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LEGISLATION
http://www.senate.state.ny.us/
Legislation
Update
The following measures are from our 2007
Legislative program and have been passed by both houses of the
Legislature. The
Governor has already acted on a handful of them and I have
indicated below the ones that have been chaptered into law or
vetoed. On July 20
three more bills were sent to the Governor for his approval.
Two of these, the Veteran’s Buy-Back and the Discipline
Bill, are priority bills on our agenda.
By the time you are reading this report we will know if
the Governor signed them. I
will keep you informed on the progress as they are sent for
approval. All but
three of the below bills could affect our members:
1)
S4889/A8756
Children of members killed 9/11 non-municipality - Permits
the children of firefighters and police officers killed in the
line of duty to gain credits in the geographical area where
their parent perished.
2)
S4357/A6649
Independent hearing officer CSL - Requires the use of
independent hearing officers for disciplinary hearings.
VETOED 7/3/07.
3)
A5963A/S1262A
32 year cap - Increases the maximum service
retirement benefit for all Tier 2 police and firefighters up to
a maximum credit of 32 years of service.
4)
S3917/A5484
Amends max age to
65 in 384-d - Increases
the mandatory retirement age of police officers and firefighters
in 384-d & 384-e to 65 years of age.
Vetoed 7/3/07
5)
S2138A/A4649B
Eliminate
retirement cap for military service credit - Provides that
military service credit granted to members of retirement systems
may increase retirement benefits beyond a benefit cap.
Delivered to Governor 7/20/07.
6)
S5295/A8139
Negotiability of
discipline - Relates to the negotiability of discipline in a
collective bargaining agreement, establishes this as a mandatory
subject of bargaining. Delivered
to Governor 7/20/07.
7)
S1699/A8137
207c State Police
- Provides for payment of salary, wages, medical and
hospital expenses of members of the NYS Police with injuries or
illness incurred in the performance of duties.
8)
A5984A/S3071A
Weingarten Correction - Establishes it shall be an
improper public employer practice to fail to provide
representation by a representative of the employee organization.
Signed into law 7/18/07.
9)
S4067/A4940
One year extension
of workers’ comp filing for 9/11 - Extends the time for
filing the Worker’s Compensation Board forms to qualify for
certain benefits related to the World Trade Center.
Signed into law 7/9/07.
10)
A6112D/S5181B
Excused leave for breast/prostate screening - Relates
to excused leave for breast cancer and prostate cancer testing,
grants 4 hours excusal time a year for all public employees.
Signed into law 7/9/07.
11)
A7565/S3089
Heart bill clarification - Clarifies presumptions
pertaining to heart-related disabilities or deaths suffered by
members of certain retirement systems.
12)
S3445/A6505
Plea bargain State Police - Prohibits rules or
regulations by the NYS Police prohibiting members from modifying
or recommending the modification certain charges before a court.
Delivered to Governor 7/20/07.
13)
S2423A/A5062A
Pension re-opener
second public employment - Extends provisions providing for
additional pension benefits for extended second public
employment for certain retirees (for members after retirement
who take a public sector job with a pension waiver).
14)
S6099/A9138A
Extends time frame
filing 9/11 - Extends the time for filing the NYS Retirement
System forms to qualify for certain benefits related to the
World Trade Center. Delivered
to Governor 7/20/07.
15)
S3827/A6546
NYC DA Investigators PERB - Includes
detective-investigators of all counties within the provisions
relating to dispute resolution during collective bargaining with
a public employer. Signed
into law 7/3/07.
16) S1597/A3872
Binding Arbitration Extender – Extends the
provisions of Binding Arbitration for two more years in its
present form. Signed
into law 3/26/07.
We were pleased
to see that the Governor did approve several of the above bills
which will directly affect our members, in particular the
Binding Arbitration Extender, the Prostate Cancer Screening Bill
(members are now eligible to receive 4 hours paid leave each
year to schedule a prostate examination – the same as female
employees who currently receive this benefit for breast cancer
screening), the Weingarten Correction and the extension of the
filing date for Worker’s Compensation forms related to 9/11.
Obviously we are waiting on the 32 Year Bill and the
Heart Bill, our two major priorities.
I would again ask you to take a minute and write or email
the Governor supporting these bills. I sent everyone by email the form letter for this.
If you did not get this email please contact the office
and I will send you a copy.
I expect these bills to be transmitted to the Governor by
the end of the summe
I still receive inquiries from retired members regarding the provisions of the National Right to Carry Bill as it relates to them, specifically regarding the documentation needed to certify that they have met the training standards of the State within the last 12 months. Please be advised that there are presently two bills introduced in Congress to clear up the language in the bill. These bills are Senate 376, introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and H.R. 2726, introduced by Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA). S.376 has just recently moved out of committee and was favorably introduced in the Senate. The National Association of Police Organizations, of which we are members, is lobbying hard in Congress to insure that the flaws in the original bill are corrected in the not too distant future. I will keep you posted on their progress. In the meantime, it is my understanding that there are individuals here in New York that are currently running courses to provide retirees with proof of recent firearms training which should satisfy the requirements in the law as currently written.
As always, any questions on any of the above items please call me at the office or email me at nassoa@aol.com
Honorable George E. Pataki
Governor of the State of New York
Executive Chamber, The State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
As a (Sergeant, Lieutenant, etc) of the Nassau County Police Department I
am writing to you today to urge you to sign into law Senate bill
S6961 and Assembly A10270, which would clarify the intent of the
legislature regarding existing statutory presumptions pertaining
to heart-related disabilities or deaths suffered by members of
the New York State Local Police and Fire Retirement System and
the New York State and local Employees Retirement system.
This
legislation would provide accidental disability and accidental
death benefits for heart cases by deeming such disabilities or
deaths to have been sustained in the performance of duty as a
natural and proximate result of an accident, unless the contrary
be proven by competent evidence. Subdivision 2 of §363a would
be amended and a new §808 would be added to the Retirement and
Social Security Law to accomplish this intent.
In the past thirty years, the legislature has passed and the Governor has
signed into law a series of “heart bills” designed to make
it easier for certain public servants at the state and local
levels whose jobs put them at a high risk of injury, disease, or
death due to heart disease to receive an accidental disability
retirement or an accidental death benefit. These laws created
statutory presumptions that the disease or illness was the
result of a job related accident. These presumptions have been
interpreted by the courts over the years, negating the
legislature’s intent. According to a series of Third
Department cases, in spite of the statutory presumption, the law
was interpreted narrowly to require the member to submit proof
of an actual accident and notice to the employer of such
accident. This must be cleared up.
I respectfully request your support in enacting this important proposal
into law.
Sincerely,
Honorable George E. Pataki
Governor of the State of New York
Executive Chamber, The State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
Dear Governor Pataki,
As a (Sergeant, Lieutenant, etc) of the Nassau County Police
Department I am writing to you today to urge you to sign into
law Senate bill S6567 and Assembly A9759, which would modify the
maximum years of service credit available for Tier II members of
the NYS Police and Fire Retirement System.
The Senate and Assembly voted to increase the maximum number of
years used in the calculation of a service retirement benefit
for Tier II, from 30 to 32 years. The Senate and Assembly
passed the same resolutions the last two years, which you
vetoed.
I believe that this legislation is fair and warranted. There is no
justification where members side by side, performing similar
years of service, should retire with lesser benefits. While this
legislation does not equalize Tier I and Tier II members, it
will serve to lessen the present disparity. This
legislation would also help to retain experienced officers who
are attaining their maximum retirement benefit.
Legislation enacted in 1995 lifted the 30-year cap for Tier II
members of the New York State and Local Employee’s retirement
system and the NYS Teachers retirement system, increasing the
maximum number of years used in the calculation of a service
retirement benefit from 30 to 37.5 years. Moreover,
Chapter 589 of the Laws of 2001 totally removed any limit on the
calculation of retirement benefits for NYC Police Officers and
Firefighters.
You are someone who recognizes the value of first responders to the
public they serve and I therefore urge you to sign this
important legislation into law.
Sincerely,
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