Photo: The state Senate has passed three pieces of legislation that focus on first responders. Forum Photo by Michael V. Cusenza
While the City Council earlier this month may have suddenly and swiftly voted on and passed legislation establishing a new package of disability pension benefits for cops and firefighters, both the process and product has left a bad taste in the mouth of some first-responder union representatives.
For months, the heads of the Uniformed Firefighters Association and Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, have railed against the de Blasio administration for not proposing legislation that would roll back then-Gov. David Paterson’s 2009 veto of a bill that would have extended the same disability benefits for all workers, regardless of hiring date.
“The administration still fails to comprehend the dangers and risks we take to protect the city, yet it still expects firefighters to run into harm’s way, without consideration,” said UFA President Steve Cassidy
The Council approved de Blasio’s latest proposal—which gives injured cops and firefighters hired after 2009 75 percent of their salary as long as they qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance; they get 50 percent if they don’t qualify for SSDI—on June 10.
“It flies in the face of what they claim to be an open and transparent Council,” said Jim Slevin, a UFA vice president, in a New York Daily News report.
De Blasio has said that his office and the Council have spoken “with one voice” on the matter, and that the unions are asking for too much.
Last week, the state Senate passed a bill that, according to Sen. Joe Addabbo, Jr. (D-Howard Beach), seeks to correct the “inequity” in the city pension system that provides significantly lower accidental and ordinary disability benefits for police and fire officers hired after 2009.
“This bill would place these New York City officers on an equal footing with their peers throughout the state,” said Addabbo, adding that he believed that Paterson’s veto ultimately contributed to the disparity in benefits. “It’s time to provide all of our New York City police and fire officers with the same levels of disability compensation available to their peers across New York State. They face the same dangers, make the same sacrifices, and should have the same benefits.”
Additionally, in this legislative session, the Senate approved two police-related bills: one would establish the crime of inciting violence against a police officer a Class D felony that could carry a prison sentence between two and seven years; the other would establish a new crime of making a terroristic threat against a police officer as a Class C felony.
All three bills are now under consideration by relevant Assembly committees.
By Michael V. Cusenza
michael@theforumnewsgroup.com
