Assembly Bill A8059

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8059
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              April 22, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. STERN -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Governmental Employees
 
 AN ACT to authorize the widow of Luis Palermo to apply for  World  Trade
   Center  related  accidental death benefits from the New York state and
   local police and fire retirement system

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, the widow of
 Luis Palermo, who was employed by the Nassau  County  police  department
 since October 14, 1994, and was a member of the New York state and local
 police  and fire retirement system for approximately 23 years, until his
 passing on September 4, 2017, as a result of end stage pulmonary  fibro-
 sis  contracted through his participation as a first responder, shall be
 entitled to file a new application for an accidental and  special  acci-
 dental death retirement benefit provided by the New York state and local
 police  and  fire retirement system.   Additionally, notwithstanding any
 rule, regulation or law to the contrary, Luis Palermo's application  for
 World  Trade  Center  notice  shall  be approved despite Officer Palermo
 participating in rescue, recovery, and clean-up operations  for  twenty-
 nine  hours  between  September  11,  2001  and September 12, 2002. Such
 application must be filed with the New York state and local  police  and
 fire  retirement  system pursuant to section 361-a of the retirement and
 social security law, as amended by chapter 733  of  the  laws  of  1990,
 within one year of the effective date of this act.
   § 2. All costs associated with the implementation of this act shall be
 borne  by the county of Nassau and may be amortized over a period of ten
 years.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would make Deborah  Palermo,  the  widow  of  Luis  Palermo,
 eligible to collect an accidental death benefit pursuant to sections 361
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD03712-04-5
              

 A. 8059                             2
 
 and 361-a of the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL). Luis Palermo
 was  a member of the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement
 System employed as a police officer with Nassau County until their death
 on  September  4, 2017. Currently, Deborah Palermo is collecting 100% of
 the optional benefit payable under the service retirement.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session,  and  the
 required application for an accidental death benefit is timely filed and
 approved,  there will be an immediate past service cost of approximately
 $5.93 million which will  be  borne  by  Nassau  County  as  a  one-time
 payment.  This estimate assumes that payment will be made on February 1,
 2026. If Nassau County elects to amortize this cost over a 10-year peri-
 od, the cost for each year including interest would be $757,000.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership  data as of March 31, 2024 was used in measuring the impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2024 actuari-
 al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the
 2024  Report  of the Actuary and the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial
 Report.  The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the
 2024 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, 2024 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements
 and Supplementary Information.
   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 April 14, 2025, and intended for use only during
 the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal  Note  No.  2025-152.  As  Chief
 Actuary  of  the  New  York  State and Local Retirement System, I, Aaron
 Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with applica-
 ble 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.