Bill Text: NY S08012 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relates to disability retirement benefits for the presumption of Parkinson's Disease for paid firefighters.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-06-04 - PRINT NUMBER 8012A [S08012 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S08012-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Relates to disability retirement benefits for the presumption of Parkinson's Disease for paid firefighters.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-06-04 - PRINT NUMBER 8012A [S08012 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S08012-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8012 IN SENATE March 9, 2020 ___________ Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law and the general municipal law, in relation to disability retirement benefits for the presumption of Parkinson's Disease for paid firefighters 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 363-ff to read as follows: 3 § 363-ff. Firefighter certain impairments of health; presumption. 4 Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the contrary, 5 any condition of impairment of health caused by Parkinson's Disease, 6 resulting in total or partial disability or death to a paid firefighter, 7 who successfully passed a physical examination on entry into firefighter 8 service, which examination failed to reveal any evidence of such condi- 9 tion, shall be presumptive evidence that, unless the contrary be proven 10 by competent evidence, such disability or death (a) was caused by the 11 natural and proximate result of an accident, not caused by such fire- 12 fighter's own willful negligence, and (b) was sustained in the perform- 13 ance and discharge of duty. 14 § 2. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new section 15 207-kkk to read as follows: 16 § 207-kkk. Disabilities of firefighters in certain cities caused by 17 Parkinson's Disease. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chap- 18 ter to the contrary, any condition of impairment of health caused by 19 Parkinson's Disease resulting in total or partial disability or death to 20 a paid member of a fire department in a city with a population of one 21 million or more, or any retired member of such department who has been 22 retired for two or less years, who successfully passed a physical exam- 23 ination on entry into the service of such department, which examination 24 failed to reveal any evidence of such condition, shall be presumptive 25 evidence that it was incurred in the performance and discharge of duty 26 unless the contrary be proved by competent evidence. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD14993-02-0S. 8012 2 1 § 3. The board of trustees of the New York city fire department 2 pension fund shall take appropriate administrative action to implement 3 the intent of section two of this act. 4 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would amend both the General Municipal Law and the Retire- ment and Social Security Law to provide firefighters with a presumption that any disability or death resulting from impairments of health related to Parkinson's Disease are the result of an accident sustained in the performance of duty, unless the contrary can be proven by compe- tent evidence. Insofar as it will affect the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS), if this bill is enacted it would lead to more disabilities and deaths 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 IPOD enactment: None Disability Disability Service Death Cost for revised 9 times 5 times 2.5 times 2 times 11 times benefit: salary salary salary salary salary However, we anticipate that few additional accidental disability retirements and death benefits will be granted, and thus, the resulting costs are expected to be negligible. All costs will be shared by the State of New York and the participating employers in the PFRS. 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. 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 February 6, 2020, and intended for use only during the 2020 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2020-52, prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
