S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   10780
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               May 18, 2018
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Governmental Employees
 
 AN  ACT  authorizing James J. Kelly to reapply for accidental disability
   retirement benefits due to injuries  sustained  while  employed  as  a
   police officer for the town of Orangetown
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, James
 J.  Kelly, who was employed as a police officer with the Town of Orange-
 town Police Department, from January 27, 2003 through January  28,  2014
 and  who,  on  October  29,  2012 was seriously injured during Hurricane
 Sandy, which was an extraordinary event, when he  was  dispatched  to  a
 partially collapsed home upon which a tree had fallen killing the father
 and  trapping  three  family  members,  was  apprised that both the fire
 department and emergency medical services could not respond to the situ-
 ation for approximately two hours, responded to the urgency of the blood
 curdling screams, began to rescue the family members when he  blocked  a
 falling rafter that would have injured his partner and one of the family
 members with his forearm, and, as a result of such critical injuries has
 been unable to return to work with the Town of Orangetown Police Depart-
 ment,  and  who,  for  reasons not ascribable to his own negligence, has
 been denied accidental disability retirement from the Town of Orangetown
 Police Department, shall be entitled to reapply for a disability retire-
 ment from the Town of Orangetown Police Department on the basis that his
 actions during Hurricane Sandy were outside the scope of his duties as a
 police officer, if, on or before December 31, 2019 he  files  a  written
 request with the state comptroller to that effect.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would allow James J. Kelly to refile for an accidental disa-
 bility benefit on the basis that he incurred a disability as a result of
 his  actions  that  were  outside of the scope of his duties as a police
 officer.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD15641-03-8

 A. 10780                            2
 
   If this bill is enacted during the 2018 legislative session and  James
 J.   Kelly is approved for the accidental disability benefit, there will
 be an immediate past service cost of approximately $601,000 assuming  no
 Worker's  Compensation has been awarded. This past service cost would be
 reduced  if  a Worker's Compensation benefit has been awarded. This cost
 would be shared by the State of New York and the participating employers
 of the Police and Fire Retirement System.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   The membership data used in  measuring  the  impact  of  the  proposed
 change  was  the same as that used in the March 31, 2017 actuarial valu-
 ation.  Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the  2017
 Report  of  the  Actuary  and  the  2017  Comprehensive Annual Financial
 Report.
   The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2015,
 2016,  and  2017  Annual  Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assump-
 tions, 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, 2017
 New  York  State  and  Local  Retirement System Financial Statements and
 Supplementary Information.
   I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
 fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
   This estimate, dated May 4, 2018, and intended for use only during the
 2018 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2018-96,  prepared  by  the
 Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.