I am pleased to report that the COVID-19 death benefit legislation (S8427/A10528) has passed both houses, with a message of necessity from the governor, and it is anticipated that he will sign it into law in the very near future[1].
This is extremely important legislation, specifically designed to provide death benefits to the survivors of public employees who die or died as a result ofCOVID-19.
At this time, on behalf of the Board of Directors and, more important, the hundreds of thousands of public employees who are our members, I take this opportunity to, wholeheartedly, thank the sponsors, Assemblyman Peter Abbate and Senator Andrew Gounardes.
As you know, NYSPEC has worked diligently on this issue since the inception of the proposed legislation almost two months ago. Many of you – and you know who you are – worked earnestly hand-in-hand with me and our leadership team to help foster this favorable outcome. I can’t thank you enough for your efforts, but will do so much more thoroughly in the future.
As you also are aware, we have much more work to do to ensure that those public employees who are affected by this pandemic are appropriately recompensed, and we will work just as diligently to see that through.
In Unity,
Peter D. Meringolo
Chairman
[1] Enacted on May 30th: Chapter #89 of 2020
