NY State Senate Bill 2019-S8863

Senate Bill S8863

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Relates to allowing for a program sponsor to amend a point system as part of a service award program

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jul 31, 2020	referred to rules

2019-S8863 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A10928
Current Committee:: Senate Rules
Law Section:: General Municipal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §217, Gen Muni L
Versions Introduced in 2021-2022 Legislative Session:: S1210, A6401

2019-S8863 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Allows for a program sponsor to amend a point system as part of a service award program.

2019-S8863 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S8863

SPONSOR: KAMINSKY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation to allowing for a
program sponsor to amend a point system as part of a service award
program

 
PURPOSE:

To allow volunteer firefighters to adjust their emergency response
protocols.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends General Municipal Law by adding a new subparagraph

(q) to address developments in how volunteer fire departments respond to
emergencies by allowing programs to calculate percentages based on the
total number of calls an individual was dispatched.  Effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The length of service award programs (LOSAP) are pension-like programs
intended to help recruit, retain, and reward volunteer firefighters and
ambulance workers for serving their communities. New York requires
volunteers to earn 50 points in a given year to receive these benefits.
One of the ways firefighters can earn points is by responding to emer-
gency calls. However, since COVID, emergency precautions have been
adopted to protect vulnerable volunteer firefighters from being exposed
to the virus. Specifically, fire departments have had to reduce how many
firefighters respond to calls.  This bill recognizes that not every
emergency call requires all volunteer firefighters to be dispatched. The
current LOSAP point system does not reflect the complexity of emergency
response protocols, which only results in more emergency vehicles on our
streets and represents a less efficient system. Updating the law from
using a percentage of the total number of calls the department was
dispatched to in calculating LOSAP points, to the total number of calls
an individual was dispatched to will create a more equitable and effi-
cient system.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

None.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate.

2019-S8863 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8863
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               July 31, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. KAMINSKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to allowing for a
   program sponsor to amend a point system as part  of  a  service  award
   program
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Section 217 of the general  municipal  law  is  amended  by
 adding a new subdivision (q) to read as follows:
   (Q)  THE  PROGRAM SPONSOR MAY MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THE PARTICIPATION IN
 DEPARTMENT RESPONSES POINT SYSTEM CATEGORY  PROVIDED  FOR  IN  PARAGRAPH
 (VI)  OF  SUBDIVISION (C) OF THIS SECTION IN THE EVENT THAT SUCH PROGRAM
 SPONSOR ADOPTS WRITTEN EMERGENCY RESPONSE  PROTOCOLS  SETTING  DIFFERENT
 EMERGENCY RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, FIRE COMPANIES,
 SQUADS  AND UNITS THEREOF SUCH THAT CERTAIN PARTICIPANTS ARE NOT PERMIT-
 TED TO RESPOND AND ARE RESTRICTED FROM RESPONDING TO  ALL  NON-EMERGENCY
 RESCUE  AND  FIRST AID SQUAD CALLS AND/OR ALL EMERGENCY RESCUE AND FIRST
 AID SQUAD CALLS.  SUCH RESTRICTIONS ON RESPONSE MAY RELATE  TO  DETERMI-
 NATIONS  MADE  BY  THE  DISTRICT  PHYSICIAN AS TO THE DUTIES THAT MAY BE
 ASSIGNED TO CERTAIN PERSONNEL. IN THE EVENT  THAT  THE  PROGRAM  SPONSOR
 ADOPTS  DIFFERENT  RESPONSE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR DIFFERENT GROUPS, PARTIC-
 IPANTS IN THOSE GROUPS SHALL BE  REQUIRED  TO  RESPOND  TO  THE  MINIMUM
 NUMBER  OF  EMERGENCY  CALLS  ASSIGNED  TO  THEIR  GROUP BY APPLYING THE
 PERCENTAGE PROVIDED FOR IN PARAGRAPH (VI) OF  SUBDIVISION  (C)  OF  THIS
 SECTION.  NOTWITHSTANDING  THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION TWO HUNDRED SIXTEEN
 OF THIS ARTICLE, A POINT SYSTEM AMENDMENT TO ADDRESS  WRITTEN  EMERGENCY
 RESPONSE  PROTOCOLS  MAY  BE ADOPTED BY THE AFFIRMATIVE VOTE OF AT LEAST
 SIXTY PERCENT OF SUCH GOVERNING BOARD, WITHOUT REFERENDUM.  SUCH  AMEND-
 MENT SHALL ONLY TAKE EFFECT AS OF THE FIRST DAY OF JANUARY NEXT SUCCEED-
 ING  THE  COMPLETION  OF  THE  PROCEEDINGS  REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION OF THE
 AMENDMENT AND SHALL ONLY APPLY  PROSPECTIVELY  UNLESS  THE  NEW  WRITTEN
 EMERGENCY  RESPONSE  PROTOCOL  IS  ADOPTED  IN  ORDER TO ADDRESS A STATE
 DISASTER EMERGENCY, AS SUCH TERM IS DEFINED IN  SECTION  TWENTY  OF  THE
 EXECUTIVE  LAW,  AND  APPLICABLE  TO THE COUNTY OR COUNTIES IN WHICH THE
 FIRE DEPARTMENT OPERATES, IN WHICH CASE SUCH AMENDMENT MAY BE APPLIED IN
 THE YEAR ADOPTED.

   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD16783-01-0

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