Amd S606, Tax L; amd SS401, 404-b & 404-f, V & T L; amd S92-a, Gen Muni L; add S202-l, Lab L; amd SS2780 &
2781, add S2781-a, Pub Health L; add S26, Vol Ffs Ben L; add S26, Vol Amb Wkr Ben L; add S307-a, County L;
amd S4, Chap 668 of 1977
Enacts the "volunteer firefighter and ambulance worker protection and incentive act of 2011"; increases the volunteer firefighters' and volunteer ambulance workers' credit in the amount of five hundred dollars; exempts motor vehicles used in the performance of such volunteers' duties from registration fees, use taxes and special fees for volunteer license plates; establishes priority access to wireless telephone and text messaging services for emergency service; provides safety for employees who are late or miss work because they have responded to an emergency; eliminates the expiration on benefits for volunteer firefighters for disease and malfunction of the heart or coronary arteries.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5294
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 15, 2011
___________
Introduced by M. of A. OAKS, CALHOUN, FITZPATRICK, GIGLIO, HAWLEY,
MONTESANO, PALMESANO, TEDISCO, MURRAY -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of
A. AMEDORE, BARCLAY, BURLING, BUTLER, CASTELLI, CONTE, CORWIN, CROUCH,
DUPREY, FINCH, GOODELL, HAYES, JORDAN, KOLB, P. LOPEZ, McDONOUGH,
McKEVITT, McLAUGHLIN, J. MILLER, MOLINARO, RABBITT, RAIA, REILICH,
SALADINO, SAYWARD -- read once and referred to the Committee on Ways
and Means
AN ACT to amend the tax law, the vehicle and traffic law, the general
municipal law, the labor law, the public health law, the volunteer
firefighters' benefit law, the volunteer ambulance workers' benefit
law, and the county law, in relation to enacting the volunteer fire-
fighter and ambulance worker protection and incentive act of 2011; and
to amend chapter 668 of the laws of 1977, amending the volunteer fire-
fighters' benefit law, relating to disability due to disease or
malfunction of the heart or coronary arteries, in relation to making
certain provisions thereof permanent
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "volunteer firefighter and ambulance worker protection and incentive
3 act of 2011".
4 § 2. Subsection (e-1) of section 606 of the tax law, as added by
5 section 1 of part U of chapter 62 of the laws of 2006, paragraph 2 as
6 amended by chapter 532 of the laws of 2007, paragraph 3 as added and
7 paragraph 4 as renumbered by section 4 of part N of chapter 61 of the
8 laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:
9 (e-1) Volunteer firefighters' and ambulance workers' credit. (1) For
10 taxable years beginning on and after January first, two thousand [seven]
11 eleven, a resident taxpayer who serves as an active volunteer firefight-
12 er as defined in subdivision one of section two hundred fifteen of the
13 general municipal law or as a volunteer ambulance worker as defined in
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04288-01-1
A. 5294 2
1 subdivision fourteen of section two hundred nineteen-k of the general
2 municipal law shall be allowed a credit against the tax imposed by this
3 article equal to [two] five hundred dollars. In order to receive this
4 credit a volunteer firefighter or volunteer ambulance worker must have
5 been active for the entire taxable year for which the credit is sought.
6 (2) If a taxpayer receives a real property tax exemption relating to
7 such service under title two of article four of the real property tax
8 law, such taxpayer shall not be eligible for this credit; provided,
9 however (A) if the taxpayer receives such real property tax exemption in
10 the two thousand [seven] eleven taxable year as a result of making
11 application therefor in a prior year or (B) if the taxpayer notifies his
12 or her assessor in writing by December thirty-first, two thousand
13 [seven] eleven of the taxpayer's intent to discontinue such real proper-
14 ty tax exemption by not re-applying for such real property tax exemption
15 by the next taxable status date, such taxpayer shall be eligible for
16 this credit for the two thousand [seven] eleven taxable year.
17 (3) In the case of a husband and wife who file a joint return and who
18 both individually qualify for the credit under this subsection, the
19 amount of the credit allowed shall be [four hundred] one thousand
20 dollars.
21 (4) If the amount of the credit allowed under this subsection for any
22 taxable year shall exceed the taxpayer's tax for such year, the excess
23 shall be treated as an overpayment of tax to be credited or refunded in
24 accordance with the provisions of section six hundred eighty-six of this
25 article, provided, however, that no interest shall be paid thereon.
26 § 3. Subdivision 6 of section 401 of the vehicle and traffic law is
27 amended by adding a new paragraph h to read as follows:
28 h. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or any other law to
29 the contrary, any motor vehicle owned by a volunteer firefighter, as
30 defined in subdivision one of section three of the volunteer firefight-
31 ers' benefit law, or a volunteer ambulance worker, as defined in subdi-
32 vision one of section three of the volunteer ambulance workers' benefit
33 law, and used by such volunteer in the performance of his or her duties
34 as a volunteer firefighter or volunteer ambulance worker shall be exempt
35 from all motor vehicle registration fees and from any vehicle use or
36 other tax based upon the weight or value of such motor vehicle.
37 § 4. Subdivision 3 of section 404-b of the vehicle and traffic law, as
38 amended by chapter 277 of the laws of 1991, is amended to read as
39 follows:
40 3. A distinctive plate issued pursuant to this section shall be issued
41 in the same manner as other number plates upon payment of the regular
42 registration fee prescribed by section four hundred one of this chapter
43 and an initial one time service charge of fifteen dollars; provided,
44 however, no such registration fee or service charge shall be imposed for
45 a motor vehicle used by a volunteer firefighter in the performance of
46 his or her duties.
47 § 5. Subdivision 3 of section 404-f of the vehicle and traffic law, as
48 amended by chapter 277 of the laws of 1991, is amended to read as
49 follows:
50 3. A distinctive plate issued pursuant to this section shall be issued
51 in the same manner as other number plates upon payment of the regular
52 registration fee prescribed by section four hundred one of this chapter
53 and an additional annual service charge of fifteen dollars; provided,
54 however, no such registration fee or service charge shall be imposed for
55 a motor vehicle used by a member of a volunteer ambulance service in the
56 performance of his or her duties.
A. 5294 3
1 § 6. Section 92-a of the general municipal law is amended by adding a
2 new subdivision 8 to read as follows:
3 8. The provisions of this section shall apply to volunteer firefight-
4 ers, as defined in subdivision one of section three of the volunteer
5 firefighters' benefit law, and volunteer ambulance workers, as defined
6 in subdivision one of section three of the volunteer ambulance workers'
7 benefit law; provided however, that the total or partial cost of partic-
8 ipation shall be borne by such member, unless the governing board of the
9 volunteer fire company, department, or corporation or the governing
10 board of the volunteer ambulance company, either voluntary or municipal,
11 shall enact provisions to provide total or partial contribution in
12 payment of the cost of such member's participation in such plan.
13 § 7. The labor law is amended by adding a new section 202-l to read
14 as follows:
15 § 202-l. Authorized absence. 1. If an employee is absent from or late
16 to his or her employment in order to respond to an emergency prior to
17 the time the employee is to report to his or her employment due to his
18 or her engaging in the actual performance of his or her duties as (a) a
19 volunteer firefighter, or (b) an enrolled member of a volunteer ambu-
20 lance service pursuant to article thirty of the public health law, an
21 employer shall be prohibited from terminating such employee on the basis
22 of such absence or lateness.
23 2. The entire period of the authorized absence granted pursuant to
24 this section may be charged against any other leave such employee is
25 otherwise entitled to, and such authorized absence shall include travel
26 both to and from such duties performed in his or her capacity as a
27 volunteer. At the employer's request, the employee must provide the
28 employer with a statement from the head of the volunteer firefighter or
29 volunteer ambulance service, as applicable, stating the employee
30 responded to an emergency and the time of such response.
31 § 8. Subdivisions 12 and 13 of section 2780 of the public health law,
32 as added by chapter 584 of the laws of 1988, are amended and two new
33 subdivisions 18 and 19 are added to read as follows:
34 12. "Health facility" means a hospital as defined in section two thou-
35 sand eight hundred one of this chapter, nursing home, hospice, clinic,
36 blood bank, blood center, sperm bank, organ or tissue bank, clinical
37 laboratory, residential or outpatient drug and alcohol rehabilitation
38 service or facility providing care or treatment to persons with a mental
39 disability as defined in article one of the mental hygiene law or any
40 other health care institution required to be licensed in this state
41 whether privately or publicly operated.
42 13. "Health care provider" means any physician, nurse, emergency
43 medical services worker, provider of services for the mentally disabled
44 as defined in article one of the mental hygiene law, or other person
45 involved in providing medical, nursing, counseling, or other health care
46 or mental health service, including those associated with, or under
47 contract to, a health maintenance organization or medical services plan.
48 18. "First responder" means police, firefighters, rescue personnel or
49 any other person who provides emergency response, first aid or other
50 medically related assistance either in the course of their occupational
51 duties or as a volunteer, which may expose them to contact with a
52 person's bodily fluids.
53 19. "Significant exposure" means direct contact with blood or body
54 fluids of a patient in a manner which, according to the most current
55 guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control of the United States
56 Public Health Service, is capable of transmitting human immunodeficiency
A. 5294 4
1 virus, including, but not limited to, a percutaneous injury, contact of
2 mucous membranes or contact of skin (especially when the exposed skin is
3 chapped, abraded or afflicted with dermatitis) or if the contact is
4 prolonged or involves an extensive area.
5 § 9. Subdivision 1 of section 2781 of the public health law, as
6 amended by chapter 308 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as
7 follows:
8 1. Except as provided in section twenty-seven hundred eighty-one-b of
9 this article or in section three thousand one hundred twenty-one of the
10 civil practice law and rules, or unless otherwise specifically author-
11 ized or required by a state or federal law, no person shall order the
12 performance of an HIV related test without first having received the
13 written or, where authorized by this subdivision, oral, informed consent
14 of the subject of the test who has capacity to consent or, when the
15 subject lacks capacity to consent, of a person authorized pursuant to
16 law to consent to health care for such individual. When the test being
17 ordered is a rapid HIV test, such informed consent may be obtained oral-
18 ly and shall be documented in the subject of the test's medical record
19 by the person ordering the performance of the test.
20 § 10. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 2781-b
21 to read as follows:
22 § 2781-b. Certification of significant exposure and testing proce-
23 dures. 1. Whenever a health care provider or first responder experiences
24 an exposure to a patient's blood or bodily fluids during the course of
25 rendering health care or occupational services, the individual may
26 request an evaluation of the exposure, by a physician, to determine if
27 it is a significant exposure. No physician shall certify his own signif-
28 icant exposure or that of any of his employees. Such requests shall be
29 made within seventy-two hours of the exposure.
30 2. Within seventy-two hours of the request, the physician shall make
31 written certification of the significance of the exposure.
32 3. If the physician determines that the health care provider or first
33 responder has experienced a significant exposure, the physician shall
34 offer the exposed individual the opportunity to undergo testing follow-
35 ing the procedure outlined in section twenty-seven hundred eighty-one of
36 this article.
37 § 11. The volunteer firefighters' benefit law is amended by adding a
38 new section 26 to read as follows:
39 § 26. Exposure to blood or bodily fluids. If, as a result of services
40 performed in the line of duty, a volunteer firefighter experiences an
41 exposure to a patient's or victim's blood or bodily fluids, the execu-
42 tive officer of the fire department or fire company of which he or she
43 is a member may authorize the volunteer firefighter to obtain the evalu-
44 ation and testing of the exposure set forth in section twenty-seven
45 hundred eighty-one-b of the public health law. Any such authorization
46 may be granted prior to the giving of notice under this chapter. Such
47 evaluation and testing of the exposure shall be a covered benefit under
48 this chapter.
49 § 12. The volunteer ambulance workers' benefit law is amended by
50 adding a new section 26 to read as follows:
51 § 26. Exposure to blood or bodily fluids. If, as a result of services
52 performed in the line of duty, a volunteer ambulance worker experiences
53 an exposure to a patient's or victim's blood or bodily fluids, the exec-
54 utive officer of the ambulance company of which he or she is a member
55 may authorize the volunteer ambulance worker to obtain the evaluation
56 and testing of the exposure set forth in section twenty-seven hundred
A. 5294 5
1 eighty-one-b of the public health law. Any such authorization may be
2 granted prior to the giving of notice under this chapter. Such evalu-
3 ation and testing of the exposure shall be a covered benefit under this
4 chapter.
5 § 13. The county law is amended by adding a new section 307-a to read
6 as follows:
7 § 307-a. Priority access to wireless telephone and text messaging
8 service for emergency service. Every wireless telephone service supplier
9 as defined in section three hundred twenty-five of this chapter, offer-
10 ing wireless telephone and text messaging service shall, to the extent
11 technically feasible, make available to (1) any wireless telephone
12 customer dialing 911 and (2) emergency service providers including, but
13 not limited to, fire departments and companies, emergency medical
14 services and law enforcement agencies, priority access to wireless tele-
15 phone and text messaging service in order to assure its availability
16 during a public emergency. Such wireless telephone service suppliers may
17 consult with the New York state 911 board, state fire administrator, New
18 York state emergency medical services council and such law enforcement
19 officials as appropriate in establishing such priority access.
20 § 14. Section 4 of chapter 668 of the laws of 1977, amending the
21 volunteer firefighters' benefit law, relating to disability due to
22 disease or malfunction of the heart or coronary arteries, as amended by
23 chapter 383 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
24 [§ 4. The provisions of section two of this act shall remain in full
25 force and effect to and including the thirtieth day of June, 2015.]
26 § 15. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the
27 payment of tolls on any highway, bridge, tunnel or other toll road with-
28 in this state shall not apply to a voluntary ambulance service operating
29 pursuant to a valid operating certificate as described in subdivision 1
30 of section 3005 of the public health law while such vehicle is respond-
31 ing to an emergency or furnishing voluntary ambulance services.
32 § 16. This act shall take effect immediately, except that:
33 a. sections three, four and five of this act shall apply to fees,
34 charges and taxes imposed on or after such effective date; and
35 b. section six of this act shall take effect on the one hundred twen-
36 tieth day after it shall have become a law. The rules and regulations
37 necessary to implement the provisions of section six of this act on its
38 effective date are authorized and directed to be promulgated on or
39 before such date.
