STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8147--A
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
-- 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 a heart disease presumption for certain New York police
department traffic enforcement agents
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 607-i to read as follows:
3 § 607-i. Disabilities; health presumption. a. Notwithstanding the
4 provisions of any general, special or local law or administrative code
5 to the contrary, but except for the purposes of the workers' compen-
6 sation law and the labor law, any condition of impairment of health
7 caused by diseases of the heart resulting in total or partial disability
8 or death to a member in the employ of the city of New York police
9 department in the titles of traffic enforcement agent I or traffic
10 enforcement agent II, where such member successfully passed a physical
11 examination on entry into the service of such department, which examina-
12 tion failed to reveal any evidence of such condition, shall be presump-
13 tive evidence that it was incurred in the performance and discharge of
14 duty, unless the contrary be proved by competent evidence.
15 b. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general, special, or local
16 law or the administrative code to the contrary, a member employed by the
17 city of New York police department as a traffic enforcement agent I or
18 traffic enforcement agent II who shall be retired pursuant to subdivi-
19 sion a of this section shall receive a pension equal to three-quarters
20 of such member's final average salary.
21 § 2. All past service costs associated with implementing the
22 provisions of this act shall be borne by the city of New York.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10780-03-5
S. 8147--A 2
1 § 3. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, none of the
2 provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation requirement
3 of section twenty-five of this chapter.
4 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would provide Tier 4 and Tier 6
Traffic Enforcement Agents with a rebuttable statutory presumption that
a qualifying disability or death related to heart disease was incurred
in the performance of duty and provide a performance of duty disability
benefit equal to 75% of Final Average Salary.
ILLUSTRATION - INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Thousands)
One Incident One Incident Per Year
Year Disability Death Disability Death
2026 39 26 39 26
2027 39 26 80 53
2028 39 26 122 81
2029 39 26 165 110
2030 39 26 209 140
2031 39 26 255 170
2032 39 26 302 202
2033 39 26 350 234
2034 39 26 400 267
2035 39 26 451 301
2036 39 26 504 337
2037 39 26 559 373
2038 39 26 615 411
2039 39 26 673 449
2040 0 0 693 463
2041 0 0 714 477
2042 0 0 735 491
2043 0 0 757 506
2044 0 0 780 521
2045 0 0 803 537
2046 0 0 827 553
2047 0 0 852 569
2048 0 0 878 586
2049 0 0 904 604
2050 0 0 931 622
Employer contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2050 is not shown.
The potential increases in employer contributions will be allocated to
New York City.
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.
Future new hires are not included in this present value.
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: 333 222
S. 8147--A 3
(2) PV of Employee Contributions: (11)0
Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2): 322 222
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: 333 K 222 K
Number of Payments: 14 14
Amortization Payment: 39 K 26 K
CENSUS DATA: The number of members who will benefit in the future from
this proposed legislation is unknown. The estimates presented herein are
based on preliminary census data collected as of June 30, 2024. The
census data for the potentially impacted population used to develop the
average costs is summarized below.
NYCERS
Active Members
- Number Count: 2,430
- Average Age: 46.3
- Average Service: 9.2
- Average Salary: 55,000
IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, active Tier 4 or Tier 6 members
who are employed as Traffic Enforcement Agents and become disabled due
to heart disease would generally be eligible for an applicable ordinary
disability retirement after attaining 10 years of service. The disabili-
ty benefit is a lifetime payment equal to the greatest of 1/3 of Final
Average Salary (FAS), 1/60th of FAS times service, or the service
retirement benefit, if eligible.
Under the proposed legislation, the performance of duty disability
benefit for Tier 4 or Tier 6 Traffic Enforcement Agent members who are
disabled from heart disease would be equal to 75% of FAS without an
offset for Workers' Compensation.
The ordinary death benefit for Traffic Enforcement Agents is a lump
sum payment generally equal to three times the member's salary, plus a
refund of member contributions. The performance of duty death benefit
would generally be equal to a lifetime benefit of 50% of a member's
wages earned during their last year of service, payable to certain bene-
ficiaries.
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 number of members who will benefit from this proposed legislation
is unknown. 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. In particular, the increase
would be greater for a member who is not yet eligible for an ordinary
disability benefit when disabled.
The estimated financial impact for disabled members has been calcu-
lated assuming 50% would have retired under the current ordinary disa-
S. 8147--A 4
bility 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 2025-76 dated June 6,
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.
