NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A5364
SPONSOR: Levenberg
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend chapter 606 of the laws of 2006, amending the volunteer
firefighters' benefit law, relating to creating a presumption relating
to certain lung disabilities incurred by volunteer firefighters, in
relation to making such provisions permanent
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this legislation is to make permanent the long-standing
law governing disability determinations for volunteer firefighters due
to disease or malfunction of the lungs.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Amends the Chapter 606 relating to the Volunteer Firefighter
Benefit Law that governs disability resulting from lung disease by
making this provision permanent instead of letting it expire on June 30,
2025.
Section 2. Establishes the effective date.
 
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):
Not applicable at this time.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In the line of duty, firefighters are exposed to gasses, toxins and
other substances that have damaging effects on the respiratory system
both short and long term. Firefighters experience •risks for lung
disease at significantly higher rates compared to the average adult
population because of contact with numerous harmful chemicals from
combustions.
This legislation would permanently extend a long-standing and successful
safety net for all volunteer firefighters.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S.2973 of 2021/2022
S.5419 and A.7352 of 2019/2020
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
There are no fiscal implications associated with
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5364
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 7, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. LEVENBERG -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Local Governments
AN ACT to amend chapter 606 of the laws of 2006, amending the volunteer
firefighters' benefit law, relating to creating a presumption relating
to certain lung disabilities incurred by volunteer firefighters, in
relation to making such provisions permanent
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 2 of chapter 606 of the laws of 2006, amending the
2 volunteer firefighters' benefit law, relating to creating a presumption
3 relating to certain lung disabilities incurred by volunteer firefight-
4 ers, as amended by section 1 of item BB of subpart B of part XXX of
5 chapter 58 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as follows:
6 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately [and shall expire and be
7 deemed repealed June 30, 2025].
8 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04123-01-3