Provides total disability benefits for volunteer firefighters and volunteer ambulance workers for injuries sustained on or after July 1, 2013.

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S3589-2013 Actions

• Apr 16, 2013: PRINT NUMBER 3589A
• Apr 16, 2013: AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT
• Feb 7, 2013: REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT

S3589-2013 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S3589

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the volunteer firefighters' benefit law
and the volunteer ambulance workers' law, in relation to updating bene-
fits and modernizing coverage for services provided in the line of duty

PURPOSE:  This legislation updates and modernizes certain provisions of
law relating to the volunteer fire service. The purpose of the legis-
lation is to more accurately reflect current emergency response prac-
tices and to bring the state of the law for volunteers into greater
parity with other segments of the response community.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one amends the volunteer firefighters' benefit law to increase
the award for temporary total disability and permanent total disability
for firefighters injured in the line of duty on or after July 1, 2013 to
five hundred dollars.

Section two amends the volunteer ambulance workers law to increase the
award for temporary total disability and permanent total disability for
ambulance workers injured in the line of duty on or after July 1, 2013
to five hundred dollars.

Section 3 is the effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:  Awards under the volunteer firefighters benefit law and
the volunteer benefits laws have not been increased since 1992. The
workers compensation law, on the other hand, was amended in 2007 to
provide an employee who is totally disabled to receive an award equal to
two thirds of the New York State average wage; an award that amounted to
$775 in 2011. This bill seeks to narrow the gap between the workers
compensation law and VFBL and VABL by increasing awards to volunteer
firefighters and ambulance workers who are totally disabled from $400 to
$500 per week.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:  2011-12 S.5624b Local Government Committee/A.
8563b Passed Senate.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None to the state.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Immediate.

S3589-2013 Text

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

                                    3589

                         2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                              I N  SENATE

                              February 7, 2013
                                 ___________

  Introduced  by  Sens. GRIFFO, MAZIARZ -- read twice and ordered printed,
    and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government

  AN ACT to amend the volunteer firefighters' benefit law and  the  volun-
    teer  ambulance  workers'  law,  in  relation to updating benefits and
    modernizing coverage for services provided in the line of duty

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


    Section  1.    The  volunteer  firefighters' benefit law is amended by
  adding a new section 9-a to read as follows:

    S 9-A. TOTAL DISABILITY BENEFITS FOR INJURIES ON OR AFTER JULY  FIRST,
  TWO  THOUSAND  THIRTEEN. NOTWITHSTANDING THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION EIGHT
  OR NINE OF THIS ARTICLE, IN THE CASE OF TEMPORARY TOTAL  DISABILITY  AND
  PERMANENT  TOTAL DISABILITY WHEN THE VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER IS INJURED IN
  THE LINE OF DUTY ON OR AFTER JULY FIRST,  TWO  THOUSAND  THIRTEEN,  SAID
  FIREFIGHTER  SHALL  RECEIVE  FIVE  HUNDRED  DOLLARS  PER WEEK DURING THE
  CONTINUANCE THEREOF.
    S 2. The volunteer ambulance workers' benefit law is amended by adding
  a new section 9-a to read as follows:

    S 9-A. TOTAL DISABILITY BENEFITS FOR INJURIES ON OR AFTER JULY  FIRST,
  TWO  THOUSAND  THIRTEEN. NOTWITHSTANDING THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION EIGHT
  OR NINE OF THIS ARTICLE, IN THE CASE OF TEMPORARY TOTAL  DISABILITY  AND
  PERMANENT  TOTAL  DISABILITY  WHEN  THE  VOLUNTEER  AMBULANCE  WORKER IS
  INJURED IN THE LINE OF DUTY ON OR AFTER JULY FIRST, TWO  THOUSAND  THIR-
  TEEN,  SAID AMBULANCE WORKER SHALL RECEIVE FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS PER WEEK
  DURING THE CONTINUANCE THEREOF.
    S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.


   EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                        [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                             LBD01506-01-3