 onsidering
the fierce competition in Albany to get laws enacted, the PBA
has had a good legislative year with a total of nine pieces of
PBA/law enforcement legislation passed this year.
Most of us are aware of the 9/11 death benefit
bill that was signed into law and announced by Gov. Pataki at
Ground Zero’s hallowed site. That bill granted qualified
police officers and other rescue-and-recovery personnel line-of-duty-death
designations when their demise was related to exposure from the
World Trade Center terrorist attacks and provides their survivors
with all the death benefits they’re entitled to. The stroke-presumption
bill — which, like the heart bill, presumes that strokes
suffered by New police officers is a line-of-duty injury — also
received considerable news coverage when the governor signed
it, some of it in the form of unfavorable editorials by anti-union
tabloids.
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Other bills signed into law this
session include one that increases the earning cap for retirees
in a public service job; expands the Public Employee Relations
Board’s authority to grant relief when an employer fails
to bargain in good faith; creates new crimes regarding fleeing
a police officer in a vehicle and extends CUNY’s police
officer tuition waiver program.
In the following list of newly-passed bills, the
numbers preceded by an “S” or an “A” signify
that bill’s numerical designation in the Senate or the
Assembly. The names in parentheses are of the bill’s sponsors
in that particular house of the legislature. To read more about
the legislation, log on to http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/ and
search by the bill’s Senate or Assembly number.
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S7377-A (Golden); A10731-A (Abbate) - Relates to presumptive eligibility for
accidental disabilities occurring as a result of the terrorist attacks on September
eleventh, two thousand one.
S7885-C (Golden); A11255-A (Silver) - Relates to
certain persons being eligible for accidental death benefits; establishes
a presumptive eligibility for accidental death benefits related to exposure
in connection with the World Trade Center tragedy on September 11, 2001 for
certain public employees.
S3593-A (Leibell); A10646 (Manning) - Increases the amount of money a retiree
may earn in a position of public service in the year 2007 and thereafter to
$30,000.
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S4458-D (Golden) A7395-B (Abbate) - Expands provisions of the "heart
bill" as it applies to police and fire to include disabilities
caused by stroke.
S6476 (Robach); A10837 (Abbate) - Relates to the authority
of the public employment relations board; expands relief which may
be ordered when an employer is found to have refused to bargain in
good faith.
S6742 (Padavan); A10894 (Lentol) - Extends tuition waiver
program for police office students of the city university of New York
until July 1, 2008.
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S6744 (Padavan); A10334 (Markey) - Increases the salary used in the
computation of the special accidental death benefit in cases where
the date of death was before 2006; applies to surviving spouse and
child benefits of certain police and fire personnel.
S8445 (Alesi); A11935-B (Rules-Christensen) - Establishes the Craig
J. Todeschini unlawful fleeing of a police officer act; creates three
new crimes regarding fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle causing
physical injury (A misdemeanor); serious physical injury (E felony);
and death (D felony).
S8446 (Skelos); A11951-A (Rules - Lentol) - Provides for DNA testing
in felony cases and for certain misdemeanors.
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