Bill Text: NY S05831 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Relates to the disability retirement for safety and security officers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-06 - REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE [S05831 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S05831-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         5831--A

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                     March 17, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
          -- recommitted to the Committee  on  Civil  Service  and  Pensions  in
          accordance  with  Senate  Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
          amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said  commit-
          tee

        AN  ACT  to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
          the disability retirement for safety and security officers

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

     1    Section 1. Section 607-a of the retirement and social security law, as
     2  added  by  chapter  722 of the laws of 1996, subdivision b as amended by
     3  chapter 322 of the laws of 2021, and subdivision c as added  by  chapter
     4  653 of the laws of 1999, is amended to read as follows:
     5    §  607-a.  Performance  of duty disability retirement. a. Any security
     6  hospital treatment assistant, as that term is defined in  subdivision  i
     7  of  section  eighty-nine  of  this chapter, or any qualifying member, as
     8  such term is defined in paragraph one of subdivision a of section eight-
     9  y-nine-t of this chapter, as amended by chapter four hundred seventy-six
    10  of the laws of two thousand eighteen, who becomes physically or mentally
    11  incapacitated for the performance of duties as the natural and proximate
    12  result, of an injury, sustained in the performance or discharge  of  his
    13  or  her  duties by, or as the natural and proximate result of, an act of
    14  any person confined in an institution  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the
    15  office of mental health, or by any person who has been committed to such
    16  institution  by any court shall be paid a performance of duty disability
    17  retirement allowance equal to that which is provided in  section  sixty-
    18  three  of  this chapter, subject to the provisions of section sixty-four
    19  of this chapter.
    20    b. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or of any general  or
    21  special  law  to  the  contrary,  a  member  covered by this section who

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08429-04-4
        S. 5831--A                          2

     1  contracts HIV (where there may have been an exposure to a  bodily  fluid
     2  of  an incarcerated individual or a person described in subdivision a of
     3  this section as a natural and proximate result of an act of  any  incar-
     4  cerated  individual  or  person described in such subdivision a that may
     5  have involved transmission of a specified transmissible disease from  an
     6  incarcerated  individual  or such person described in such subdivision a
     7  to the retirement system member),  tuberculosis  or  hepatitis  will  be
     8  presumed to have contracted such disease in the performance or discharge
     9  of  his  or  her  duties,  and  will be presumed to be disabled from the
    10  performance of his or her duties,  unless  the  contrary  be  proved  by
    11  competent evidence.
    12    c.  Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or of any general or
    13  special law to the contrary,  any  condition  of  impairment  of  health
    14  caused  by  diseases of the heart, resulting in disability or death to a
    15  member covered by this section, presently employed and  who  shall  have
    16  sustained  such  disability while so employed, who successfully passed a
    17  physical examination on entry into service as a security hospital treat-
    18  ment assistant or a qualifying member as  set  forth  in  this  section,
    19  which  examination  failed  to disclose evidence of any disease or other
    20  impairment of the heart, shall  be  presumptive  evidence  that  it  was
    21  incurred  in  the performance and discharge of duty, unless the contrary
    22  be proved by competent evidence.
    23    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          This bill would allow members of the New York State and Local  Employ-
        ees'  Retirement System employed as safety officers to be eligible for a
        performance of duty (POD) disability benefit if they become disabled  as
        a result of an injury inflicted by any person confined in an institution
        under  the  jurisdiction  of the New York State Office of Mental Health.
        The benefit will be 75 percent of final average  salary,  less  workers'
        compensation.  Currently, these affected members do not have a POD disa-
        bility benefit.
          If this bill is enacted during the 2024 Legislative Session, we antic-
        ipate  that  there will be an increase of approximately $1.10 million in
        the annual contributions of the State of New York for  the  fiscal  year
        ending  March  31,  2025.  In  future  years  this cost will vary but is
        expected to average 1.7% of salary annually.
          In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
        an immediate past service cost of approximately $5.78 million which will
        be borne by the State of New York as a one-time payment.  This  estimate
        assumes that payment will be made on March 1, 2025.
          These  estimated  costs  are based on 611 affected members employed by
        the State of New York, with annual salary of approximately  $54  million
        as of March 31, 2023.
          Summary of relevant resources:
          Membership  data as of March 31, 2023 was used in measuring the impact
        of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2023 actuari-
        al valuation.  Distributions and other statistics can be  found  in  the
        2023  Report  of the Actuary and the 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial
        Report.
          The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in  the  2023
        Annual  Report  to  the  Comptroller  on  Actuarial Assumptions, and the
        Codes, Rules and Regulations  of  the  State  of  New  York:  Audit  and
        Control.
        S. 5831--A                          3

          The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2023
        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  22,  2024,  and intended for use only
        during the  2024  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2024-39,
        prepared  by  the  Actuary  for  the New York State and Local Retirement
        System.