Bill Text: NY S07027 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Establishes a volunteer firefighters' benefit claim assistance unit to initiate contact with an injured firefighter or his or her surviving dependents and assist with filing claims and expediting payments.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT [S07027 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S07027-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          7027

                    IN SENATE

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 8, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  KAPLAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government

        AN ACT to amend the volunteer firefighters' benefit law, in relation  to
          providing  for  temporary  payments  of benefit pending final determi-
          nation of claim

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Section 40 of the volunteer firefighters' benefit law, as
     2  amended by chapter 476 of the laws  of  2018,  is  amended  to  read  as
     3  follows:
     4    § 40. [Notice]  Claim assistance unit; notice of injury or death.  The
     5  workers' compensation board shall establish  a  volunteer  firefighters'
     6  benefit  claim assistance unit. Such unit shall be responsible to initi-
     7  ate contact with any volunteer firefighter who sustains a life threaten-
     8  ing injury, or in the case of death, the surviving  dependents  of  such
     9  volunteer  firefighter and shall provide any and all assistance required
    10  to file claims and expedite payment of any and  all  benefits  allowable
    11  under this chapter.
    12    Notice  of  an  injury  or  death for which benefits are to be paid or
    13  provided under this chapter shall be given to the political  subdivision
    14  liable  for  the payment thereof within ninety days after such injury or
    15  death except that such notice need not be given  if  a  claim  is  filed
    16  pursuant  to  section forty-one of this chapter within ninety days after
    17  such injury or death. Either such notice may  be  given  by  any  person
    18  claiming to be entitled to such benefits [or],  by someone in his or her
    19  behalf,  or  by a claim assistant. The notice shall be in writing, shall
    20  contain the name and address of the volunteer firefighter, and state  in
    21  ordinary  language  the  time, place, nature and cause of the injury and
    22  shall be signed by him or her or by a person on his or her behalf or, in
    23  case of death, by any one or more of his or her dependents,  [or]  by  a
    24  person  on  their  behalf, or by a claim assistant.  The notice shall be
    25  given to the clerk of the board of supervisors of the county, the  comp-
    26  troller  or  chief  financial officer of the city, the town clerk of the

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03112-03-9
        S. 7027                             2

     1  town, the clerk of the village or the secretary of the fire district, as
     2  the case may be, by delivering it  to  such  officer  or  by  registered
     3  letter properly addressed to such officer. The failure to give notice of
     4  injury or notice of death shall be a bar to any claim under this chapter
     5  unless such failure is excused by the workers' compensation board on any
     6  of the following grounds, (1) that for some sufficient reason the notice
     7  could  not have been given, (2) that a member of a body in charge of, or
     8  any officer of, the fire department or fire company had knowledge within
     9  such ninety-day period of the injuries or death, (3) that the  political
    10  subdivision, or its insurance carrier had not been prejudiced by a delay
    11  in giving such notice, or (4) that the cause of disablement or death was
    12  not  known  to  be  the result of service performed in line of duty as a
    13  volunteer firefighter in sufficient time to comply with  the  provisions
    14  of this section.
    15    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
    16  it  shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
    17  ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
    18  tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be  made  and
    19  completed on or before such effective date.