STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5862 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE March 20, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sen. MANNION -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government AN ACT to amend the volunteer firefighters' benefit law, in relation to requiring hearings on certain claims to occur within a specific amount of time The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 43 of the volunteer firefighters' benefit law, as 2 amended by chapter 336 of the laws of 1957, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 § 43. Determination of claims for benefits. The provisions of section 5 twenty of the [workmen's] workers' compensation law shall be applicable 6 as fully as if set forth in this chapter, except that the waiting period 7 of seven days for the presentation of claims for benefits shall not 8 apply to the presentation of claims for benefits under this chapter, and 9 a hearing ordered by the chair or board shall occur within one hundred 10 twenty days after a claim for compensation is submitted under this chap- 11 ter, provided that failure of such hearing to occur within one hundred 12 twenty days of such submission shall default such claim in the claim- 13 ant's favor, including full payment of the award, determining such claim 14 for compensation. 15 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10338-01-3