S 7748: Provides for a line of duty disability presumption for any condition of impairment of health caused by diseases of the lung, resulting in total or partial disability or death of certain deputy sheriff members of a retirement system in certain cities.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7748 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE May 5, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities 1 AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to disabilities of deputy sheriff members of a retirement system in certain cities The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new 2 section 207-r to read as follows: 3 § 207-r. Disabilities of deputy sheriff members of a retirement system 4 in certain cities. 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general, 5 special or local law or administrative code to the contrary, but except 6 for the purposes of the workers' compensation law and the labor law, any 7 condition of impairment of health caused by diseases of the lung, 8 resulting in total or partial disability or death to a paid employee 9 performing the duties of a deputy sheriff in the sheriff's department of 10 a city with a population of one million or more where such employee is 11 drawn from competitive civil service lists, or any retired member of 12 such department who retired from a title whose duties are those of a 13 deputy sheriff and has been retired for five or less years, who success- 14 fully passed a physical examination on entry into the service of such 15 department, which examination failed to reveal any evidence of such 16 condition, shall be presumptive evidence that it was incurred in the 17 performance and discharge of duty, unless the contrary be proved by 18 competent evidence. 19 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a deputy sheriff member 20 retiring pursuant to the provisions of subdivision one of this section 21 shall receive a pension equal to three-fourths of such member's final 22 average salary, and a retired member who has been retired for five years 23 or less and would have been able to retire pursuant to the provisions of 24 subdivision one of this section if such subdivision had been in force at 25 the time of such retired member's retirement, shall be entitled to EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD09779-02-5 
 S. 7748 2 1 receive a pension equal to three-fourths of such member's final average 2 salary and have their pension recalculated commencing with the later of 3 the effective date of this section or the first day that diseases of the 4 lung resulted in the full or partial disability of such retired member. 5 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: SUMMARY: The proposed legislation would provide certain Deputy Sheriff members or retirees (within five years of their respective retirement date) of the New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS) a rebuttable statutory presumption that a qualifying partial or total disability or death related to a lung disease was incurred in the performance of duty. 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 50 194 50 194 2027 50 194 102 393 2028 50 194 156 598 2029 50 194 211 810 2030 50 194 268 1,028 2031 50 194 326 1,252 2032 50 194 386 1,483 2033 50 194 448 1,721 2034 50 194 512 1,966 2035 50 194 578 2,219 2036 50 194 646 2,479 2037 50 194 715 2,747 2038 50 194 787 3,023 2039 50 194 861 3,307 2040 0 0 887 3,406 2041 0 0 914 3,509 2042 0 0 941 3,614 2043 0 0 969 3,722 2044 0 0 998 3,834 2045 0 0 1,028 3,949 2046 0 0 1,059 4,067 2047 0 0 1,091 4,189 2048 0 0 1,124 4,315 2049 0 0 1,157 4,445 2050 0 0 1,192 4,578 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 (1) PV of Employer Contributions: 426 1,636 (2) PV of Employee Contributions: (38) 0 
 S. 7748 3 Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2): 388 1,636 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: 426 K 1,636 K Number of Payments: 14 14 Amortization Payment: 50 K 194 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: 132 - Average Age: 43.5 - Average Service: 11.9 - Average Salary: 94,600 Receiving Members - Number Count: 32 - Average Age: 60.3 IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, a New York City Deputy Sheriff who becomes disabled due to lung disease would generally be eligible for an applicable ordinary disability retirement benefit after attaining 10 years of service. The disability benefit is 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 NYCERS Deputy Sheriff members who are disabled from lung disease would be equal to 75% of FAS without an offset for Workers' Compensation. The ordinary death benefit New York City Deputy Sheriff members is a lump sum payment generally equal to three times the member's salary plus a return 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 the last year of service, plus, if applicable, the Special Accidental Death Benefit (SADB) payable under General Municipal Law section 208-f. SADB for Deputy Sheriffs was enacted by Chapter 720 of the Laws of 2023 and all accidental deaths are assumed to qualify for SADB. 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 and eligible retirees who will benefit in the future from this fiscal note 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 
 S. 7748 4 eligible for an ordinary disability benefit when the disabling lung disease is diagnosed. The estimated financial impact for disabled members has been calcu- lated assuming 50% would have retired under an ordinary disability bene- fit, 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 2025-53 dated May 2, 2025 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retirement Systems and Pension Funds and is intended for use only during the 2025 Legislative Session.