Deems Anthony Varvaro to have died as the natural and proximate result of an accident sustained in the performance of duty so as to permit accidental death benefits to be awarded to his beneficiaries.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8131A
SPONSOR: Fall TITLE OF BILL:
An act to permit accidental death benefits to be awarded to the benefi-
ciary of Anthony Varvaro
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Notwithstanding the provisions of any law, rule or regulation
to the contrary, Anthony Varvaro, who was a member of the New York State
and Local Police and Fire Retirement System employed as a police officer
by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and who died on
September 111, 2022 as the result of an accident which occurred while he
was traveling to work, shall be deemed to have died as the natural and
proximate result of an accident sustained in the performance of duty.
The beneficiary or beneficiaries of Anthony Varvaro shall be eligible to
receive the accidental death benefit if an application therefore is
filed within one year of the effective date of this act Any amounts paid
by the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement system as the
result of the death of Anthony Varvaro prior to the receipt of the acci-
dental death benefit pursuant to this section shall be deducted from the
benefit payable on an actuarially equivalent-basis over the expected
future lifetime of the beneficiary or beneficiaries.
Section 2: All costs associated with this act shall be borne by the
state of New York.
Section3: Fiscal note/impact This act shall take effect immediately.
JUSTIFICATION:
Anthony Varvaro, a former Major League Baseball pitcher who retired in
2016 to become a police officer New York City, was killed in a car crash
on his way to work at the Sept. 11 memorial ceremony in Manhattan.
Anthony was 37 and an officer for the Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey.
It is often common policy that most state and local employees are typi-
cally compensated for travel expenses during travel for work. They and
their families should be compensated, especially in tragic cases where
the employee is injured or killed with traveling to and from work or to
an assigned designation. This legislation is seeking to rectify this
issue by placing in current statue that the employee died as the natural
and proximate result of an accident sustained in the performance of duty
if such member was traveling from their primary residence directly to
their place of business, or to a different location where such member
was assigned to perform his or her duties.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
See fiscal note attached in legislative text
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8131--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
October 13, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. FALL -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Employees -- recommitted to the Committee on Govern-
mental Employees in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- commit-
tee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recom-
mitted to said committee
AN ACT to permit accidental death benefits to be awarded to the benefi-
ciary of Anthony Varvaro
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of any law, rule or regu-
2 lation to the contrary, Anthony Varvaro, who was a member of the New
3 York state and local police and fire retirement system employed as a
4 police officer by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and who
5 died on September 11, 2022 as the result of an accident which occurred
6 while he was travelling to work, shall be deemed to have died as the
7 natural and proximate result of an accident sustained in the performance
8 of duty. The beneficiary or beneficiaries of Anthony Varvaro shall be
9 eligible to receive the accidental death benefit if an application
10 therefor is filed within one year of the effective date of this act.
11 Any amounts paid by the New York state and local police and fire
12 retirement system as the result of the death of Anthony Varvaro prior
13 to the receipt of the accidental death benefit pursuant to this section
14 shall be deducted from the benefit payable on an actuarially equiv-
15 alent basis over the expected future lifetime of the beneficiary or
16 beneficiaries.
17 § 2. All costs associated with this act shall be borne by the state of
18 New York.
19 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would make the statutory beneficiary or beneficiaries of
Anthony Varvaro eligible to collect an accidental death benefit pursuant
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11782-05-4
A. 8131--A 2
to sections 361 and 361-a of the Retirement and Social Security Law.
Anthony Varvaro was employed as a police officer with the Port Authority
of New York and New Jersey until their death on September 11, 2022.
Currently, an ordinary death benefit equal to three (3) times Anthony
Varvaro's prior twelve-month salary is payable to a designated benefici-
ary or beneficiaries.
If this bill is enacted during the 2024 Legislative Session and the
required application for an accidental death benefit is timely filed,
there will be an immediate past service cost of approximately $7.47
million which will be borne by the State of New York as a one-time
payment. This estimate assumes that payment will be made on March 1,
2025.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2023 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2023 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2023 Report of the Actuary and the 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2023
Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the
Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and
Control.
The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2023
New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and
Supplementary Information.
I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability
of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for
the professional judgment of an attorney.
This estimate, dated March 6, 2024, and intended for use only during
the 2024 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2024-128, prepared by
the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
