Assembly Passes Three-Way Legislation To Extend Disability
Benefits To 9/11 Workers

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Government Employees Committee Chair Peter Abbate announced that the Assembly gave final passage to legislation last week, as part of an agreement with the Governor and the Senate, to offer extended disability benefits to additional public workers who were part of the rescue, recovery and clean-up efforts of September 11, 2001.

The bill (A.11730), sponsored by Silver, came from the recommendations of the September 11th Worker Protection Task Force to extend disability benefits to cover additional first responders that are now available to some 9/11 site workers.

"This measure is a simple matter of fairness for the men and women whose health has suffered in the aftermath of their work as first responders to the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center," said Silver. "I am pleased that Governor Paterson has followed the recommendation of the September 11th Worker Protection Task Force and made this a priority for our state. This legislation will extend health and disability benefits to these remarkable individuals -- including many who live or work in Lower Manhattan -- who served with such extraordinary dedication on September 11th and in the difficult days that followed New York City's terrorist attack."

"By extending health and disability benefits to these additional workers, the Governor is acknowledging the vitally important tasks they performed on September 11th and the days following the devastating terrorist attack, as well as the fact that, in performing their duties, these workers were exposed to conditions that put their health at serious risk. It is important to note that the recommendation to provide benefits to these workers was based on the careful work of the bipartisan September 11th Worker Protection Task Force," said Abbate.

• State and county corrections officers and deputy sheriffs;
• 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.