S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7148
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               April 2, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
   providing  a heart disease presumption for certain members employed as
   probation officers

   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.  DISABILITIES  OF  PROBATION  OFFICERS  IN CERTAIN CASES. 1.
 NOTWITHSTANDING THE PROVISIONS OF ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL OR LOCAL  LAW  OR
 ADMINISTRATIVE  CODE TO THE CONTRARY, BUT EXCEPT FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE
 WORKERS' COMPENSATION LAW AND THE LABOR LAW, ANY CONDITION OF IMPAIRMENT
 OF HEALTH CAUSED BY DISEASES OF THE HEART, RESULTING IN TOTAL OR PARTIAL
 DISABILITY OR DEATH TO A PERSON PERFORMING THE  DUTIES  OF  A  PROBATION
 OFFICER,  SUPERVISING PROBATION OFFICER OR PROBATION OFFICER TRAINEE THE
 DEPARTMENT OF PROBATION IN A CITY WITH A POPULATION OF  ONE  MILLION  OR
 MORE,  WHO SUCCESSFULLY PASSED A PHYSICAL EXAMINATION ON ENTRY INTO SUCH
 SERVICE OR SUBSEQUENT THERETO, WHICH EXAMINATION FAILED  TO  REVEAL  ANY
 EVIDENCE  OF  SUCH  CONDITION, SHALL BE PRESUMPTIVE EVIDENCE THAT IT WAS
 INCURRED IN THE PERFORMANCE AND DISCHARGE OF DUTY, UNLESS  THE  CONTRARY
 BE PROVED BY COMPETENT EVIDENCE.
   2.  NOTWITHSTANDING  ANY  OTHER PROVISION OF LAW, A PROBATION OFFICER,
 SUPERVISING PROBATION OFFICER OR PROBATION OFFICER TRAINEE OF A  DEPART-
 MENT  OF  PROBATION  IN  A CITY WITH A POPULATION OF ONE MILLION OR MORE
 RETIRING PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF SUBDIVISION ONE OF  THIS  SECTION
 SHALL  RECEIVE  A  PENSION EQUAL TO THREE-FOURTHS OF SUCH MEMBER'S FINAL
 AVERAGE SALARY.
   §  2.  All  past  service  costs  associated  with  implementing   the
 provisions of this act shall be borne by the city of New York.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD07116-02-5
 S. 7148                             2
              

 
   § 3. Notwithstanding any 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:
   SUMMARY:  This proposed legislation would provide to NYCERS Tier 4 and
 Tier 6 Probation Officers a  rebuttable  statutory  presumption  that  a
 qualifying  disability or death related to heart disease was incurred in
 the performance of duty and provide a  performance  of  duty  disability
 retirement benefit equal to 75% of Final Average Salary.
 
       ILLUSTRATION - INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
          by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Thousands)
 
                  One Incident             One Incident Per Year
 
      Year      Disability   Death         Disability    Death
      2026             41       31                41       31
      2027             41       31                83       62
      2028             41       31               126       95
      2029             41       31               170      129
      2030             41       31               216      163
      2031             41       31               263      199
      2032             41       31               312      235
      2033             41       31               362      273
      2034             41       31               413      312
      2035             41       31               466      352
      2036             41       31               521      394
      2037             41       31               577      436
      2038             41       31               635      480
      2039             41       31               695      525
      2040              0        0               716      541
      2041              0        0               738      557
      2042              0        0               760      574
      2043              0        0               782      591
      2044              0        0               806      609
      2045              0        0               830      627
      2046              0        0               855      646
      2047              0        0               881      665
      2048              0        0               907      685
      2049              0        0               934      706
      2050              0        0               962      727
 
    Employer contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2050 is not shown.
 
   The potential increases in employer contributions will be allocated to
 New York City.
   PRESENT  VALUE  OF  BENEFITS:  The  Present  Value  of Benefits is the
 discounted expected value of benefits paid to  current  members  if  all
 assumptions are met, including future service accrual and pay increases.
 Future new hires are not included in this present value.

          INITIAL INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES
                   as of June 30, 2024 ($ in Thousands)
 
 Present Value (PV)                 Per Disability      Per Death
 S. 7148                             3
 
 (1) PV of Employer Contributions:  344                 260
 (2) PV of Employee Contributions:  (13)                 0
 Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2):    331                 260
 
   UNFUNDED  ACCRUED  LIABILITY  (UAL): Actuarial Accrued Liabilities are
 the portion of the Present Value of Benefits allocated to past  service.
 Changes in UAL per incident would be recognized as ongoing gain/loss.
 
                AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY
 
 Recognized as Ongoing Gain/Loss    Per Disability      Per Death
 Increase (Decrease) in UAL:        344 K               260 K
 Number of Payments:                14                  14
 Amortization Payment:              41 K                31 K
 
   CENSUS DATA: The number of members who will benefit in the future from
 this proposed legislation is unknown. The estimates presented herein are
 based  on  preliminary  census  data  collected as of June 30, 2024. The
 census data for the potentially impacted population used to develop  the
 average costs is summarized below.
 
                                                   NYCERS
                Active Members
                - Number Count:                    569
                - Average Age:                     46.9
                - Average Service:                 14.7
                - Average Salary:                  78,400
 
   IMPACT  ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, active Tier 4 or Tier 6 members
 of NYCERS who are employed as Probation Officers and become disabled due
 to heart disease would generally be eligible for an applicable  ordinary
 disability retirement after attaining 10 years of service. The disabili-
 ty  benefit is generally a lifetime payment equal to the greatest of 1/3
 of Final Average Salary (FAS), 1/60th  of  FAS  times  service,  or  the
 service retirement benefit, if eligible.
   Under  the  proposed  legislation,  the performance of duty disability
 benefit for Tier 4 or Tier 6 Probation Officer members who are  disabled
 from  heart  disease  would be equal to 75% of FAS without an offset for
 Workers' Compensation.
   The ordinary death benefit for NYCERS Probation Officers is a lump sum
 payment generally equal to three  times  the  member's  salary,  plus  a
 refund  of  member  contributions.  Under  the proposed legislation, the
 performance of duty death benefit would generally be equal to a lifetime
 benefit of 50% of a member's wages earned  during  their  last  year  of
 service, payable to certain beneficiaries.
   ASSUMPTIONS  AND  METHODS:  The  estimates  presented herein have been
 calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions  and  Methods
 of the impacted retirement systems.
   The  number of members who will benefit from this proposed legislation
 is unknown. The cost of this proposed  legislation  could  vary  greatly
 depending  on  the  number  of  future  members who benefit and on their
 length of service, age, and salary history. In particular, the  increase
 would  be  greater  for a member who is not yet eligible for an ordinary
 disability benefit when disabled.
   The estimated financial impact for disabled members  has  been  calcu-
 lated  assuming  50% would have retired under the current ordinary disa-
 S. 7148                             4
 
 bility benefit, and 50% would have continued  working  if  the  proposed
 legislation were not passed.
   RISK  AND  UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend
 highly on the actuarial assumptions, methods,  and  models  used,  demo-
 graphics  of  the impacted population, and other factors such as invest-
 ment, contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates  from
 actuarial   assumptions,  the  actual  costs  could  differ  from  those
 presented herein. Quantifying these risks is beyond the  scope  of  this
 Fiscal Note.
   This  Fiscal  Note  is intended to measure pension-related impacts and
 does not include other potential costs (e.g., administrative  and  Other
 Postemployment  Benefits). This Fiscal Note does not reflect any chapter
 laws that may have been enacted during the current legislative session.
   STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: Marek Tyszkiewicz and Gregory Zelikov-
 sky are members of the Society of Actuaries and the American Academy  of
 Actuaries.  We  are members of NYCERS, but do not believe it impairs our
 objectivity, and we meet the Qualification  Standards  of  the  American
 Academy  of  Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
 To the best of our knowledge, the results  contained  herein  have  been
 prepared  in accordance with generally accepted actuarial principles and
 procedures and with the Actuarial Standards of Practice  issued  by  the
 Actuarial Standards Board.
   FISCAL  NOTE  IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2025-31 dated March 14,
 2025 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City  Retirement
 Systems and Pension Funds and is intended for use during the 2025 Legis-
 lative Session.