STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4943 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 10, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PHEFFER AMATO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to providing a heart disease presumption for correction officers, correction supervisors, deputy sheriff patrol or deputy sheriff patrol supervisors 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 63-j to read as follows: 3 § 63-j. Disability benefits; certain disabilities. Notwithstanding any 4 provision of this chapter or of any general, special or local law to the 5 contrary, any member who is a correction officer, correction supervisor, 6 deputy sheriff patrol or deputy sheriff patrol supervisor who is a 7 member of the New York state and local employees' retirement system and 8 contracts any condition of impairment of health caused by diseases of 9 the heart, resulting in disability or death to such correction officer, 10 correction supervisor, deputy sheriff patrol or deputy sheriff patrol 11 supervisor, presently employed, and who shall have sustained such disa- 12 bility while so employed, shall be presumptive evidence that such disa- 13 bility was incurred in the performance and discharge of duty and the 14 natural and proximate result of an accident, unless the contrary be 15 proved by competent evidence; provided, however, that prior to entry 16 into service, such correction officer, correction supervisor, deputy 17 sheriff patrol or deputy sheriff patrol supervisor successfully passed a 18 physical examination which failed to disclose evidence of any disease or 19 other impairment of the heart. 20 § 2. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new 21 section 605-h to read as follows: 22 § 605-h. Disability benefits; certain disabilities. Notwithstanding 23 any provision of this chapter or of any general, special or local law to EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD01281-02-5
A. 4943 2 1 the contrary, any member who is a correction officer, correction super- 2 visor, deputy sheriff patrol or deputy sheriff patrol supervisor who is 3 a member of the New York state and local employees' retirement system 4 and contracts any condition of impairment of health caused by diseases 5 of the heart, resulting in disability or death to such correction offi- 6 cer, correction supervisor, deputy sheriff patrol or deputy sheriff 7 patrol supervisor, presently employed, and who shall have sustained such 8 disability while so employed, shall be presumptive evidence that such 9 disability was incurred in the performance and discharge of duty and the 10 natural and proximate result of an accident, unless the contrary be 11 proved by competent evidence; provided, however, that prior to entry 12 into service, such correction officer, correction supervisor, deputy 13 sheriff patrol or deputy sheriff patrol supervisor successfully passed a 14 physical examination which failed to disclose evidence of any disease or 15 other impairment of the heart. 16 § 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none 17 of the provisions of this act shall be subject to section 25 of the 18 retirement and social security law. 19 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would allow certain members of the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System (NYSLERS) employed as correction officers, correction supervisors, deputy sheriff patrol, or deputy sheriff patrol supervisors to receive an accidental disability benefit if the member is impaired due to a condition of the heart as a result of an accident, in the performance of their duties, unless the contrary be proven by compe- tent evidence. Currently, only members covered under Article 14-B of the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL) are entitled to this provision. For affected members in tiers 1 and 2, the annual benefit would be 3/4 of final average salary (FAS) less workers' compensation. For affected members in tiers 3-6, the annual benefit would be 1/3 of FAS. The provisions of Section 25 of the RSSL shall not apply. If this bill is enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, it would likely lead to an increased number of accidental disabilities and deaths for future retirees. We anticipate that there will be an increase of approximately $1.8 million in the annual contributions of the counties employing the affected members for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026. In future years this cost will vary but is expected to average 0.2% of salary. In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be an immediate past service cost of approximately $5.98 million which will be shared by the State of New York and the local participating employers in NYSLERS. Further, we anticipate that there will be some administrative costs to implement the provisions of this legislation. These estimated costs are based on 8,096 members with annual salary of approximately $760 million as of March 31, 2024. Correction officers and deputy sheriffs covered under the RSSL Section 89-series (25-year plans) were included. However, only members with the patrol title, who cannot be readily identified, will be affected. Summary of relevant resources: Membership data as of March 31, 2024 was used in measuring the impact of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2024 actuari- al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2024 Report of the Actuary and the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial
A. 4943 3 Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2024 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, 2024 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and Supplementary Information. 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 January 27, 2025, and intended for use only during the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-9. As Chief Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, I, Aaron Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with applica- ble Actuarial Standards of Practice as well as the Code of Professional Conduct and Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of which I am a member.