Bill Text: NY A06547 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Provides a heart disease presumption for a fire marshal, supervising fire marshal, division supervising fire marshal, assistant chief fire marshal, chief fire marshal or fire marshal trainee employed by Nassau county.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-06-10 - substituted by s7167 [A06547 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A06547-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          6547

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     March 19, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Governmental Employees

        AN  ACT  to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
          providing a heart disease presumption for  certain  fire  marshals  in
          Nassau county

          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  a new section 63-g to read as follows:
     3    § 63-g. Disability benefits; certain disabilities. Notwithstanding any
     4  provision of this chapter or of any general, special or local law to the
     5  contrary, any member who is a fire marshal,  supervising  fire  marshal,
     6  division  supervising  fire marshal, assistant chief fire marshal, chief
     7  fire marshal or fire marshal  trainee  employed  by  Nassau  county  who
     8  contracts  any  condition  of impairment of health caused by diseases of
     9  the heart, resulting in disability or death to such fire marshal, super-
    10  vising fire marshal, division supervising fire marshal, assistant  chief
    11  fire  marshal,  chief  fire  marshal  or fire marshal trainee, presently
    12  employed,  and  who  shall  have  sustained  such  disability  while  so
    13  employed,  shall  be  presumptive  evidence  that  such  disability  was
    14  incurred in the performance and discharge of duty and  the  natural  and
    15  proximate result of an accident, unless the contrary be proved by compe-
    16  tent evidence; provided, however, that prior to entry into service, such
    17  fire  marshal,  supervising  fire  marshal,  division  supervising  fire
    18  marshal, assistant chief  fire  marshal,  chief  fire  marshal  or  fire
    19  marshal  trainee successfully passed a physical examination which failed
    20  to disclose evidence of any disease or other impairment of the heart.
    21    § 2. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new
    22  section 605-f to read as follows:
    23    § 605-f. Disability benefits;  certain  disabilities.  Notwithstanding
    24  any provision of this chapter or of any general, special or local law to

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04837-02-1
        A. 6547                             2

     1  the  contrary,  any  member  who  is  a  fire  marshal, supervising fire
     2  marshal,  division  supervising  fire  marshal,  assistant  chief   fire
     3  marshal,  chief  fire marshal or fire marshal trainee employed by Nassau
     4  county  who  contracts  any  condition of impairment of health caused by
     5  diseases of the heart, resulting in disability or  death  to  such  fire
     6  marshal,  supervising  fire  marshal, division supervising fire marshal,
     7  assistant chief fire marshal, chief fire marshal or fire marshal  train-
     8  ee,  presently  employed,  and  who shall have sustained such disability
     9  while so employed, shall be presumptive evidence  that  such  disability
    10  was  incurred  in  the performance and discharge of duty and the natural
    11  and proximate result of an accident, unless the contrary  be  proved  by
    12  competent evidence; provided, however, that prior to entry into service,
    13  such  fire  marshal, supervising fire marshal, division supervising fire
    14  marshal, assistant chief  fire  marshal,  chief  fire  marshal  or  fire
    15  marshal  trainee successfully passed a physical examination which failed
    16  to disclose evidence of any disease or other impairment of the heart.
    17    § 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,  none
    18  of  the  provisions  of  this  act shall be subject to section 25 of the
    19  retirement and social security law.
    20    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE -- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          This bill would allow certain members of the New York State and  Local
        Employees'  Retirement  System  (ERS) employed by Nassau County as chief
        fire marshal, assistant chief fire marshal,  division  supervising  fire
        marshal, supervising fire marshal, fire marshal and fire marshal trainee
        to  receive  an  accidental disability benefit if the member is impaired
        due to a condition of the heart as a  result  of  an  accident,  in  the
        performance  of  his  or  her  duties,  unless the contrary be proven by
        competent evidence. The annual benefit would be  3/4  of  final  average
        salary less worker's compensation.
          If  this bill is enacted during the 2021 legislative session, it would
        lead to more disabilities being classified as "accidental". The cost  of
        the revised benefit will depend upon the applicant's age, service, sala-
        ry, plan, and benefit type otherwise payable.

             Benefit without                   Ordinary
             enactment:            None       Disability      Service

             Cost for revised    7.5 times     3.5 times      1 times
             benefit:             salary        salary        salary

          However,  we  anticipate  that  few  additional  accidental disability
        retirements will be granted, and thus, the resulting costs are  expected
        to be negligible.
          Summary of relevant resources:
          Membership  data as of March 31, 2020 was used in measuring the impact
        of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2020 actuari-
        al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the
        2020  Report  of the Actuary and the 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial
        Report.
          The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in  the  2020
        Annual  Report  to  the  Comptroller  on  Actuarial Assumptions, and the
        Codes, Rules and Regulations  of  the  State  of  New  York:  Audit  and
        Control.
        A. 6547                             3

          The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2020
        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  fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability
        of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a  substitute  for
        the professional judgment of an attorney.
          This estimate, dated January 5, 2021, and intended for use only during
        the  2021  Legislative  Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2021-13, prepared by
        the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.