Provides that a member of a public retirement system who has been determined to have a permanent partial disability by the workers' compensation board of the state of New York, and who the United States social security administration has determined is disabled for substantial gainful activity, and approved for social security disability benefits, shall be deemed to be disabled for the purposes of eligibility for disability benefits of such public retirement system.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8052
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 15, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. JACKSON -- 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, in relation to
providing a disability presumption to members of public retirement
systems
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 810 to read as follows:
3 § 810. Disability presumption. Notwithstanding any other law, rule or
4 regulation to the contrary, a member of a public retirement system as
5 defined by subdivision a of section eight hundred of this article who
6 has been determined to have a permanent partial disability by the work-
7 ers' compensation board of the state of New York, or who the United
8 States social security administration has determined is disabled for
9 substantial gainful activity, and approved for social security disabili-
10 ty benefits, shall be deemed to be disabled for the purposes of eligi-
11 bility for disability benefits of such public retirement system.
12 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would add a section 810 to the Retirement and Social Securi-
ty Law that would deem any member determined to have a permanent partial
disability by the New York State Workers' Compensation Board, or deter-
mined to be disabled for substantial gainful activity and eligible for
Social Security Disability benefits by the United States Social Security
Administration, to be eligible for disability benefits from the New York
State Teachers' Retirement System (NYSTRS). Current statute, section
605 of the Retirement and Social Security Law, requires that a member be
physically or mentally incapacitated for the performance of gainful
employment to qualify for a disability benefit. The statute empowers
NYSTRS to make that determination and to that end NYSTRS has a Medical
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11399-03-5
S. 8052 2
Board of board-certified physicians that meets monthly to review disa-
bility applications and medical files.
The overall cost of this bill cannot be readily determined as the
ultimate number of disability retirements granted under this definition
cannot be determined at this time.
The average cost per individual member impacted is estimated as
follows:
Member Disability Benefit
Age
30 $260,000 (4.3 times salary)
40 $320,000 (4.0 times salary)
50 $380,000 (3.6 times salary)
The actual cost per member would depend on the member's age, tier,
years of service and salary. The costs above are determined based on
averages, so the actual cost for a member could be higher or lower.
Member data is from the System's most recent actuarial valuation files
as of June 30, 2024, consisting of data provided by the employers to the
Retirement System. The most recent data distributions and statistics can
be found in the System's Annual Report for fiscal year ended June 30,
2024. System assets are as reported in the System's financial statements
and can also be found in the System's Annual Report. Actuarial assump-
tions and methods will be provided in the System's Actuarial Valuation
Report as of June 30, 2024.
The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2025-20 dated April 30,
2025 prepared by the Office of the Actuary of the New York State Teach-
ers' Retirement System and is intended for use only during the 2025
Legislative Session. I, Richard A. Young, am the Chief Actuary for the
New York State Teachers' Retirement System. I am a member of the Ameri-
can Academy of Actuaries and I meet the Qualification Standards of the
American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained
herein.
