S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                  7833--A
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               May 25, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on  Governmental  Employees -- recommitted to the Committee on Govern-
   mental Employees in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- commit-
   tee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and  recom-
   mitted to said committee

 AN  ACT  to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
   the disability retirement for safety and security officers
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Section 607-a of the retirement and social security law, as
 added  by  chapter  722 of the laws of 1996, subdivision b as amended by
 chapter 322 of the laws of 2021, and subdivision c as added  by  chapter
 653 of the laws of 1999, is amended to read as follows:
   §  607-a.  Performance  of duty disability retirement. a. Any security
 hospital treatment assistant, as that term is defined in  subdivision  i
 of  section  eighty-nine  of  this chapter, OR ANY QUALIFYING MEMBER, AS
 SUCH TERM IS DEFINED IN PARAGRAPH ONE OF SUBDIVISION A OF SECTION EIGHT-
 Y-NINE-T OF THIS CHAPTER, AS AMENDED BY CHAPTER FOUR HUNDRED SEVENTY-SIX
 OF THE LAWS OF TWO THOUSAND EIGHTEEN, who becomes physically or mentally
 incapacitated for the performance of duties as the natural and proximate
 result, of an injury, sustained in the performance or discharge  of  his
 or  her  duties by, or as the natural and proximate result of, an act of
 any person confined in an institution  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the
 office of mental health, or by any person who has been committed to such
 institution  by any court shall be paid a performance of duty disability
 retirement allowance equal to that which is provided in  section  sixty-
 three  of  this chapter, subject to the provisions of section sixty-four
 of this chapter.
   b. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or of any general  or
 special  law  to  the  contrary,  a  member  covered by this section who
 contracts HIV (where there may have been an exposure to a  bodily  fluid
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD11195-03-2
              

 A. 7833--A                          2
 
 of  an incarcerated individual or a person described in subdivision a of
 this section as a natural and proximate result of an act of  any  incar-
 cerated  individual  or  person described in such subdivision a that may
 have  involved transmission of a specified transmissible disease from an
 incarcerated individual or such person described in such  subdivision  a
 to  the  retirement  system  member),  tuberculosis or hepatitis will be
 presumed to have contracted such disease in the performance or discharge
 of his or her duties, and will be  presumed  to  be  disabled  from  the
 performance  of  his  or  her  duties,  unless the contrary be proved by
 competent evidence.
   c. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or of any general  or
 special  law  to  the  contrary,  any  condition of impairment of health
 caused by diseases of the heart, resulting in disability or death  to  a
 member  covered  by  this section, presently employed and who shall have
 sustained such disability while so employed, who successfully  passed  a
 physical examination on entry into service as a security hospital treat-
 ment  assistant  OR  A  QUALIFYING  MEMBER AS SET FORTH IN THIS SECTION,
 which examination failed to disclose evidence of any  disease  or  other
 impairment  of  the  heart,  shall  be  presumptive evidence that it was
 incurred in the performance and discharge of duty, unless  the  contrary
 be proved by competent evidence.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill would allow safety officers who are members of the New York
 State and Local Employees'  Retirement  System  to  be  eligible  for  a
 performance  of duty (POD) disability benefit if they become disabled as
 a result of an injury inflicted by any person confined in an institution
 under the jurisdiction of the New York State Office  of  Mental  Health.
 The  benefit  will  be 75 percent of final average salary, less workers'
 compensation. Currently, the affected members do not have a POD disabil-
 ity benefit.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2022 legislative session, we antic-
 ipate that there will be an increase of approximately  $510,000  in  the
 annual contributions of the State of New York for the fiscal year ending
 March  31,  2023.  In  future  years, this cost will vary as the billing
 rates and salary of the affected members change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an immediate past service cost of approximately $4.12 million which will
 be borne by the State of New York as a one-time payment.  This  estimate
 is based on the assumption that payment will be made on March 1, 2023.
   These  estimated  costs  are based on 541 affected members with annual
 salary of approximately $39.5 million as of March 31, 2021.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership data as of March 31, 2021 was used in measuring the  impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2021 actuari-
 al  valuation.  Distributions  and  other statistics can be found in the
 2021 Report of the Actuary and the 2021 Comprehensive  Annual  Financial
 Report.
   The  actuarial  assumptions and methods used are described in the 2020
 and 2021 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions,  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, 2021
 New York State and Local  Retirement  System  Financial  Statements  and
 Supplementary Information.
 A. 7833--A                          3
 
   I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
 fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
   This  fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability
 of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a  substitute  for
 the professional judgment of an attorney.
   This  estimate,  dated  January  11,  2022,  and intended for use only
 during the  2022  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2022-34,
 prepared  by  the  Actuary  for  the New York State and Local Retirement
 System.