STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8135--A
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 15, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. JACKSON, MARTINEZ, MARTINS -- read twice and ordered
printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil
Service and Pensions -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
providing WTC-related benefits to certain employees who worked at the
Verrazano Bridge Toll Facility
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 36 of section 2 of the retire-
2 ment and social security law, as amended by chapter 424 of the laws of
3 2021, is amended to read as follows:
4 (e) "Participated in World Trade Center rescue, recovery or cleanup
5 operations" shall mean any member who: (i) participated in the rescue,
6 recovery, or cleanup operations at the World Trade Center site, as
7 defined in paragraph (f) of this subdivision; (ii) worked at the Fresh
8 Kills Land Fill in New York; (iii) worked at the New York city morgue or
9 the temporary morgue on pier locations on the west side of Manhattan;
10 (iv) manned the barges between the west side of Manhattan and the Fresh
11 Kills Land Fill in New York; (v) repaired, cleaned or rehabilitated
12 vehicles or equipment, including emergency vehicle radio equipment owned
13 by the city of New York that were contaminated by debris in the World
14 Trade Center site, as defined in paragraph (f) of this subdivision,
15 regardless of whether the work on the repair, cleaning or rehabilitation
16 of said vehicles and equipment was performed within the World Trade
17 Center site, provided such work was performed prior to decontamination
18 of such vehicles or equipment; [or] (vi) worked in the following depart-
19 ments, worksites and titles: (A) New York City Police Department at 11
20 Metrotec Center in Brooklyn or 1 Police Plaza in Manhattan as a Police
21 Communication Technician (PCT), Supervisor Police Communication Techni-
22 cian (SPCT), Principal Police Communication Technician I, Principal
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02346-02-5
S. 8135--A 2
1 Police Communication Technician II, Principal Police Communication Tech-
2 nician III, Administrative Manager - Communications, or in the Police
3 Administrative Aide title series; (B) Fire Department of the City of New
4 York at 35 Empire Boulevard in Brooklyn, 79th Street Transverse in
5 Manhattan, 83-98 Woodhaven Boulevard in Queens, 1129 East 180 Street in
6 the Bronx, 65 Slosson Avenue in Staten Island, 9 Metrotec Center in
7 Brooklyn, or 25 Rockaway Avenue in Brooklyn as Fire Alarm Dispatchers
8 (FAD), Supervising Fire Alarm Dispatchers I (SFAD), Supervising Fire
9 Alarm Dispatchers II (Borough Supervisor), Deputy Director & Director
10 Fire Dispatch Operations, or Assistant Commissioner for Communications;
11 (C) for the Fire Department of the City of New York's Emergency Medical
12 Service at 1 or 9 Metrotec Centers in Brooklyn, or 55-30 58 Street in
13 Maspeth Queens as Emergency Medical Specialist-Level I (EMT), Emergency
14 Medical Specialist Level II-(Paramedic), Supervising Emergency Medical
15 Specialist Level I (LT), Supervising Emergency Medical Specialist Level
16 II (Capt), Deputy Chief EMS Communications, or Division Commander EMS
17 Communications; or (vii) worked at the Verrazano Bridge Toll Facility.
18 For purposes of this paragraph, the term "member" shall include each
19 person who during the qualifying period was in the employment of a
20 public employer which then participated for such employees in a public
21 retirement system in this state, irrespective of whether the person was
22 a participant in such system at that time, provided that the person has
23 become a participant in such retirement system and has purchased service
24 credit for a period of time that includes some or all of the qualifying
25 period in accordance with provisions of law applicable to such purchase
26 of service credit.
27 § 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none
28 of the provisions of this act shall be subject to section 25 of the
29 retirement and social security law.
30 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to
31 have been in full force and effect on and after September 11, 2001.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would expand the definition of a
member who participated in the World Trade Center rescue, recovery, or
cleanup operations to include those who worked at the Verrazano Bridge
Toll Facility.
ILLUSTRATION - INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Thousands)
Per Incident
Year Disability Death
2026 22 101
2027 22 101
2028 22 101
2029 22 101
2030 22 101
2031 22 101
2032 22 101
2033 22 101
2034 22 101
2035 22 101
2036 22 101
2037 22 101
2038 22 101
2039 22 101
2040 0 0
2041 0 0
S. 8135--A 3
2042 0 0
2043 0 0
2044 0 0
2045 0 0
2046 0 0
2047 0 0
2048 0 0
2049 0 0
2050 0 0
Employer contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2050 is not shown.
The potential increases in employer contributions will be allocated to
the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA).
PRESENT VALUE OF BENEFITS: The Present Value of Benefits is the
discounted expected value of benefits paid to current members if all
assumptions are met, including future service accrual and pay increases.
INITIAL INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES
as of June 30, 2024 ($ in Thousands)
Present Value (PV) Per Disability Per Death
(1) PV of Employer Contributions: 184 851
(2) PV of Employee Contributions: (0)0
Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2): 184 851
UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY (UAL): Actuarial Accrued Liabilities are
the portion of the Present Value of Benefits allocated to past service.
Changes in UAL per incident would be recognized as ongoing gain/loss.
AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY
Recognized as Ongoing Gain/Loss Per Disability Per Death
Increase (Decrease) in UAL: 184 K 851 K
Number of Payments: 14 14
Amortization Payment: 22 K 101 K
CENSUS DATA: The number of members and eligible retirees who worked at
the Verrazano bridge during the applicable period is unknown. The esti-
mates presented herein are based on preliminary census data collected as
of June 30, 2024. The census data for the potentially impacted popu-
lation used to develop the average costs in this Fiscal Note is based on
TBTA members active during the applicable period and is summarized
below.
NYCERS
Active Members
- Number Count: 155
- Average Age: 58.0
- Average Service: 26.9
- Average Salary: 129,700
Term. Vested Members
- Number Count: 59
- Average Age: 54.4
Receiving Members
- Number Count: 888
- Average Age: 68.9
S. 8135--A 4
IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, a member who becomes disabled
would be eligible for an applicable ordinary disability retirement,
generally a lifetime payment of 1/3 of Final Average Salary or the
service retirement benefit if greater. The ordinary death benefit is a
lump sum payment generally equal to three times the member's salary for
active members or a fraction of the retirement benefit for retirees.
Under the proposed legislation, the accidental death benefit would
generally be equal to a lifetime benefit of 50%, or 100% for those
eligible for the Special Accidental Death Benefit, of a member's wages
earned during their last year of service.
ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have been
calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions and Methods
of the impacted retirement systems.
The cost of this proposed legislation could vary greatly depending on
the number of future members who benefit and on their length of service,
age, and salary history. The estimated financial impact for disabled
members has been calculated assuming 50% would have retired under an
ordinary disability benefit, and 50% would have continued working if the
proposed legislation were not passed.
RISK AND UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend
highly on the actuarial assumptions, methods, and models used, demo-
graphics of the impacted population, and other factors such as invest-
ment, contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates from
actuarial assumptions, the actual costs could differ from those
presented herein. Quantifying these risks is beyond the scope of this
Fiscal Note.
This Fiscal Note is intended to measure pension-related impacts and
does not include other potential costs (e.g., administrative and Other
Postemployment Benefits). This Fiscal Note does not reflect any chapter
laws that may have been enacted during the current legislative session.
STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: Marek Tyszkiewicz and Gregory Zelikov-
sky are members of the Society of Actuaries and the American Academy of
Actuaries. We are members of NYCERS, but do not believe it impairs our
objectivity, and we meet the Qualification Standards of the American
Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
To the best of our knowledge, the results contained herein have been
prepared in accordance with generally accepted actuarial principles and
procedures and with the Actuarial Standards of Practice issued by the
Actuarial Standards Board.
FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2025-73 dated May 29,
2025 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retirement
Systems and Pension Funds and is intended for use only during the 2025
Legislative Session.
