Assembly Bill A11273

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   11273
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                                May 4, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of A. PHEFFER AMATO -- read once and referred to the
   Committee on Governmental Employees
 
 AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
   providing for presumptions for certain impairments of health
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
 a new section 607-m to read as follows:
   § 607-M. CERTAIN IMPAIRMENTS OF HEALTH. NOTWITHSTANDING THE PROVISIONS
 OF ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL OR LOCAL  LAW  OR  ADMINISTRATIVE  CODE  TO  THE
 CONTRARY,  A MEMBER WHO SERVES AS AN AMBULANCE MEDICAL TECHNICIAN, AMBU-
 LANCE    MEDICAL    TECHNICIAN    COORDINATOR,     AMBULANCE     MEDICAL
 TECHNICIAN/SUPERVISOR OR A MEMBER WHO PERFORMS AMBULANCE MEDICAL TECHNI-
 CIAN  RELATED  SERVICES,  OR  A  POLICE MEDIC, POLICE MEDIC COORDINATOR,
 POLICE MEDIC SUPERVISOR, BUREAU DIRECTOR EMERGENCY AMBULANCE  -  COUNTY,
 ASSISTANT  DIRECTOR  EMERGENCY  AMBULANCE SERVICES - COUNTY, OR A MEMBER
 WHO PERFORMS POLICE MEDIC OR POLICE EMERGENCY AMBULANCE RELATED SERVICES
 FOR THE NASSAU COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT  WHO  IN  PERFORMANCE  OF  THEIR
 DUTIES  CONTRACTS HIV, WHERE THERE MAY HAVE BEEN AN EXPOSURE TO A BODILY
 FLUID OF AN INDIVIDUAL OR A PERSON AS A NATURAL AND PROXIMATE RESULT  OF
 AN ACT OF ANY INDIVIDUAL THAT MAY HAVE INVOLVED TRANSMISSION OF A SPECI-
 FIED TRANSMISSIBLE DISEASE FROM AN INDIVIDUAL TO SUCH MEMBER, TUBERCULO-
 SIS  OR HEPATITIS WILL BE PRESUMED TO HAVE CONTRACTED BY SUCH DISEASE IN
 THE PERFORMANCE OR DISCHARGE OF THEIR DUTIES, AND WILL BE PRESUMED TO BE
 DISABLED FROM THE PERFORMANCE OF THEIR DUTIES, UNLESS  THE  CONTRARY  BE
 PROVED BY COMPETENT EVIDENCE.
   §  2.  All  the  past  services costs associated with implementing the
 provisions of this act shall be borne by the county of Nassau and may be
 amortized over a period of ten years.
   § 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,  none
 of  the  provisions  of  this  act shall be subject to the appropriation
 requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD14618-02-6
 A. 11273                            2
 
   This bill  would  provide  a  performance  of  duty  (POD)  disability
 presumption  to  certain  members  employed  by the Nassau county police
 department who  perform  police  medic  or  police  emergency  ambulance
 related  services, are impaired due to contracting HIV, tuberculosis, or
 hepatitis  following  exposure to bodily fluids. Members must be covered
 under section 607-j of the retirement and social security law. The bene-
 fit is 50% of final average salary.
   This proposal would likely lead to an increased number of POD disabil-
 ity benefits for future retirees.
   We estimate that the annual contributions of Nassau  county  will  not
 materially increase because of this proposal.
   There  will be an immediate past service cost of $84,300 which will be
 borne by Nassau county as a one-time payment. This estimate assumes that
 payment will be made on February 1, 2027. If  Nassau  county  elects  to
 amortize  this  cost  over  10  years,  the  cost  for each year will be
 $10,800.
   Further, there could be some administrative  costs  to  implement  the
 provisions of this legislation.
   These  estimated  costs  are based on 126 affected members employed by
 Nassau county, with annual salary of approximately  $21  million  as  of
 March 31, 2025.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership data as of March 31, 2025 was used to measure the impact of
 the  bill, the same data used in the Actuarial Valuations dated April 1,
 2025. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2025 Report
 of the Actuary and the 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial  Report.  The
 actuarial  assumptions and methods used are described in the 2025 Annual
 Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules
 and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and  Control.  The  fair
 value  of assets and GASB disclosures can be found in the 2025 Financial
 Statements and Supplementary Information.
   Assumptions, demographics, and  other  considerations  may  have  been
 modified  to  better reflect specific provisions of any proposed benefit
 change(s).
   This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the  viability
 of the bill, nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the profes-
 sional judgment of an attorney.
   This  estimate, dated April 28, 2026, and intended for use only during
 the 2026 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note Number 2026-110.  As  Chief
 Actuary  of  the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS), I,
 Aaron Schottin Young, hereby certify that this  analysis  complies  with
 applicable  Actuarial  Standards  of  Practice  as  well  as the Code of
 Professional Conduct and Qualification Standards for  Actuaries  Issuing
 Statements of Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of
 which  I  am  a  member.  I  am a member of NYSLRS but do not believe it
 impairs my objectivity.