Permits the widow of Luis Palermo to apply for a World Trade Center related accidental death benefit for participation in the rescue, recovery, and clean-up operations as a member of the Nassau county police department.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8059
SPONSOR: Stern TITLE OF BILL:
An act to authorize the widow of Luis Palermo to apply for World Trade
Center related accidental death benefits from the New York state and
local police and fire retirement system
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This legislation would authorize the widow of the late Nassau County
Police Officer Luis Palermo to apply for World Trade Center related
accidental death benefits from the New York State and Local Police and
Fire Retirement System.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Permits the widow of the late Nassau County Police Officer
Luis Palermo to file an application, within one year of the effective
date of this act, for World Trade Center related accidental death bene-
fits from the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement
System. States that the application shall be approved despite Officer
Palermo participating in rescue, recovery and clean-up operations at the
World Trade Center site for twenty-nine hours.
Section 2: States that all costs associated with the implementation of
this act shall be borne by the county of Nassau and may be amortized
over a period of ten years.
Section 3: Sets the effective date and includes the Fiscal Note.
JUSTIFICATION:
Luis Palermo served as a member of the Nassau County Police Department
for approximately 23 years until his passing as a result of end stage
pulmonary fibrosis contracted through his participation as a first
responder at the World Trade Center site following the terrorist attacks
of September 11, 2001. However, officer Palermo's application for cover-
age under the provisions of the World Trade Center presumption was
rejected on the basis that he did not fulfill forty hours of partic-
ipation in the rescue, recovery, and clean-up operations as required
under the law.
Officer Palermo's conditions have been certified by the World Trade
Center Health Program as connected to his participation in the rescue
and recovery efforts following the September 11th attacks. In addition,
Officer Palermo meets all other conditions required for this claim
including having participated as defined under Section 2, definition 36,
subsection e, and having a qualifying physical condition as defined
under Section 2, definition 36, subsection c. Further, Officer
Palermo's widow and surviving children have been receiving work related
death benefits under section 16 of the workers' compensation law based
entirely upon his participation in World Trade Center operations which
is an official New York State agency.
Accordingly, this bill would allow Officer Palermo's widow to file an
application, within one year of the effective date of this act, for
World Trade Center related accidental death benefits from the New York
State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System. Said application, if
timely filed, shall be approved despite Officer Palermo participating in
rescue, recovery and clean-up operations at the World Trade Center site
for twenty-nine hours.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024: A.10606 - referred to governmental employees
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
Refer to fiscal note in section 3.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8059
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 22, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. STERN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to authorize the widow of Luis Palermo to apply for World Trade
Center related accidental death benefits from the New York state and
local police and fire retirement system
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, the widow of
2 Luis Palermo, who was employed by the Nassau County police department
3 since October 14, 1994, and was a member of the New York state and local
4 police and fire retirement system for approximately 23 years, until his
5 passing on September 4, 2017, as a result of end stage pulmonary fibro-
6 sis contracted through his participation as a first responder, shall be
7 entitled to file a new application for an accidental and special acci-
8 dental death retirement benefit provided by the New York state and local
9 police and fire retirement system. Additionally, notwithstanding any
10 rule, regulation or law to the contrary, Luis Palermo's application for
11 World Trade Center notice shall be approved despite Officer Palermo
12 participating in rescue, recovery, and clean-up operations for twenty-
13 nine hours between September 11, 2001 and September 12, 2002. Such
14 application must be filed with the New York state and local police and
15 fire retirement system pursuant to section 361-a of the retirement and
16 social security law, as amended by chapter 733 of the laws of 1990,
17 within one year of the effective date of this act.
18 § 2. All costs associated with the implementation of this act shall be
19 borne by the county of Nassau and may be amortized over a period of ten
20 years.
21 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would make Deborah Palermo, the widow of Luis Palermo,
eligible to collect an accidental death benefit pursuant to sections 361
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03712-04-5
A. 8059 2
and 361-a of the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL). Luis Palermo
was a member of the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement
System employed as a police officer with Nassau County until their death
on September 4, 2017. Currently, Deborah Palermo is collecting 100% of
the optional benefit payable under the service retirement.
If this bill is enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, and the
required application for an accidental death benefit is timely filed and
approved, there will be an immediate past service cost of approximately
$5.93 million which will be borne by Nassau County as a one-time
payment. This estimate assumes that payment will be made on February 1,
2026. If Nassau County elects to amortize this cost over a 10-year peri-
od, the cost for each year including interest would be $757,000.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2024 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2024 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2024 Report of the Actuary and the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial
Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the
2024 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, 2024 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements
and Supplementary Information.
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 April 14, 2025, and intended for use only during
the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-152. As Chief
Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, I, Aaron
Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with applica-
ble Actuarial Standards of Practice as well as the Code of Professional
Conduct and Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of
Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of which I am a
member.
