S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                  5904--A
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 16, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
   --  recommitted to the Committee on  in accordance with Senate Rule 6,
   sec. 8 -- 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
   disability retirement benefits for the presumption  of  post-traumatic
   stress disorder for certain titles
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
 a new section 605-f to read as follows:
   § 605-F. DISABILITY RETIREMENT FOR CERTAIN DISPATCHERS. 1.   A  MEMBER
 EMPLOYED AS A COUNTY 911 DISPATCHER, A COUNTY 911 DISPATCHER SUPERVISOR,
 A  NEW YORK CITY FIRE ALARM DISPATCHER, A NEW YORK CITY SUPERVISING FIRE
 ALARM DISPATCHER LEVEL ONE OR A NEW YORK  CITY  SUPERVISING  FIRE  ALARM
 DISPATCHER  LEVEL  TWO SHALL BE ENTITLED TO DISABILITY RETIREMENT ALLOW-
 ANCE, IF, AT THE TIME APPLICATION THEREFOR  IS  FILED,  SUCH  MEMBER  IS
 PHYSICALLY OR MENTALLY INCAPACITATED FOR PERFORMANCE OF DUTY AS A RESULT
 OF CONTRACTING POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER WHILE SO EMPLOYED AND AS A
 RESULT OF HIS OR HER EMPLOYMENT.
   2.  NOTWITHSTANDING  ANY  PROVISION OF THIS CHAPTER OR OF ANY GENERAL,
 SPECIAL OR LOCAL LAW TO THE CONTRARY, ANY MEMBER WHO  IS  A  COUNTY  911
 DISPATCHER,  A  COUNTY  911  DISPATCHER SUPERVISOR, A NEW YORK CITY FIRE
 ALARM DISPATCHER, A NEW YORK  CITY  SUPERVISING  FIRE  ALARM  DISPATCHER
 LEVEL ONE OR A NEW YORK CITY SUPERVISING FIRE ALARM DISPATCHER LEVEL TWO
 WHO  IS  DIAGNOSED  AS  SUFFERING  FROM  POST-TRAUMATIC  STRESS DISORDER
 RESULTING  IN  DISABILITY  TO  SUCH  FIRE  ALARM  DISPATCHER,  PRESENTLY
 EMPLOYED,  AND  WHO  SHALL  HAVE  SUSTAINED  SUCH  DISABILITY  WHILE  SO
 EMPLOYED, SHALL HAVE SUCH DIAGNOSIS BE PRESUMPTIVE  EVIDENCE  THAT  SUCH
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD09485-03-0
              

 S. 5904--A                          2
 
 DISABILITY WAS INCURRED IN THE PERFORMANCE AND DISCHARGE OF DUTY, UNLESS
 THE CONTRARY BE PROVEN BY COMPETENT EVIDENCE.
   3.  THE  ANNUAL  RETIREMENT  ALLOWANCE  PAYABLE  SHALL BE EQUAL TO THE
 THREE-QUARTERS OF HIS OR HER FINAL AVERAGE SALARY.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   SUMMARY OF BILL: This proposed legislation would amend the  Retirement
 and  Social  Security Law (RSSL) to add a new Section 605-f to provide a
 rebuttable statutory presumption to Tier 4 and 6 members of the New York
 City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS) who are Fire Alarm  Dispatch-
 ers and Supervising Fire Alarm Dispatchers, and who become physically or
 mentally  incapacitated  for  performance  of duty due to post-traumatic
 stress disorder (PTSD).
   In determining whether disabling PTSD was caused by  employment  as  a
 Dispatcher,  the  diagnosis  of  PTSD would be presumptive evidence that
 such disability was incurred in the performance and discharge  of  duty,
 unless the contrary is proven by competent evidence.
   The amount of the annual retirement allowance payable in the event the
 presumption is not rebutted will be 75% of the Dispatcher member's final
 average salary.
   Effective Date: Upon enactment.
   FINANCIAL  IMPACT  -  OVERVIEW: There is no data available to estimate
 the number of members who might develop and become disabled by PTSD, and
 potentially benefit from this proposed legislation. Therefore, the esti-
 mated financial impact has been calculated on a per event basis equal to
 the increase in the Present Value of Future Benefits (PVFB) for an aver-
 age member who is diagnosed with PTSD as the result of the enactment  of
 the  proposed  legislation.  In determining the increase in the PVFB, it
 has been assumed that 50% of the members who would retire with PTSD were
 those who would have retired under  an  Ordinary  Disability  Retirement
 benefit and that the remaining 50% of members who would retire with PTSD
 were  those who would have continued working if the proposed legislation
 were not passed.
   With respect to an individual member,  the  additional  cost  of  this
 proposed legislation could vary greatly depending on the member's length
 of service, age, and salary history.
   FINANCIAL  IMPACT  -  PRESENT VALUES: Based on the census data and the
 actuarial assumptions and methods described  herein,  the  enactment  of
 this  proposed  legislation  would  increase  the  PVFB by approximately
 $410,000, on average for each occurrence of PTSD.
   FINANCIAL IMPACT - ANNUAL EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS:  Enactment  of  this
 proposed  legislation  would increase employer contributions, where such
 amount would depend on the number of members affected as well  as  other
 characteristics  including the age, years of service, and salary history
 of the member.
   As there is no data currently available  to  estimate  the  number  of
 members who might be diagnosed with disabling PTSD, the financial impact
 would  be  recognized  at  the  time  of event. Consequently, changes in
 employer contributions have been estimated assuming that the increase in
 the PVFB will be financed over a time period comparable to that used for
 actuarial losses under the Entry Age  Normal  cost  method.  Using  this
 approach,  the  additional PVFB would be amortized over a closed 15-year
 period (14 payments under the  One-Year  Lag  Methodology)  using  level
 dollar payments.
   Based  on the Actuary's actuarial assumptions and methods in effect as
 of June 30, 2018, the enactment of this proposed  legislation  is  esti-

 S. 5904--A                          3
 
 mated to increase annual employer contributions by approximately $48,000
 for each Accident Disability Retirement due to PTSD. With respect to the
 timing,  increases  in  employer  contributions  would  depend upon when
 members  would  retire  due  to  PTSD but, generally, increased employer
 contributions will first occur the second fiscal year following approval
 of the Accident Disability Retirement.
   CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based  on  the  census
 data  used in the Preliminary June 30, 2018 (Lag) actuarial valuation of
 NYCERS to determine the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2020  employer  contrib-
 utions  updated  to  reflect  the  change in demographics as of June 30,
 2019.
   The 217 Fire Alarm Dispatchers and Supervising Fire Alarm  Dispatchers
 who  participate  in  NYCERS  as  of June 30, 2019 had an average age of
 approximately 38.6 years, average service of approximately  10.4  years,
 and  an average salary of approximately $71,300. This group consisted of
 140 Tier 4 active members and 77 Tier 6 active members.
   As of June 30, 2018, there were 183 Fire Alarm Dispatchers and  Super-
 vising  Fire Alarm Dispatchers with an average age of approximately 40.0
 years, average service of approximately 11.5 years, and an average sala-
 ry of approximately $74,200. This group consisted of 146 Tier  4  active
 members and 37 Tier 6 active members.
   ACTUARIAL  ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The changes in the PVFB and annual
 employer contributions presented herein have been  calculated  based  on
 the  actuarial  assumptions  and methods in effect for the June 30, 2018
 (Lag) actuarial valuations used to determine the Preliminary Fiscal Year
 2020 employer contributions of NYCERS.
   RISK AND UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal  Note  depend
 highly  on the realization of the actuarial assumptions used, as well as
 certain  demographic  characteristics  of  NYCERS  and  other  exogenous
 factors  such  as  investment,  contribution, and other risks. If actual
 experience deviates from actuarial assumptions, the actual  costs  could
 differ  from  those  presented  herein.  Costs are also dependent on the
 actuarial methods used, and therefore different actuarial methods  could
 produce  different  results. Quantifying these risks is beyond the scope
 of this Fiscal Note.
   Not measured in this Fiscal Note are the following:
   * The initial, additional administrative costs of NYCERS and other New
 York City agencies to implement the proposed legislation.
   * The impact of this  proposed  legislation  on  Other  Postemployment
 Benefit (OPEB) costs.
   STATEMENT  OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Sherry S. Chan, am the Chief Actu-
 ary for, and independent of, the New York City  Retirement  Systems  and
 Pension  Funds.  I  am a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, an Enrolled
 Actuary under the Employee Retirement Income and Security Act of 1974, a
 Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and a Fellow of the Confer-
 ence of Consulting Actuaries. I meet the Qualification Standards of  the
 American  Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained
 herein.  To the best of my 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 2020-10  dated  March  2,
 2020  was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Employees'
 Retirement System. This estimate is intended for  use  only  during  the
 2020 Legislative Session.