NY State Senate Bill 2025-S8135

Senate Bill S8135

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Provides WTC-related benefits to certain employees who worked at the Verrazano Bridge Toll Facility

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Civil Service And Pensions Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
May 15, 2025	referred to civil service and pensions

co-Sponsors

2025-S8135 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Civil Service And Pensions
Law Section:: Retirement and Social Security Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §2, R & SS L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:: S6306

2025-S8135 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides WTC-related benefits to certain employees who worked at the Verrazano Bridge Toll Facility.

2025-S8135 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8135

SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
providing WTC-related benefits to certain employees who worked at the
Verrazano Bridge Toll Facility

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this bill is to provide WTC-related benefits to employees
who worked at the Verrazano Bridge Toll Facility during the debris
removal from the World Trade Center.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends paragraph (e) of subdivision 36 of Section 2 of the
Retirement and Social Security law to include employees that worked at
the Verrazano Bridge Toll Facility during the rescue, recovery, or
cleanup operations at the World Trade Center.

Section 2 is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Enacting the proposed bill is essential for providing coverage to
employees exposed to the harmful dust and debris that were removed from
the World Trade Center site. A large portion of the debris removed from
the World Trade Center site during the cleanup was transported across
the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to the Fresh Kills Landfill. The employees
who worked at the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge were exposed to the same
harmful toxins as workers who performed rescue, recovery, or clean up,
including workers of the Fresh Kills Landfill. Considering these
factors, the employees who worked at the Verrazzano-Narrows bridge
should have the same benefits and protections that were provided to all
others exposed to these harmful toxins.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2023-2024: S.6306-B - Passed Senate/A.7344-B - Amended and Recommitted
to Governmental Employees

 
STATE AND LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

See fiscal note.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to have been
in full force and effect on and after September 11, 2001.

2025-S8135 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8135
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 15, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sens. JACKSON, MARTINEZ, MARTINS -- 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  WTC-related benefits to certain employees who worked at the
   Verrazano Bridge Toll Facility

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 36 of section 2 of the retire-
 ment  and  social security law, as amended by chapter 424 of the laws of
 2021, is amended to read as follows:
   (e) "Participated in World Trade Center rescue,  recovery  or  cleanup
 operations"  shall  mean any member who: (i) participated in the rescue,
 recovery, or cleanup operations at  the  World  Trade  Center  site,  as
 defined  in  paragraph (f) of this subdivision; (ii) worked at the Fresh
 Kills Land Fill in New York; (iii) worked at the New York city morgue or
 the temporary morgue on pier locations on the west  side  of  Manhattan;
 (iv)  manned the barges between the west side of Manhattan and the Fresh
 Kills Land Fill in New York;  (v)  repaired,  cleaned  or  rehabilitated
 vehicles or equipment, including emergency vehicle radio equipment owned
 by  the  city  of New York that were contaminated by debris in the World
 Trade Center site, as defined in  paragraph  (f)  of  this  subdivision,
 regardless of whether the work on the repair, cleaning or rehabilitation
 of  said  vehicles  and  equipment  was performed within the World Trade
 Center site, provided such work was performed prior  to  decontamination
 of such vehicles or equipment; [or] (vi) worked in the following depart-
 ments,  worksites  and titles: (A) New York City Police Department at 11
 Metrotec Center in Brooklyn or 1 Police Plaza in Manhattan as  a  Police
 Communication  Technician (PCT), Supervisor Police Communication Techni-
 cian (SPCT), Principal  Police  Communication  Technician  I,  Principal
 Police Communication Technician II, Principal Police Communication Tech-

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD02346-01-5

 S. 8135                             2
 
 nician  III,  Administrative  Manager - Communications, or in the Police
 Administrative Aide title series; (B) Fire Department of the City of New
 York at 35 Empire Boulevard  in  Brooklyn,  79th  Street  Transverse  in
 Manhattan,  83-98 Woodhaven Boulevard in Queens, 1129 East 180 Street in
 the Bronx, 65 Slosson Avenue in Staten  Island,  9  Metrotec  Center  in
 Brooklyn,  or  25  Rockaway Avenue in Brooklyn as Fire Alarm Dispatchers
 (FAD), Supervising Fire Alarm Dispatchers  I  (SFAD),  Supervising  Fire
 Alarm  Dispatchers  II  (Borough Supervisor), Deputy Director & Director
 Fire Dispatch Operations, or Assistant Commissioner for  Communications;
 (C)  for the Fire Department of the City of New York's Emergency Medical
 Service at 1 or 9 Metrotec Centers in Brooklyn, or 55-30  58  Street  in
 Maspeth  Queens as Emergency Medical Specialist-Level I (EMT), Emergency
 Medical Specialist Level II-(Paramedic), Supervising  Emergency  Medical
 Specialist  Level I (LT), Supervising Emergency Medical Specialist Level
 II (Capt), Deputy Chief EMS Communications, or  Division  Commander  EMS
 Communications;  OR  (VII) WORKED AT THE VERRAZANO BRIDGE TOLL FACILITY.
 For purposes of this paragraph, the term  "member"  shall  include  each
 person  who  during  the  qualifying  period  was in the employment of a
 public employer which then participated for such employees in  a  public
 retirement  system in this state, irrespective of whether the person was
 a participant in such system at that time, provided that the person  has
 become a participant in such retirement system and has purchased service
 credit  for a period of time that includes some or all of the qualifying
 period in accordance with provisions of law applicable to such  purchase
 of service credit.
   §  2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none
 of the provisions of this act shall be subject  to  section  25  of  the
 retirement and social security law.
   §  3.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to
 have been in full force and effect on and after September 11, 2001.

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Senate Bill S8135

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Sponsored By

Robert Jackson