STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9594 IN SENATE May 16, 2024 ___________ Introduced by Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to disability retirement benefits for the presumption of amyotrophic lateral sclero- sis for paid members of a fire department in a city with a population of one million or more The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new 2 section 207-r to read as follows: 3 § 207-r. Disabilities caused by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. 4 Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the contrary, 5 any condition of impairment of health caused by amyotrophic lateral 6 sclerosis resulting in total or partial disability or death to a paid 7 member of a fire department in a city with a population of one million 8 or more, or any retired member of such department who has been retired 9 for five or less years, who successfully passed a physical examination 10 on entry into the service of such department, which examination failed 11 to reveal any evidence of such condition, shall be presumptive evidence 12 that it was incurred in the performance of duty unless the contrary be 13 proved by competent evidence. 14 § 2. The board of trustees of the New York city fire department 15 pension fund shall take appropriate administrative action to implement 16 the intent of section one of this act. 17 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would provide certain members and retirees of the New York City Fire Pension Fund (FIRE) a rebuttable statutory presumption that a qualifying partial or total disability or death related to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) was incurred in the performance of duty. ILLUSTRATION - INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Thousands) EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD15009-02-4
S. 9594 2 Year One One Incident Incident Per Year 2025 231 231 2026 231 468 2027 231 713 2028 231 965 2029 231 1,225 2030 231 1,492 2031 231 1,768 2032 231 2,051 2033 231 2,344 2034 231 2,645 2035 231 2,955 2036 231 3,274 2037 231 3,603 2038 231 3,942 2039 0 4,060 2040 0 4,182 2041 0 4,307 2042 0 4,437 2043 0 4,570 2044 0 4,707 2045 0 4,848 2046 0 4,993 2047 0 5,143 2048 0 5,297 2049 0 5,456 Employer contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2049 is not shown. The potential increases in employer contributions will be allocated to New York City. EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL LIABILITIES as of June 30, 2023 ($ in Thousands) Present Value (PV) Per Incident PV of Benefits: 1,951 PV of Employee Contributions: 0 PV of Employer Contributions: 1,951 Unfunded Accrued Liabilities: 1,951 AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY Recognized as Ongoing Gain/Loss Per Incident Number of Payments: 14 Amortization Payment: 231 K CENSUS DATA: The number of members who will benefit in the future from the statutory presumption provided in this bill is unknown. The esti- mates presented herein are based on preliminary census data collected as of June 30, 2023. The census data for the potentially impacted popu- lation used to develop the average costs is summarized below. FIRE Active Members - Number Count: 10,720 - Average Age: 40.8 - Average Service: 13.9
S. 9594 3 - Average Salary: 139,500 Receiving Members (within five years of retirement) - Number Count: 2,483 - Average Age: 54.3 IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, a FIRE member who becomes disa- bled due to ALS would be eligible for an applicable ordinary disability retirement, generally a lifetime payment based on salary (generally 1/3 of salary for Tier 3 members and 1/2 of salary for Tier 2 members), or the service retirement benefit if greater. The ordinary death benefit is a lump sum payment generally equal to three times the member's salary. Currently, FIRE retirees who become disabled, or die, after retirement due to ALS are not eligible to reclassify their existing benefit. Under the proposed legislation, the performance of duty disability benefit for eligible FIRE members and retirees who are disabled from ALS would generally be equal to: * 75% of Final Average Salary (FAS), where * FAS is defined as 1-Year FAS for Tier 2 and 3-Year FAS for TIER 3. Under the proposed legislation, the performance of duty death benefit would generally be equal to a lifetime benefit of 50% of a member's wages earned during the last year of service, plus, if applicable, the Special Accidental Death Benefit (SADB) payable under General Municipal Law section 208-f. ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have been calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions and Methods of the impacted retirement system. The number of members who will benefit in the future 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. The estimated financial impact for members has been calculated assum- ing eligible members die in the year following the valuation date. 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). 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 2024-60 dated May 15, 2024 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retirement Systems and Pension Funds. This estimate is intended for use only during the 2024 Legislative Session.