Provides for a line of duty disability presumption for any condition of impairment of health caused by diseases of the lung, resulting in total or partial disability or death of certain deputy sheriff members of a retirement system in certain cities.
Summary
S07748 would add a new section to the General Municipal Law creating a rebuttable presumption that certain lung diseases suffered by New York City deputy sheriffs were incurred in the performance of duty. The presumption would apply to paid deputy sheriff employees in a city of one million or more, as well as retired members who left service within the prior five years, so long as they passed a pre-employment physical that did not reveal the condition. The bill also specifies that the presumption does not apply for purposes of the workers’ compensation law or labor law.
If the presumption applies, a qualifying deputy sheriff member retiring on disability would receive a performance-of-duty disability pension equal to three-fourths of final average salary. Eligible recent retirees would have their pensions recalculated to that level, with the recalculation beginning on the later of the bill’s effective date or the date the lung disease caused full or partial disability. The bill takes effect immediately and is aimed at NYCERS deputy sheriff members and retirees, affecting pension administration and employer contribution obligations for New York City.
Impact
The bill would amend the General Municipal Law by adding section 207-r and would expand line-of-duty disability protections for a narrow class of deputy sheriff members in cities of one million or more, which in practice means New York City. It would change the pension benefit structure for qualifying lung-disease disabilities from ordinary disability retirement to a 75% of final average salary performance-of-duty disability benefit, and it would authorize recalculation of benefits for certain retirees within five years of retirement. The fiscal note indicates increased employer contribution costs for New York City and corresponding impacts on NYCERS, while leaving workers’ compensation and labor law treatment unchanged.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have broad support in the Legislature. It passed the Senate Cities Committee unanimously, then cleared Senate Rules unanimously, passed the Senate floor 59-0, and passed the Assembly 143-1. That voting pattern suggests strong bipartisan agreement that deputy sheriffs with qualifying lung disease should receive enhanced disability protection and pension benefits.
Contention
The main policy issue is fiscal rather than conceptual: the bill would increase pension costs and employer contributions for New York City, and the fiscal note emphasizes that the cost could vary depending on how many members are affected and their service, age, and salary history. Another point of limitation is the bill’s narrow scope, which applies only to deputy sheriffs in cities of one million or more and only to lung diseases, with a five-year lookback for retirees. The text also preserves existing workers’ compensation and labor law rules, indicating an effort to avoid broader legal changes beyond the pension presumption.
Same As
Provides for a line of duty disability presumption for any condition of impairment of health caused by diseases of the lung, resulting in total or partial disability or death of certain deputy sheriff members of a retirement system in certain cities.
Provides for a line of duty disability presumption for any condition of impairment of health caused by diseases of the lung, resulting in total or partial disability or death of certain deputy sheriff members of a retirement system in certain cities.
Provides for a line of duty disability presumption for any condition of impairment of health caused by diseases of the lung, resulting in total or partial disability or death of certain deputy sheriff members of a retirement system in certain cities.
Provides for a line of duty disability presumption for any condition of impairment of health caused by diseases of the lung, resulting in total or partial disability or death of certain deputy sheriff members of a retirement system in certain cities.
Provides for benefits for certain emergency medical technicians or advanced emergency medical technicians in the city of New York who suffer any condition or impairment of health caused by a stroke resulting in disability or death.
Provides a presumption for accidental disability benefits for certain deputy sheriff members in the sheriff's department of a city with a population of one million or more who in performance of their duties contract human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), tuberculosis or hepatitis.
Provides a presumption for accidental disability benefits for certain deputy sheriff members in the sheriff's department of a city with a population of one million or more who in performance of their duties contract human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), tuberculosis or hepatitis.