What's happening
This bill provides annual cost-of-living adjustments to certain workers' compensation disability benefits based on regional living costs and inflation.
Why it matters
Protects disabled workers and their families from inflation. By tying disability benefits to the consumer price index and regional living costs, the bill helps ensure that the real value of benefits doesn’t erode over time, maintaining recipients’ purchasing power as prices rise.
Reduces regional disparities in benefit adequacy. Because the adjustment factors in local cost-of-living differences, workers in higher-cost areas would see benefits more closely matched to their actual expenses, promoting greater equity across the state.
Creates predictable, automatic annual increases. Instead of requiring piecemeal legislative updates, the bill establishes a structured, formula-based method for updating benefits, providing recipients with more financial stability and predictability.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Raise Disability Benefits Yearly
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
History
- Referred to labor
- Referred to labor
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
255
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled)
January 9, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. CAHILL -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. ABBATE, COLTON, ENGLEBRIGHT, GUNTHER, ORTIZ, PERRY -- read once and referred to the Committee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the workers' compensation law, in relation to providing for cost-of-living adjustments of disability benefits in certain cases
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 15 of the workers' compensation law is amended by adding a new subdivision 10 to read as follows:
10. Cost-of-living adjustments of disability benefits in certain cases. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in addition to any other amount received pursuant to this article as disability benefits, an employee with a permanent total disability or the beneficiarydependent of such employee shall be entitled to an additional allowance, to be known as a cost-of-living adjustment allowance, payable annually.
(b) The cost-of-living adjustment allowance shall be computed by applying an adjustment for regional costs of living and shall be based on fifty percent of the annual increase in the consumer price index as promulgated by the United States department of labor.
§ 2. The workers' compensation law is amended by adding a new section 208-a to read as follows:
§ 208-a. Cost-of-living adjustments of disability benefits in certain cases. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in addition to any other amount received pursuant to this article as disability benefits, an employee with a permanent total disability or the beneficiary-dependent of such employee shall be entitled to an additional allowance, to be known as a cost-of-living adjustment allowance, payable annually.
2. The cost-of-living adjustment allowance shall be computed by applying an adjustment for regional costs of living and shall be based on
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01989-01-9
A. 255 2
fifty percent of the annual increase in the consumer price index as promulgated by the United States department of labor.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.