Governor Cuomo Signs "Pension Protection Bill" Into Law
In a great victory for our membership, on September 23, 2011, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the "Pension Protection Bill" into law. The bill had been passed overwhelmingly by the New York State Assembly and Senate many months ago, but the Governor had withheld approval until he heard and considered the diverse opinions on the legislation.The new law provides that members of the Fire Department pension system who have "obtained at least twenty years of credible uniformed force service in the retirement system" cannot be deprived of their retirement pension even if they are terminated as a Fire Department member. The only exception under the statute is if the termination results from the conviction of a felony.
Mayor Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Kelly and Fire Commissioner Cassano had lobbied the Governor to veto the bill. The leadership of UFA met with Governor Cuomo to convince him that the legislation was fair and necessary to prevent the shockingly harsh result of terminations of UFA members after 20 or more years of dedicated service to the Fire Department.
While the statute does not prevent terminations, if a Firefighter has twenty or more years of credible uniformed service in the pension system and has not been convicted of a felony, the member cannot be deprived of pension benefits. There are still some unanswered questions as to how exactly this bill will work. The UFA Executive Board and its counsel are working on resolving those issues.
Fraternally,
Stephen J. Cassidy
President
