STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6840
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 14, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PHEFFER AMATO -- 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 lung disease presumption for correction officers,
correction supervisors, deputy sheriff patrol or deputy sheriff patrol
supervisors
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-j to read as follows:
3 § 63-j. 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 correction officer, correction supervisor,
6 deputy sheriff patrol or deputy sheriff patrol supervisor who is a
7 member of the New York state and local employees' retirement system and
8 contracts any condition of impairment of health caused by diseases of
9 the lung, resulting in disability or death to such correction officer,
10 correction supervisor, deputy sheriff patrol or deputy sheriff patrol
11 supervisor, presently employed, and who shall have sustained such disa-
12 bility while so employed, shall be presumptive evidence that such disa-
13 bility was incurred in the performance and discharge of duty and the
14 natural and proximate result of an accident, unless the contrary be
15 proved by competent evidence; provided, however, that prior to entry
16 into service, such correction officer, correction supervisor, deputy
17 sheriff patrol or deputy sheriff patrol supervisor successfully passed a
18 physical examination which failed to disclose evidence of any disease or
19 other impairment of the lung.
20 § 2. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new
21 section 605-h to read as follows:
22 § 605-h. Disability benefits; certain disabilities. Notwithstanding
23 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.
LBD06965-02-5
A. 6840 2
1 the contrary, any member who is a correction officer, correction super-
2 visor, deputy sheriff patrol or deputy sheriff patrol supervisor who is
3 a member of the New York state and local employees' retirement system
4 and contracts any condition of impairment of health caused by diseases
5 of the lung, resulting in disability or death to such correction offi-
6 cer, correction supervisor, deputy sheriff patrol or deputy sheriff
7 patrol supervisor, presently employed, and who shall have sustained such
8 disability while so employed, shall be presumptive evidence that such
9 disability was incurred in the performance and discharge of duty and the
10 natural and proximate result of an accident, unless the contrary be
11 proved by competent evidence; provided, however, that prior to entry
12 into service, such correction officer, correction supervisor, deputy
13 sheriff patrol or deputy sheriff patrol supervisor successfully passed a
14 physical examination which failed to disclose evidence of any disease or
15 other impairment of the lung.
16 § 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none
17 of the provisions of this act shall be subject to section 25 of the
18 retirement and social security law.
19 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would add Sections 63-j and 605-h of the Retirement and
Social Security Law (RSSL) to provide an accidental disability presump-
tion to certain members of the New York State and Local Employees’
Retirement System (NYSLERS) employed as correction officers, correction
supervisors, deputy sheriff patrol, or deputy sheriff patrol supervisors
who contract any condition of impairment of health caused by diseases of
the lung, resulting in disability or death. For members in Tiers 1 and
2, the annual benefit would be 3/4 of final average salary (FAS) less
Workers' Compensation. For members in Tiers 3-6 who are covered under
the provisions of Article 14-B of the RSSL, the annual benefit would be
2/3 of FAS less Workers' Compensation. For all other affected members in
Tiers 3-6, the annual benefit would be 1/3 of FAS.
The provisions of Section 25 of the RSSL shall not apply.
Insofar as this bill affects NYSLERS, if this legislation is enacted
during the 2025 Legislative Session, it would likely lead to more disa-
bilities being classified as "accidental." The cost of the revised bene-
fit will depend upon the applicant's age, service, salary, plan, and any
benefit type otherwise payable, but is expected to average:
Benefit prior None Ordinary Perf. of Service Ordinary
to enactment Disab. Duty Retirement Death
NYSLERS cost 10 times 5.5 times 3 times 2 times 4.5 times
of proposal: salary salary salary salary salary
Further, we anticipate that there could be some administrative costs
to implement the provisions of this legislation.
The number of members who could be affected by this legislation cannot
be readily determined. All costs arising from this bill would be shared
by the State of New York and all the participating employers in the
NYSLERS.
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
A. 6840 3
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 March 6, 2025, and intended for use only during
the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-43. As Chief Actu-
ary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, I, Aaron Schottin
Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with applicable Actu-
arial Standards of Practice as well as the Code of Professional Conduct
and Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuari-
al Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of which I am a member.
