Add 65 & 363-g, R & SS L; add 511-b, Ed L; add 11-d, Vol Ffs Ben L
Provides that any condition of impairment of health caused by Parkinson's Disease, resulting in total disability or death to a volunteer firefighter is presumptive evidence that such disability or death was caused by the natural and proximate result of an accident and was sustained in the performance and discharge of duty.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7871--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
July 7, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SILLITTI, SANTABARBARA -- read once and referred
to the Committee on Governmental Employees -- recommitted to the
Committee on Governmental Employees in accordance with Assembly Rule
3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, the education
law and the volunteer firefighters' benefit law, in relation to disa-
bility retirement benefits for the presumption of Parkinson's Disease
for volunteer firefighters
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 65 to read as follows:
3 § 65. Volunteer firefighter certain impairments of health; presump-
4 tion. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the
5 contrary, any condition of impairment of health caused by Parkinson's
6 Disease, resulting in total disability or death to a member who outside
7 his or her retirement system membership is also a volunteer firefighter
8 in this state and has been for a minimum of five years, where such
9 volunteer firefighter successfully passed a physical examination on
10 entry into service as a volunteer firefighter, which examination failed
11 to reveal any evidence of such condition, shall be presumptive evidence
12 that, unless the contrary be proven by competent evidence, such disabil-
13 ity or death of the member (a) was caused by the natural and proximate
14 result of an accident, not caused by such member's own willful negli-
15 gence, and (b) was incurred in the performance and discharge of the
16 member's duty. The member shall submit documentation verifying that
17 they meet the eligibility requirements of this section.
18 § 2. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new
19 section 363-g to read as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03391-07-4
A. 7871--A 2
1 § 363-g. Volunteer firefighter certain impairments of health; presump-
2 tion. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the
3 contrary, any condition of impairment of health caused by Parkinson's
4 Disease, resulting in total disability or death to a member who outside
5 his or her retirement system membership is also a volunteer firefighter
6 in this state and has been for a minimum of five years, where such
7 volunteer firefighter successfully passed a physical examination on
8 entry into service as a volunteer firefighter, which examination failed
9 to reveal any evidence of such condition, shall be presumptive evidence
10 that, unless the contrary be proven by competent evidence, such disabil-
11 ity or death of the member (a) was caused by the natural and proximate
12 result of an accident, not caused by such member's own willful negli-
13 gence, and (b) was incurred in the performance and discharge of the
14 member's duty. The member shall submit documentation verifying that
15 they meet the eligibility requirements of this section.
16 § 3. The education law is amended by adding a new section 511-b to
17 read as follows:
18 § 511-b. Volunteer firefighter certain impairments of health; presump-
19 tion. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the
20 contrary, any condition of impairment of health caused by Parkinson's
21 Disease, resulting in total disability or death to a member who outside
22 his or her retirement system membership is also a volunteer firefighter
23 in this state and has been for a minimum of five years, where such
24 volunteer firefighter successfully passed a physical examination on
25 entry into service as a volunteer firefighter, which examination failed
26 to reveal any evidence of such condition, shall be presumptive evidence
27 that, unless the contrary be proven by competent evidence, such disabil-
28 ity or death of the member (a) was caused by the natural and proximate
29 result of an accident, not caused by such member's own willful negli-
30 gence, and (b) was incurred in the performance and discharge of the
31 member's duty. The member shall submit documentation verifying that
32 they meet the eligibility requirements of this section.
33 § 4. The volunteer firefighters' benefit law is amended by adding a
34 new section 11-d to read as follows:
35 § 11-d. Volunteer firefighters; presumption of Parkinson's Disease.
36 Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the contrary,
37 any condition of impairment of health caused by Parkinson's Disease
38 resulting in total disability or death to a volunteer firefighter, or
39 any retired volunteer firefighter who has been retired for two or less
40 years, where such volunteer firefighter successfully passed a physical
41 examination on entry into service, which examination failed to reveal
42 any evidence of such condition, and who has been a volunteer firefighter
43 in this state for a minimum of five years, shall be presumptive evidence
44 that such disability or death (a) was caused by the natural and proxi-
45 mate result of an accident, not caused by such firefighter's own negli-
46 gence, and (b) was incurred in the performance and discharge of duty,
47 unless the contrary be proven by competent evidence.
48 § 5. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, none of the
49 provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation requirement
50 of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
51 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would amend the Retirement and Social Security Law to
provide Tier 1 and Tier 2 members of the New York State and Local
Employees' Retirement System (NYSLERS) and all members of the New York
State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System (NYSLPFRS) with a
A. 7871--A 3
presumption that any disability or death resulting from impairments of
health related to Parkinson's Disease are the result of an accident
sustained in the performance of duty unless the contrary can be proven
by competent evidence. To be eligible, the member must (1) be a volun-
teer firefighter in New York State and have been for at least 5 years,
(2) have passed a physical examination, and (3) submit documentation
verifying these eligibility requirements are satisfied.
Insofar as this bill affects the NYSLERS and NYSLPFRS, if this legis-
lation is enacted during the 2024 Legislative Session, it would lead to
more disabilities being classified as "accidental." The cost of the
revised benefit will depend upon the applicant's age, service, salary,
plan, and any benefit type otherwise payable but would average:
Benefit prior Ordinary Performance Service
to enactment: None Disability of Duty Retirement
Cost for 10 times 5.5 times 3 times 2 times
proposed benefit: salary salary salary salary
Further, we anticipate that there could be some administrative costs
to implement the provisions of this legislation.
The exact number of current members as well as future members who
could be affected by this legislation cannot be readily determined.
Those costs arising in the NYSLERS and NYSLPFRS will be shared by the
State of New York and the participating employers of each system,
respectively.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2023 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2023 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2023 Report of the Actuary and the 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2023
Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the
Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and
Control.
The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2023
New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and
Supplementary Information.
I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability
of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for
the professional judgment of an attorney.
This estimate, dated March 5, 2024, and intended for use only during
the 2024 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2024-63, prepared by
the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would amend various sections of the Education Law and the
Retirement and Social Security Law to provide an accidental disability
benefit to an eligible active member or an accidental death benefit to
the beneficiary of an eligible deceased member of the New York State
Teachers' Retirement System who has been a volunteer firefighter in New
York State for a minimum of five years and develops any condition of
impairment of health caused by Parkinson's Disease resulting in total
disability or death. Such impairment of health due to Parkinson's
A. 7871--A 4
Disease will be considered caused by an accident, not caused by such
member's own willful negligence, and will be considered to have been
incurred in the performance of duty.
Under current law a disability benefit is generally equal to one-third
of final average salary. Ten years of service are required to be eligi-
ble for a disability benefit, although this ten-year requirement is
waived in the case of an accidental disability incurred during the
performance of duty. The amount of the accidental disability benefit is
the same as that of the ordinary disability benefit.
Under current law the death benefit for an active member who dies
prior to retirement is generally equal to three times the member's last
year's salary, payable as a lump sum. The death benefit for an active
member who dies prior to retirement as the result of an accident
sustained during the performance of duty is equal to a lifetime benefit
equal to 50% of the regular salary earned during the member's last year
of service.
The overall cost of this bill cannot be readily determined as the
ultimate number of volunteer firefighter disability retirements or acci-
dental deaths caused by Parkinson's Disease cannot be determined at this
time.
The average cost per individual member impacted is estimated as
follows:
Member Disability Benefit Accidental Death Benefit
Age
30 $250,000 (4.3 times salary) $240,000 (4.2 times salary)
40 $320,000 (4.0 times salary) $310,000 (3.9 times salary)
50 $360,000 (3.6 times salary) $350,000 (3.5 times salary)
The actual cost per member would depend on the member and benefici-
ary's age, tier, years of service and salary. The costs above are deter-
mined 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, 2023, 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,
2023. 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 are provided in the System's Actuarial Valuation
Report as of June 30, 2023.
The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2024-24 dated March 25,
2024 prepared by the Office of the Actuary of the New York State Teach-
ers' Retirement System and is intended for use only during the 2024
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.
