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Bill

S 9566

Relates to disability benefits for certain individuals employed by the Nassau county police department

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Joe Addabbo and 1 co-sponsor

Nassau County police ambulance and related personnel with heart impairment are presumptively disabled in the line of duty, unless proven otherwise.

SUBSTITUTED BY A10833
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WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · S 9566

Summary of Bill S.9566 (2025-2026) – New York

Purpose and intent

  • The bill adds a presumption of duty-related impairment for certain Nassau County Police Department personnel who work in ambulance medical services or police emergency ambulance roles and who later suffer a heart-related disability or death.
  • Specifically, if such a member has a heart-disease impairment that results in disability or death and they entered service with no heart disease evidence, the disability is presumed to be incurred in the performance of duty, unless proven otherwise by competent evidence.
  • This creates a “presumption of exposure to duty” for POD (performance of duty) disability benefits under the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL).

Key provisions and changes

1) New presumption sections added
- Section 63-j (RSSL) – Creates a disability/heart-impairment presumption for:
- Ambulance medical technicians, ambulance medical coordinators, ambulance medical technician/supervisors, or any member performing ambulance medical technician-related services.
- Police medics, police medic coordinators, police medic supervisors, bureau directors of police emergency ambulance services (county), assistant bureau directors, and other members performing police medic or police emergency ambulance related services.
- The Nassau County Police Department workforce specified above, who are presently employed and sustain a heart-related disability while in service, given a clean entry physical exam (no heart disease evidence). The presumption can be rebutted with competent evidence.
- This makes it presumptively a POD disability incurred in the line of duty.

2) Parallel presumption section added
- Section 607-m (RSSL) – Same heart-impairment presumptions as §63-j, applying to the same class of Nassau County personnel and circumstances.

3) Fiscal and statutory mechanics
- Section 3: The act is not subject to the appropriation requirement of section 25 of the RSSL (i.e., this provision bypasses that specific funding constraint).
- Section 4: Nassau County must bear all costs to implement the act.
- Section 5: Effective immediately upon enactment.

Who would be affected

  • Employees of the Nassau County Police Department who perform ambulance medical technician-related services and/or police emergency ambulance services and hold positions such as:
    • Ambulance medical technician
    • Ambulance medical coordinator
    • Ambulance medical technician/supervisor
    • Police medic, police medic coordinator, police medic supervisor
    • Bureau director or assistant bureau director of police emergency ambulance services – county
  • The presumption applies to those currently employed who later suffer a heart-related disability or death linked to their service in these roles, provided the initial entry exam showed no heart disease.

Procedural and timeline aspects

  • Enactment timeline: Bill introduces an immediate effective date; thus, the act would take effect on enactment.
  • Administrative: Nassau County bears all implementation costs; there is an anticipated immediate past-service cost of approximately $211,000 (one-time), payable around February 1, 2027, with ongoing administration costs likely.
  • Fiscal note context:
    • Based on an estimated 126 affected members with a collective annual salary around $21 million (as of March 31, 2025).
    • The bill would likely increase future POD disability benefit awards for retirees, but annual county contributions are not expected to increase materially.
  • Legislative status:
    • Referred to Civil Service and Pensions (initial committee).
    • Subsequent actions show committee discharge and passage considerations, with references to the Finance committee in later steps.

Practical impact and considerations

  • Benefit impact: Creates a clear presumption that certain heart-related disabilities in eligible Nassau County ambulance/police emergency medical personnel are work-related, simplifying the claims process for disability retirement.
  • Employer impact: Nassau County must fund and administer the provisions; immediate past-service cost is acknowledged.
  • Policy alignment: Mirrors similar POD presumptions used in other NYS retirement provisions, extending coverage to a specific municipal workforce segment.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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