BILL NUMBER:S6178

TITLE OF BILL:  An act in relation to providing additional civil
service credit to children of certain firefighters and police officers
killed in the line of duty

PURPOSE:  This bill corrects an issue that arose after the enactment
of Chapter 376 of the Laws of 2013 due to activities that took place
after S.5585/A.7631 passed both houses of the Legislature and before
the enactment of Chapter 376 that caused the children of firefighters
and police officers to be denied additional points for examinations
because the eligible list for such examinations had been established
and could not be changed.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill provides that notwithstanding any other law to
the contrary, any established eligible list that includes at least one
candidate who meets the following criteria will be re-established. The
criteria are:

1. Is the child of a police officer or firefighter that was killed in
the line of duty, as such term is defined in Civil Service Law section
85-b;

2. Applied for additional credit based upon his or her parent's death
              

for the examination from which the established eligible list was
established;

3. Established that his or parent was killed in the line of duty, as
such term is defined in Civil Service Law section 85-b;

4. Was denied such additional credit; and

5. Would have received such credit pursuant to Chapter 376 of the Laws
of 2013.

When re-establishing an established eligible list, the following rules
will apply:

1. All candidates who meet the criteria listed above will be awarded
additional credit that will be added to the candidate's final earned
rating and

2. The names of individuals who have been hired from the established
eligible list shall not be included in the re-established eligible
list.

Any appointment that was made from an established eligible list prior
to its re-establishment shall not be rendered void or voidable solely
on the basis that the appointee would not have been eligible for such
appointment pursuant to the rule of three prescribed by Civil Service
Law section 61.

Any change to a candidate's ranking upon the re-establishment of the
eligible list shall not give rise to a cause of action.


Section 2 of the bill provides that upon the re-establishment of an
established eligible list, the list upon which the re-established list
is based shall terminate.

Section 3 of the bill provides that this bill shall take effect
immediately.

CURRENT LAW:  Chapter 376 of the Laws of 2013 affords children of
firefighter and police officers who were killed in the line of duty to
obtain additional credit when the child's deceased parent's death was
the natural and proximate result of the September 11th World Trade
Center attack or the rescue missions following the attack.

JUSTIFICATION:  When the Legislature enacted S.5585/A.7631 of 2013,
which became Chapter 376 of the Laws of 2013, the Legislature intended
to accomplish two objectives. First, the Legislature sought to
equalize the treatment of children and siblings of police officers,
firefighters, and emergency medical technicians who have been killed
in the line of duty by providing them with additional credit on any
civil service exam for a position in the same municipality that the
decedent's parent or sibling served. Second, the Legislature sought to
remedy an unintended consequence of the lack of a definition of the
term "killed in the line of duty" in Civil Service Law section 85-a.
This unintended consequence was the denial of additional civil service
exam credit to children of firefighters and police officers who died
as a result of the September 11th World Trade Center attack.

The Legislature intended to reverse the denial of additional credit
for these children of deceased firefighters and police officers
regardless of whether the additional credit would affect an
established eligible list.  The Legislature's intent regarding
existing eligible lists could have been effectuated administratively
because the Civil Service Law allows the State Department of Civil
Service and the municipal civil service commissions to terminate any
established eligible list that has been in existence for at least one
year and replace that list with a new eligible list. As the press has
reported, this administrative solution did not happen in at least one
instance, affecting at least 13 candidates.

The candidates that will benefit from this bill have not only suffered
the loss of a parent as a result of the September 11th World Trade
Center attack and rescue effort, they have also been told, through the
denial of the additional credit afforded by Civil Service Law section
85-a because of an administrative interpretation of the term "killed
in the line of duty" that excluded deaths that were the natural and
proximate result of the September 11th World Trade Center attack or
the rescue missions following the attack, that their parents did not
die in the line of duty. The parents of these candidates did die in
the line of duty. This bill will honor the brave firefighters and
police officers who lost their lives as a result of the September 11th
World Trade Center attack and rescue effort by helping their children
follow in their parent's footsteps.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: New bill

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None


EFFECTIVE DATE:  This act shall take effect immediately.