Legislation Extends More Aid To 9/11 Workers
Posted on Saturday, 14 of June , 2008 at 8:02 am
ALBANY—Governor David A. Paterson will submit legislation to cover additional public workers who risked their health and safety in the rescue, recovery and clean-up efforts at the World Trade Center after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The legislation embraces the unanimous recommendations of the bi-partisan September 11th Worker Protection Task Force.
Under the Governor’s legislation, the “presumptive accidental disability retirement benefit” now available to some 9/11 first responders will be extended to additional first responders. A committee of doctors on the Task Force found that additional workers were exposed to the same toxins and psychological trauma as those originally covered.
“In the midst of the devastation of September 11th, men and women in public service risked their lives to aid in the search for survivors and victims,” said Governor Paterson. “As the nation grieved these heroes returned to work day and night, selflessly placing their own health at risk. It is our duty to offer them the protections they deserve in their time of illness.”
Additional first responders covered under this bill include state and county corrections officers and deputy sheriffs ; the non-uniformed first responders who were not required to undergo a pre-employment physical examination; 911 dispatchers; first responders who worked for any period of time within the first 48 hours after the first plane hit the World Trade Center; emergency vehicle radio repair mechanics; vested members of a public pension system who terminated their employment prior to filing a claim; and workers who became disabled more than two years after 9/11 but before an extension was granted in the Workers Compensation Law which would have covered them.
In addition, the registration deadlines for the accidental disability presumption and the Workers Compensation Law extension will be extended from the current dates of June 14, 2009, and Aug. 14, 2008 to Sept. 11, 2010 and the filing deadline for presumptive accidental disability will be extended from the amended date of June 14, 2009 to Sept. 11, 2010.
Since many of the non-uniformed NYC and State workers at the site had not been required to undergo a pre-employment physical examination, a prerequisite to receiving benefits under the prior 9/11 legislation, the Governor’s bill extends benefits to those employees if they provide access to medical records and demonstrate the absence of a pre-qualifying condition prior to Sept. 11, 2001. In addition, the geographic boundaries of the 9/11 disability benefits law are being expanded to emergency vehicle garages and emergency call centers, because the Task Force found emergency vehicle radio repair mechanics were exposed to dust and 911 operators experienced psychological trauma that has led to disabilities similar to those suffered by workers at the World Trade Center site.
Finally, current law requires that claimants participated in the WTC rescue, recovery or cleanup operations for a minimum of 40 hours, but scientific evidence gathered by the Task Force has shown there was a “substantial risk” of developing respiratory, gastrointestinal and / or mental health disability for first responders at the site during the first 48 hours after the first aircraft hit the World Trade Center Towers. Therefore, the Governor’s legislation covers any first responder who worked during the first 48 hours after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
The Task Force includes members appointed by the Governor, Speaker of the Assembly, Majority Leader, the Mayor of the City of New York, the State and City Comptrollers, the State Commissioners of Health, Labor and Civil Service and the Director of the State Division of Budget. It is charged with making recommendations regarding the adequacy of coverage and treatment for disabilities resulting from the rescue, recovery and clean-up after Sept. 11, 2001.
On March 4, the Task Force released an Interim Report, including a Report of the Doctor’s Committee to the Task Force, which can be found on the Department of Labor’s website: http://www.labor.state.ny.us/pressreleases/PDFs/911_WPTF_Interim_Report_March_4_2008.pdf 6-14-08
Category: Government, Health, New York State
- Add this post to
- Del.icio.us -
- Meneame -
- Digg
COPYRIGHT 2007 - NORTH COUNTRY GAZETTE All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of the publisher.
