Authorizes certain persons to file an application with the New York state and local police and fire retirement system and deem such application as timely filed if the expiration for filing occurred during the state of emergency caused due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8874
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
June 9, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BURKE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Employees
AN ACT in relation to authorizing certain persons to file an application
with the New York state and local police and fire retirement system
and deem such application as timely filed if the expiration for filing
occurred during the state of emergency caused due to the COVID-19
pandemic
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special
2 law, rule or regulation to the contrary, each retired member of the New
3 York state and local police and fire retirement system or, if such
4 retired member predeceased their spouse, such retired member's surviving
5 spouse is authorized to file an application for accidental disability
6 retirement with a firefighters' cancer disability presumption pursuant
7 to section 363-d of the retirement and social security law along with an
8 option election form, and such application, if filed with the state
9 comptroller within one year of the effective date of this act, shall be
10 deemed as timely filed; provided, however, that the deadline to file
11 such application had to have expired pursuant to section 363 of the
12 retirement and social security law during the COVID-19 state disaster
13 emergency declared under Executive Order 202 of 2020 that began on March
14 7, 2020.
15 § 2. Any additional costs for this act shall be paid by the state of
16 New York.
17 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would allow certain retirees (or a surviving spouse on their
behalf) to file an application for accidental disability retirement
pursuant to section 363-d of the Retirement and Social Security Law
(RSSL), provided the deadline to file such application expired during
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10743-03-5
A. 8874 2
the COVID-19 state disaster emergency. An option election form must also
be filed.
Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local Police and
Fire Retirement System (NYSLPFRS), if enacted during the 2025 Legisla-
tive Session, this bill would reclassify certain retiree benefits as
accidental disability. The cost will depend upon the retiree's age,
service, final average salary, retirement plan, option election form
filed, and any benefit otherwise payable.
Benefit prior None Ordinary Perf. of Service
to enactment: Disab. Duty Retirement
NYSLPFRS cost 10 times 5.5 times 3 times 2 times
of proposal: salary salary salary salary
The exact number of retirees who could be affected by this legislation
cannot be readily determined but is expected to be very rare. For the
one surviving spouse known to be eligible to file an application, the
cost to the State of New York will be approximately $240,000, if paid
March 1, 2026.
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 May 30, 2025, and intended for use only during
the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-118. 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.
