S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                 1666--A

                       2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 9, 2013
                               ___________

Introduced by Sens. GRISANTI, ADDABBO, MAZIARZ -- read twice and ordered
  printed,  and  when  printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil
  Service and Pensions -- committee discharged,  bill  amended,  ordered
  reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

AN  ACT  to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
  certain disabilities of environmental police officers

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Section 363-a of the retirement and social security law, as
amended  by chapter 967 of the laws of 1974, subdivision 3 as amended by
chapter 357 of the laws of 2002 and subdivision 4 as amended by  chapter
768 of the laws of 1975, is amended to read as follows:
  S  363-a.  [Firemen  and  policemen] FIREFIGHTERS AND POLICE OFFICERS;
certain disabilities. 1.  Notwithstanding any provision of this  chapter
or  of any general, special, or local law to the contrary, any condition
of impairment of health caused by diseases of the  heart,  resulting  in
disability  or  death  to  a  [fireman] FIREFIGHTER shall be presumptive
evidence that it was incurred in the performance and discharge  of  duty
and the natural and proximate result of an accident, unless the contrary
be proved by competent evidence.
  2.  Notwithstanding  any  provision of this chapter or of any general,
special, or local law to the contrary, any condition  of  impairment  of
health caused by diseases of the heart, resulting in disability or death
to  a [policeman] POLICE OFFICER, presently employed, and who shall have
sustained such  disability  while  so  employed,  shall  be  presumptive
evidence  that  [is] IT was incurred in the performance and discharge of
duty, unless the contrary be proved by competent evidence.
  3. As used in this section, the [term "fireman" and "policeman" means]
TERMS "FIREFIGHTER" AND "POLICE OFFICER" MEAN any member who is perform-
ing police or fire service, as the phrase  police  or  fire  service  is

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

                                                           LBD04681-03-3

S. 1666--A                          2

defined  in  paragraphs  a,  b, c, d, F (AS ADDED BY CHAPTER SIX HUNDRED
SEVENTY-FOUR OF THE LAWS OF NINETEEN EIGHTY-SIX), F (AS ADDED BY CHAPTER
SIX HUNDRED SEVENTY-SEVEN OF THE LAWS OF NINETEEN EIGHTY-SIX), g, and  h
of  subdivision eleven of section three hundred two of this article, and
who, prior to entry into service as a [fireman or policeman] FIREFIGHTER
OR POLICE OFFICER, successfully  passed  a  physical  examination  which
failed  to  disclose  evidence of any disease or other impairment of the
heart.
  4. The provisions of this section  shall  remain  in  full  force  and
effect  to  and including August thirty-first, nineteen hundred seventy-
six.
  S 2. The amendments made to section 363-a of the retirement and social
security law by section one of this act shall  not  affect,  impair,  or
invalidate any temporary right, privilege, or benefit conferred pursuant
to  the provisions of a general, special or local law (other than pursu-
ant to articles 14 and 15 of the retirement and social security law) for
any member of a public retirement system or pension plan funded  by  the
state  or  one  of  its political subdivisions, nor shall any amendments
thereto affect the application of such provisions  as  extended  by  the
provisions of section 480 of the retirement and social security law.
  S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
  FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
  This  bill  would  amend  the  Retirement  and  Social Security Law in
relation to heart disease related disabilities. It would  add  a  "heart
bill"  provision  for police officers of the Division of Law Enforcement
in the Department of Environmental Conservation who are members  of  the
New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System.
  If  this  bill  is  enacted,  it could lead to more disabilities being
classified as "performance of duty". We anticipate that few  performance
of  duty disability retirements will be granted, and thus, the resulting
costs will be negligible.
  Summary of relevant resources:
  The membership data used in  measuring  the  impact  of  the  proposed
change  was  the same as that used in the March 31, 2013 actuarial valu-
ation.  Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the  2013
Report  of  the  Actuary  and  the  2013  Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report.
  The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2010,
2011,  2012  and  2013  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, 2013
New  York  State  and  Local  Retirement System Financial Statements and
Supplementary Information.
  I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
fication  Standards  to  render  the  statement  of  actuarial   opinion
contained herein.
  This  estimate,  dated  October  28,  2013,  and intended for use only
during the  2014  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2014-27,
prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Police and Fire
Retirement System.