Bill Text: NY A10730 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Relates to providing 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 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-07-01 - referred to governmental employees [A10730 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A10730-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10730

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      July 1, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of 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
    25  the  contrary,  any  member  who  is  a  fire  marshal, supervising fire
    26  marshal,  division  supervising  fire  marshal,  assistant  chief   fire
    27  marshal,  chief  fire marshal or fire marshal trainee employed by Nassau

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD15747-02-0

        A. 10730                            2

     1  county who contracts any condition of impairment  of  health  caused  by
     2  diseases  of  the  heart,  resulting in disability or death to such fire
     3  marshal, supervising fire marshal, division  supervising  fire  marshal,
     4  assistant  chief fire marshal, chief fire marshal or fire marshal train-
     5  ee, presently employed, and who shall  have  sustained  such  disability
     6  while  so  employed,  shall be presumptive evidence that such disability
     7  was incurred in the performance and discharge of duty  and  the  natural
     8  and  proximate  result  of an accident, unless the contrary be proved by
     9  competent evidence; provided, however, that prior to entry into service,
    10  such fire marshal, supervising fire marshal, division  supervising  fire
    11  marshal,  assistant  chief  fire  marshal,  chief  fire  marshal or fire
    12  marshal trainee successfully passed a physical examination which  failed
    13  to disclose evidence of any disease or other impairment of the heart.
    14    §  3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none
    15  of the provisions of this act shall be subject  to  section  25  of  the
    16  retirement and social security law.
    17    § 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 2020 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 enactment:       None        Ordinary     Service
                                                     Disability
        Cost for revised benefit:        7.5 times   3 times      1 times
                                         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:
          The membership data used in  measuring  the  impact  of  the  proposed
        change  was  the same as that used in the March 31, 2019 actuarial valu-
        ation.  Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  In  the  2019
        Report  of  the  Actuary  and  the  2019  Comprehensive Annual Financial
        Report.
          The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2015,
        2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 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, 2019
        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.

        A. 10730                            3

          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 March 16, 2020, and intended for use only during
        the 2020 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No.  2020-92,  prepared  by
        the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
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