) any 13 (i) melanoma or (ii) condition of cancer affecting the lymphatic, diges- 14 tive, hematological, urinary, neurological, breast, reproductive or 15 prostate systems, who is presently employed and who shall have sustained 16 such disability while so employed and while actually a member of the 17 retirement system, who successfully passed a physical examination on 18 entry into service as an airport firefighter apprentice, airport fire- 19 fighter I, airport firefighter II, airport firefighter III or training 20 and safety officer, which examination failed to disclose evidence of any 21 disease or other impairment of the heart or such melanoma or condition, 22 shall be presumptive evidence that such disability or death (A) was 23 caused by the natural and proximate result of an accident, not caused by 24 such firefighter's own negligence and (B) was incurred in the perform- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD09309-03-7S. 6529 2 1 ance and discharge of duty, unless the contrary be proven by competent 2 evidence and shall be paid a performance of duty disability retirement 3 benefit payable pursuant to this section. 4 c. Application for a performance of duty disability retirement allow- 5 ance for such a member may be made by: 6 1. Such member; 7 2. The head of the department in which such member is employed; or 8 3. Some person acting on behalf of and authorized by such member. 9 d. After the filing of such an application such member shall be given 10 one or more medical examinations. 11 e. If the comptroller determines that the member is physically or 12 mentally incapacitated for the performance of duty and ought to be 13 retired for performance of duty disability, such member shall be so 14 retired. Such retirement shall be effective as of a date approved by 15 the comptroller. 16 f. The retirement allowance payable upon retirement for performance of 17 duty disability shall consist of a pension of one-half of his or her 18 final average salary plus an annuity which shall be the actuarial equiv- 19 alent of such member's accumulated contributions, if any. 20 g. If the member, at the time of the filing of an application under 21 the provisions of subdivision c of this section, is eligible for a 22 service retirement benefit, then and in that event, such member may 23 simultaneously file an application for service retirement in accordance 24 with the provisions of section seventy of this article, provided that 25 the member indicates on the application for service retirement that such 26 application is filed without prejudice to the application for perform- 27 ance of duty disability retirement. 28 h. Any benefit provided pursuant to this section shall not be consid- 29 ered as an accidental disability benefit within the meaning of section 30 sixty-four of this title. Any benefit payable pursuant to the workers' 31 compensation law to a member receiving a disability allowance pursuant 32 to this section shall be in addition to such retirement for disability 33 incurred in performance of duty allowance. 34 § 63-h. Certain impairments of health; presumption. a. Any member of 35 the retirement system employed by the division of military and naval 36 affairs shall be eligible to retire pursuant to the provisions of this 37 section if he or she is an airport firefighter apprentice, airport fire- 38 fighter I, airport firefighter II, airport firefighter III or training 39 and safety officer. 40 b. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or of any general or 41 special law to the contrary, any condition of impairment of health 42 caused by: (1) diseases of the heart; or (2) any (i) melanoma or (ii) 43 condition of cancer affecting the lymphatic, digestive, hematological, 44 urinary, neurological, breast, reproductive or prostate systems result- 45 ing in disability to a member covered by this section, presently 46 employed and who shall have sustained such disability as the result of 47 an accident not caused by his or her own willful negligence sustained in 48 such service and while actually a member of the retirement system, who 49 successfully passed a physical examination on entry into service as an 50 airport firefighter apprentice, airport firefighter I, airport fire- 51 fighter II, airport firefighter III or training and safety officer which 52 examination failed to disclose evidence of any disease or other impair- 53 ment of the heart or such melanoma or condition, shall be presumptive 54 evidence that such disability or death (A) was caused by the natural and 55 proximate result of an accident, not caused by such firefighter's own 56 negligence and (B) was incurred in the performance and discharge ofS. 6529 3 1 duty, unless the contrary be proven by competent evidence and shall be 2 paid a performance of duty disability retirement allowance equal to that 3 which is provided in section sixty-three of this title, subject to the 4 provisions of section sixty-four of this title. 5 c. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or of any general or 6 special law to the contrary, any condition of impairment of health 7 caused by diseases of the lung, resulting in disability to a member 8 covered by this section, presently employed and while actually a member 9 of the retirement system, who successfully passed a physical examination 10 on entry into service as an airport firefighter apprentice, airport 11 firefighter I, airport firefighter II, airport firefighter III or train- 12 ing and safety officer, which examination failed to disclose evidence of 13 any disease or other impairment of the lung, shall be presumptive 14 evidence that such disability or death (1) was caused by the natural and 15 proximate result of an accident, not caused by such firefighter's own 16 negligence and (2) was incurred in the performance and discharge of 17 duty, unless the contrary be proven by competent evidence and shall be 18 paid a performance of duty disability retirement allowance equal to that 19 which is provided in section sixty-three of this title, subject to the 20 provisions of section sixty-four of this title. 21 § 2. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding two 22 new sections 607-i and 607-j to read as follows: 23 § 607-i. Performance of duty disability retirement. a. Any member of 24 the retirement system employed by the division of military and naval 25 affairs shall be eligible to retire pursuant to the provisions of this 26 section if he or she is an airport firefighter apprentice, airport fire- 27 fighter I, airport firefighter II, airport firefighter III or training 28 and safety officer. 29 b. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or of any general or 30 special law to the contrary, any member who becomes physically or 31 mentally incapacitated as the result of a disability from any condition 32 of impairment of health caused by: (1) diseases of the heart; or (2) any 33 (i) melanoma or (ii) condition of cancer affecting the lymphatic, diges- 34 tive, hematological, urinary, neurological, breast, reproductive or 35 prostate systems, who is presently employed and who shall have sustained 36 such disability while so employed and while actually a member of the 37 retirement system, who successfully passed a physical examination on 38 entry into service as an airport firefighter apprentice, airport fire- 39 fighter I, airport firefighter II, airport firefighter III or training 40 and safety officer, which examination failed to disclose evidence of any 41 disease or other impairment of the heart or such melanoma or condition, 42 shall be presumptive evidence that such disability or death (A) was 43 caused by the natural and proximate result of an accident, not caused by 44 such firefighter's own negligence and (B) was incurred in the perform- 45 ance and discharge of duty, unless the contrary be proven by competent 46 evidence and shall be paid a performance of duty disability retirement 47 benefit payable pursuant to this section. 48 c. Application for a performance of duty disability retirement allow- 49 ance for such a member may be made by: 50 1. Such member; 51 2. The head of the department in which such member is employed; or 52 3. Some person acting on behalf of and authorized by such member. 53 d. After the filing of such an application such member shall be given 54 one or more medical examinations. 55 e. If the comptroller determines that the member is physically or 56 mentally incapacitated for the performance of duty and ought to beS. 6529 4 1 retired for performance of duty disability, such member shall be so 2 retired. Such retirement shall be effective as of a date approved by the 3 comptroller. 4 f. The retirement allowance payable upon retirement for performance of 5 duty disability shall consist of a pension of one-half of his or her 6 final average salary plus an annuity which shall be the actuarial equiv- 7 alent of such member's accumulated contributions, if any. 8 g. If the member, at the time of the filing of an application under 9 the provisions of subdivision c of this section, is eligible for a 10 service retirement benefit, then and in that event, such member may 11 simultaneously file an application for service retirement in accordance 12 with the provisions of section seventy of this chapter, provided that 13 the member indicates on the application for service retirement that such 14 application is filed without prejudice to the application for perform- 15 ance of duty disability retirement. 16 h. Any benefit provided pursuant to this section shall not be consid- 17 ered as an accidental disability benefit within the meaning of section 18 sixty-four of this chapter. Any benefit payable pursuant to the workers' 19 compensation law to a member receiving a disability allowance pursuant 20 to this section shall be in addition to such retirement for disability 21 incurred in performance of duty allowance. 22 § 607-j. Certain impairments of health; presumption. a. Any member of 23 the retirement system employed by the division of military and naval 24 affairs shall be eligible to retire pursuant to the provisions of this 25 section if he or she is an airport firefighter apprentice, airport fire- 26 fighter I, airport firefighter II, airport firefighter III or training 27 and safety officer. 28 b. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or of any general or 29 special law to the contrary, any condition of impairment of health 30 caused by: (1) diseases of the heart; or (2) any (i) melanoma or (ii) 31 condition of cancer affecting the lymphatic, digestive, hematological, 32 urinary, neurological, breast, reproductive or prostate systems result- 33 ing in disability to a member covered by this section, presently 34 employed and who shall have sustained such disability as the result of 35 an accident not caused by his or her own willful negligence sustained in 36 such service and while actually a member of the retirement system, who 37 successfully passed a physical examination on entry into service as an 38 airport firefighter apprentice, airport firefighter I, airport fire- 39 fighter II, airport firefighter III or training and safety officer which 40 examination failed to disclose evidence of any disease or other impair- 41 ment of the heart or such melanoma or condition, shall be presumptive 42 evidence that such disability or death (A) was caused by the natural and 43 proximate result of an accident, not caused by such firefighter's own 44 negligence and (B) was incurred in the performance and discharge of 45 duty, unless the contrary be proven by competent evidence and shall be 46 paid a performance of duty disability retirement allowance equal to that 47 which is provided in section sixty-three of this chapter, subject to the 48 provisions of sections sixty-three and sixty-four of this chapter. 49 c. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or of any general or 50 special law to the contrary, any condition of impairment of health 51 caused by diseases of the lung, resulting in disability to a member 52 covered by this section, presently employed and while actually a member 53 of the retirement system, who successfully passed a physical examination 54 on entry into service as an airport firefighter apprentice, airport 55 firefighter I, airport firefighter II, airport firefighter III or train- 56 ing and safety officer, which examination failed to disclose evidence ofS. 6529 5 1 any disease or other impairment of the lung, shall be presumptive 2 evidence that such disability or death (1) was caused by the natural and 3 proximate result of an accident, not caused by such firefighter's own 4 negligence and (2) was incurred in the performance and discharge of 5 duty, unless the contrary be proven by competent evidence and shall be 6 paid a performance of duty disability retirement allowance equal to that 7 which is provided in section sixty-three of this chapter, subject to the 8 provisions of section sixty-four of this chapter. 9 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would grant improved disability pensions to airport fire- fighters and training and safety officers in the New York State division of military and naval affairs who sustain a disability related to heart disease, lung disease and certain forms of cancer. This bill would help individuals who sustained such disabilities to establish the presumption that they were incurred in the performance and discharge of duty, unless the contrary be proven by competent evidence. The benefit for a heart or cancer related accidental disability, or a lung disease related perform- ance of duty disability would be 75% of final average salary (FAS) minus worker's compensation (WC). If this bill is enacted, the disability benefits of affected members with heart, lung or certain cancer related disabilities would increase from approximately 1/3 of FAS to 75% of FAS minus WC. The estimated increase in the annual contributions of the state of New York for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018 would be approximately $24,000. In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be an immediate past service cost of $202,000 which will be borne by the state of New York as a one-time payment. This estimate is based on the assumption that payment will be made on February 1, 2018. These estimated costs are based on 61 members having an annual salary for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2016 of approximately $3.7 million. Summary of relevant resources: The membership data used in measuring the impact of the proposed change was the same as that used in the March 31, 2016 actuarial valu- ation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2016 Report of the Actuary and the 2016 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015 and 2016 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, 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, 2016 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 estimate, dated May 26, 2017, and intended for use only during the 2017 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2017-60, prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.