Bill Text: NY A01847 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Provides a performance and discharge of duty presumption for any condition of impairment of health caused by leptospirosis, resulting in total or partial disability or death to a paid member of the uniformed force of a paid sanitation department, where such paid member is drawn from competitive civil service lists, who successfully passed a physical examination on entry into the service of such department, which examination failed to reveal any evidence of such condition.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-20 - print number 1847a [A01847 Detail]
Download: New_York-2025-A01847-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1847--A 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 14, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PHEFFER AMATO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Local Governments -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to disabilities of members of the uniformed force of sanitation departments 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-aa to read as follows: 3 § 207-aa. Disabilities of members of the uniformed force of sanitation 4 departments in certain cities. Notwithstanding the provisions of any 5 general, special or local law or administrative code to the contrary, 6 but except for the purposes of the workers' compensation law and the 7 labor law, any condition of impairment of health caused by leptospiro- 8 sis, resulting in total or partial disability or death to a paid member 9 of the uniformed force of a paid sanitation department, where such paid 10 member is drawn from competitive civil service lists, who successfully 11 passed a physical examination on entry into the service of such depart- 12 ment, which examination failed to reveal any evidence of such condition, 13 shall be presumptive evidence that it was incurred in the performance 14 and discharge of duty, unless the contrary be proved by competent 15 evidence. 16 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: SUMMARY: The proposed legislation would provide Sanitation members of the New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS) a rebuttable statutory presumption that a qualifying partial or total disability or death related to leptospirosis was incurred in the performance of duty. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD04231-03-5A. 1847--A 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 2026 51 215 51 215 2027 51 215 104 437 2028 51 215 159 666 2029 51 215 215 901 2030 51 215 272 1,143 2031 51 215 332 1,393 2032 51 215 393 1,650 2033 51 215 456 1,915 2034 51 215 521 2,188 2035 51 215 588 2,469 2036 51 215 657 2,758 2037 51 215 728 3,056 2038 51 215 801 3,363 2039 51 215 876 3,680 2040 0 0 903 3,790 2041 0 0 930 3,904 2042 0 0 958 4,021 2043 0 0 986 4,142 2044 0 0 1,016 4,266 2045 0 0 1,046 4,394 2046 0 0 1,078 4,526 2047 0 0 1,110 4,661 2048 0 0 1,143 4,801 2049 0 0 1,178 4,945 2050 0 0 1,213 5,094 Employer contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2050 is not shown. The potential increases in employer contributions will be allocated to New York City. PRESENT VALUE OF BENEFITS: The Present Value of Benefits is the discounted expected value of benefits paid to current members if all assumptions are met, including future service accrual and pay increases. Future new hires are not included in this present value. INITIAL INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES as of June 30, 2024 ($ in Thousands) Present Value (PV) Per Disability Per Death (1) PV of Employer Contributions: 434 1,821 (2) PV of Employee Contributions: (17) 0 Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2): 417 1,821 UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY (UAL): Actuarial Accrued Liabilities are the portion of the Present Value of Benefits allocated to past service. Changes in UAL per incident would be recognized as ongoing gain/loss. AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY Recognized as Ongoing Gain/Loss Per Disability Per Death Increase (Decrease) in UAL: 434 K 1,821 KA. 1847--A 3 Number of Payments: 14 14 Amortization Payment: 51 K 215 K CENSUS DATA: The number of members who will benefit in the future from this proposed legislation is unknown. The estimates presented herein are based on preliminary census data collected as of June 30, 2024. The census data for the potentially impacted population used to develop the average costs is summarized below. NYCERS Active Members - Number Count: 8,018 - Average Age: 43.2 - Average Service: 11.1 - Average Salary: 107,800 IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, a NYCERS Sanitation member who becomes disabled due to leptospirosis would be eligible for an applica- ble ordinary disability retirement benefit, generally a lifetime payment of 1/3 of salary. The ordinary death benefit is a lump sum payment generally equal to three times the member's salary. Under the proposed legislation, the performance of duty disability benefit for NYCERS Sanitation members who are disabled from leptospiro- sis would generally be equal to 75% of Final Average Salary. Under the proposed legislation, the performance of duty death benefit would generally be equal to a lifetime benefit of 50% of a member's wages earned during their last year of service, plus, if applicable, the Special Accidental Death Benefit (SADB) payable under General Municipal Law section 208-f. 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 who will benefit from the proposed legislation 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. In particular, the increase would be greater for a member who is not yet eligible for an Ordinary Disability Retirement benefit when disabled. The estimated financial impact for disabled members has been calcu- lated assuming 50% would have retired under the current ordinary disa- bility benefit, and 50% would have continued working if the proposed legislation were not passed. 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). This Fiscal Note does not reflect any chapter laws that may have been enacted during the current legislative session. 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 ourA. 1847--A 4 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 2025-17 dated February 19, 2025 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retire- ment Systems and Pension Funds and is intended for use only during the 2025 Legislative Session.
