Enacts the "New York city health and hospitals corporation military pay act"

1 Co-sponsor

• Tony Avella

BILL NUMBER:S3894

Title of bill

An act to amend the military law, in relation to enacting the "New York city health and hospitals corporation military pay act"

Purpose or general idea of bill

This legislation would extend the Public Servant Soldier Salary Act to employees of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation. The current law covers employees of a city with a population of one million, but does not apply to New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, which is a public benefit corporation. By adding the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, this bill gives City hospital employees serving in the military the same protections as other city workers.

Summary of specific provisions

Subdivision 5-a of section 242 of the military law is amended to include New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation.

Justification

The Public Servant Soldier Salary Act was enacted to ensure that city employees serving in the United States Armed Forces were not subject to unreasonable debt upon their return. Prior to the Public Servant Soldier Salary Act mobilized City employees received their full civilian salary while deployed but were required to repay the lesser of their civilian or military salary to the City upon their return. However, one result of the City's old repayment system was that service members were hit with staggering bills from the City on their return home.

The Public Servant Soldier Salary Act eliminated the City's "repayment" system altogether and replaced it with a true differential payment system whereby mobilized employees receive the difference between their civilian and military salaries during the period of their deployment, so returning employees do not have to repay any amount to the City at the conclusion of their mobilization.

Currently, the Public Servant Soldier Salary Act does not cover those in the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation even though employees from the Health and Hospitals Corporation do serve in America's Armed Forces and are still subject to the former system. Therefore, it is necessary to extend the protections of the Public Servant Soldier Salary Act so that returning veterans from New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation are also paid a differential during their deployment so that they are not forced to repay the City upon their return.

Prior legislative history

A.8500 (2010); S.5747 (2009).

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.