New York Assembly Bill A10149

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/12/26
• Refer: 2/12/26

Caption

Provides a heart disease presumption for certain members employed as probation officers

Summary

A10149 would amend the Retirement and Social Security Law to create a rebuttable presumption that heart disease causing total or partial disability, or death, in certain New York City probation personnel was incurred in the performance of duty. The bill applies to probation officers, supervising probation officers, and probation officer trainees employed by a department of probation in a city with a population of one million or more, which in practice means New York City. To qualify, the member must have passed a physical examination on entry into service or afterward that did not reveal the condition. For eligible members who retire under this presumption, the bill would provide a performance-of-duty disability pension equal to three-fourths of final average salary. It also extends a related death benefit structure for covered members. The bill states that past service costs would be borne by the City of New York and that the measure would take effect immediately, without being subject to the usual appropriation requirement in the retirement law.

Impact

The bill would create a new section 607-m in the Retirement and Social Security Law and carve out a special pension presumption for a narrow class of NYC probation employees. It would override conflicting general, special, local, or administrative provisions, except for workers' compensation and labor law, and would shift the financial responsibility for past service costs to New York City. The fiscal note estimates increased employer contributions for NYCERS and a higher disability/death benefit level than ordinary retirement benefits currently available to affected Tier 4 and Tier 6 members.

Sentiment

There is no recorded committee transcript or vote history in the provided materials, so no direct floor or committee sentiment can be measured from debate. The bill’s framing and fiscal note suggest a policy rationale of extending line-of-duty style protection to probation officers exposed to occupational health risks, while also acknowledging a significant cost to the city pension system. Overall, the available context indicates a protective, employee-benefit-oriented proposal rather than a controversial structural change to retirement policy.

Contention

The main point of contention is fiscal responsibility: the bill would increase New York City’s pension costs, and the fiscal note projects ongoing employer contribution increases tied to disability and death claims. Another issue is scope, because the presumption is limited to probation personnel in cities of one million or more, effectively targeting NYC employees and not similarly situated workers elsewhere. A further policy question is whether heart disease should receive the same kind of duty-related presumption already seen in other public-safety occupations, given that the bill would provide a substantially richer benefit than ordinary disability retirement.