S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8874
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               June 9, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. BURKE -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Governmental Employees
 
 AN ACT in relation to authorizing certain persons to file an application
   with the New York state and local police and  fire  retirement  system
   and deem such application as timely filed if the expiration for filing
   occurred  during  the  state  of  emergency caused due to the COVID-19
   pandemic
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Notwithstanding  the provisions of any general or special
 law, rule or regulation to the contrary, each retired member of the  New
 York  state  and  local  police  and  fire retirement system or, if such
 retired member predeceased their spouse, such retired member's surviving
 spouse is authorized to file an application  for  accidental  disability
 retirement  with  a firefighters' cancer disability presumption pursuant
 to section 363-d of the retirement and social security law along with an
 option election form, and such application,  if  filed  with  the  state
 comptroller  within one year of the effective date of this act, shall be
 deemed as timely filed; provided, however, that  the  deadline  to  file
 such  application  had  to  have  expired pursuant to section 363 of the
 retirement and social security law during the  COVID-19  state  disaster
 emergency declared under Executive Order 202 of 2020 that began on March
 7, 2020.
   §  2.  Any additional costs for this act shall be paid by the state of
 New York.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would allow certain retirees (or a surviving spouse on their
 behalf) to file an  application  for  accidental  disability  retirement
 pursuant  to  section  363-d  of  the Retirement and Social Security Law
 (RSSL), provided the deadline to file such  application  expired  during
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10743-03-5
              

 A. 8874                             2
 
 the COVID-19 state disaster emergency. An option election form must also
 be filed.
   Insofar  as  this bill affects the New York State and Local Police and
 Fire Retirement System (NYSLPFRS), if enacted during the  2025  Legisla-
 tive  Session,  this  bill  would reclassify certain retiree benefits as
 accidental disability. The cost will  depend  upon  the  retiree's  age,
 service,  final  average  salary,  retirement plan, option election form
 filed, and any benefit otherwise payable.
 
   Benefit prior     None         Ordinary     Perf. of     Service
   to enactment:                  Disab.       Duty         Retirement
   NYSLPFRS cost     10 times     5.5 times    3 times      2 times
   of proposal:      salary       salary       salary       salary
 
   The exact number of retirees who could be affected by this legislation
 cannot be readily determined but is expected to be very  rare.  For  the
 one  surviving  spouse  known to be eligible to file an application, the
 cost to the State of New York will be approximately  $240,000,  if  paid
 March 1, 2026.
   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  May 30, 2025, and intended for use only during
 the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal  Note  No.  2025-118.  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.