{"id":6301,"date":"2024-12-05T10:42:13","date_gmt":"2024-12-05T15:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=6301"},"modified":"2025-01-08T13:32:10","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T18:32:10","slug":"governor-considering-four-pef-priority-bills-act-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-9\/governor-considering-four-pef-priority-bills-act-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Governor considering four PEF priority bills \u2013 act now!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\"><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-6316 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Hoc-Letter-LEG.jpg\" alt=\"Governor considering four PEF priority bills \u2013 act now! \" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Hoc-Letter-LEG.jpg 450w, https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Hoc-Letter-LEG-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Hoc-Letter-LEG-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/12\/Hoc-Letter-LEG-125x125.jpg 125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/>December 5, 2024 &#8212;<\/em> Four bills that were part of PEF\u2019s 2024 Legislative Priorities were sent to Governor Kathy Hochul on December 2. Both the State Senate and Assembly passed them during their session and the governor now has until December 13<\/span> <span data-contrast=\"auto\">to sign or veto these bills. PEF calls on all members to let her know how important it is that she sign them.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Make Section 72 hearing officer determinations binding<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Under current law, if an employer believes that an employee is unable to perform duties due to a physical or mental disability, they may request a medical review. The employee then requests a hearing subject to Section 72 of the Civil Service Law and an independent hearing officer makes a recommendation. However, the officer\u2019s recommendation is not binding. The employer has the <\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">right to reject it.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">This bill would make an officer\u2019s recommendation permanent and legally binding. It would have helped PEF member <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-4\/value-of-the-union-pef-fights-for-employee-placed-on-leave-and-terminated-by-agency-secures-50000-in-back-pay\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Natasha Pecue<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, who had her Section 72 recommendation overturned last year and was told she had to pay the employer for time spent on the hearing process. PEF was able to appeal the decision, but Pecue was unable to keep her job.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Instead of submitting a form on the Governor\u2019s website, PEF is asking members to call Governor Hochul\u2019s office at (518) 474-8390 and ask her to sign the Section 72 bill into law.\u00a0 The Assembly bill is 9932 and the Senate bill is 8960.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">It\u2019s too hot in New York\u2019s correctional facilities!<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Another bill would make the commissioner of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision responsible for creating and overseeing a set of rules to regulate the temperature inside facilities.\u00a0 The goal is to ensure the safety of both incarcerated individuals and staff who work at these facilities.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Many of the state\u2019s facilities were built more than a hundred years ago, before air conditioning was an option.\u00a0 PEF members have been asking DOCCS for years to address the problem and a coalition of unions is now seeking a legislative remedy.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Hospital closure notifications<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Too often, when New York State decides to close a hospital or a specific unit, they give very little notice to the community or the unions who represent the staff who work there.\u00a0 It happened just last year with SUNY Downstate.\u00a0 This bill would require hospitals to alert the public at least nine months in advance of any decision to entirely close a general hospital or a unit that provides emergency, maternity, mental health or substance use care.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0This legislation addresses gaps in the state\u2019s review of closures by allowing the community to raise concerns and giving the state time to adequately plan and address those concerns.\u00a0 The current law is especially cruel to people in underserved communities who cannot easily travel elsewhere for their healthcare.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Pension benefit for certain beneficiaries<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Though it is rare, PEF members and other State employees sometimes die during the time between filing for retirement and their final day of work.\u00a0 This is obviously a very difficult time for the families of the deceased.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">That is why a new bill would allow them to receive a lifetime monthly benefit if a retirement application has already been filed before the loved one passes away.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">PEF asks all members to urge the Governor to sign these bills.\u00a0 As noted above, please call the Governor\u2019s hotline regarding the Section 72 bill, but for the other three, you can visit our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pef.org\/departments\/political-action\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Political Action page<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> and copy and paste a letter into a form on the Governor\u2019s website. We expect her to announce her decisions on December 13, so don\u2019t delay, send a letter today!<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>December 5, 2024 &#8212; Four bills that were part of PEF\u2019s 2024 Legislative Priorities were sent to Governor Kathy Hochul on December 2. Both the State Senate and Assembly passed&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":6302,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"division":[],"allowed_regions":[],"allowed_divisions":[],"class_list":["post-6301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","issue-volume-42-no-9"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Governor considering four PEF priority bills \u2013 act now! - PEF Communicator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-9\/governor-considering-four-pef-priority-bills-act-now\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Governor considering four PEF priority bills \u2013 act now!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"December 5, 2024 &#8212; Four bills that were part of PEF\u2019s 2024 Legislative Priorities were sent to Governor Kathy Hochul on December 2. 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