BILL NUMBER: S3815B
SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation to allowing for
certain child beneficiaries to receive accidental death benefits for the
duration of their lifetime
 
PURPOSE:
Allows for certain child beneficiaries to receive accidental death bene-
fits for the duration of their lifetime
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of the bill amends the opening paragraphs of subdivisions a,
b, c, and subdivision f of section 208-f of the general municipal law to
modify the existing class of child beneficiaries to include children who
were under the age of 25 when the death of a member occurred would be
eligible to receive the Special Accidental Death Benefit (SADB).
Section two of the bill provides that no individual receiving benefits
under section 208-f of the general municipal law, prior to the effective
date of this act, shall be required to repay any benefits received and
no reduction in benefits shall occur unless an individual receiving such
benefit consents to a reduction in benefits.
Section three of the bill provides that an individual who would have
been eligible for benefits under section 208-f of the general municipal
law as the child of a deceased police department member, under the age
of twenty-one at the time of the member's death, and who aged out prior
to the effective date of this act shall be eligible for such benefits if
the member died before the effective date of this act. No reduction in
benefits to another beneficiary shall occur without that beneficiary's
consent.Individuals who have reached the age of 30 at the time of appli-
cation shall not be eligible.
Section four of the bill provides the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
NYPD Officer Miosotis P. Familia was killed in the line of duty on July
5, 2017. While the Fourth of July fireworks were going off, Detective
Familia was callously shot in the head while she sat in her police vehi-
cle at East 183rd Street and Morris Avenue in the Bronx.Officer Familia
was brutally assassinated in an ambush attack solely for the blue NYPD
uniform she proudly wore.
Officer Familia was the first female police officer killed in the line
of duty since 9/11, and only the third female officer killed in the line
of duty in the history of the NYPD. The Police Commissioner stated,
"Make no mistake: Officer Familia was murdered for her uniform and for
the responsibility she embraced."
Officer Familia was a single mother and left behind three young chil-
dren, Genesis Villella, age 20, and twins Deliliah Vega and Peter Vega,
age 12.
Barely of an age to raise herself under such trying circumstances,
Genesis became the sole caregiver to her siblings and raised them on her
own.
To add to the family's pain, New York State does not recognize orphaned
children of slain police officers in the same way it does surviving
spouses. Had Officer Familia been married, her spouse would have
received her accidental death benefit for life. However, even though
Officer Miosotis's daughter, Genesis, has been raising her siblings as
if they were her own, as her mother had asked her to in case the worst
happened, the accidental death benefit terminates when each child
reaches the age of 18 or 23 if they are a student.
This legislation would guarantee a child or children of an individual in
a qualified profession who has died in the line of duty can claim the
special accidental death benefits for the duration of their lifetime if
there is no surviving spouse to claim such benefits.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024: S.9666 - Local Government
2024: S.7221/ A.7397 - Civil Service and Pensions / Governmental Employ-
ees
2023: S.7221/ A.7397 - Calendar / Governmental Employees
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
See Fiscal note
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately; provided however, the amendments to section 208f of the
general municipal law made by section one of this act shall apply to
members who die on or after such effective date.