Lawmakers seek federal help as 9/11 pension costs soar

WASHINGTON — New legislation would authorize more than $5.9 billion to reimburse eligible public employee retirement systems for costs of death and disability benefits that have resulted from the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the World Trade Center.

Long Island GOP Rep. Andrew Garbarino and New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand have introduced versions in both the House and Senate. Joining them as initial co-sponsors are New York’s senior senator, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and eight New York-based House members.

The group includes two Republicans, Reps. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island, Brooklyn). No lawmakers from other states had been listed as co-sponsors as of Tuesday afternoon.

"The federal government has a responsibility to help cover the costs directly tied to the attacks," said Garbarino (R-Bayport), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security. "Sen. Gillibrand and I are committed to making sure New York and the 9/11 community are not left to shoulder that burden alone."

The legislation would authorize more than $5.9 billion toward a requirement that the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency reimburse public employee retirement systems for accidental disability retirements and accidental deaths resulting from the terror attacks.

The bill comes as costs of the 9/11 attacks have risen for both the New York State and New York City pension systems. Newsday has reported that after the attacks, FEMA initially reimbursed the pension funds $290 million to cover death benefits for 343 firefighters and 28 active-duty and retired NYPD officers.

But costs to the pension systems have continued to mount.

To qualify under the new legislation, a retirement system must include a member who participated in rescue, recovery or cleanup operations at the World Trade Center. The funding would be restricted for use by those eligible retirement systems.

But Garbarino’s office says the reimbursements would also apply to eligible public pension systems outside of New York if their members participated in those operations after the 9/11 attacks.

Gillibrand, in a statement, said, "With New York pension systems facing a shortfall as a result, we must act now to ensure those injured and sickened from recovery efforts and the families of our heroes are not worried about receiving every dollar they deserve." 

But time for quick passage is running out in the remaining months of this two-year session. The House is set to leave Washington on Thursday, to recess until after the November midterm elections.

Whether the bill could then pass later this year in a postelection lame-duck session is uncertain, but it could be taken up again in the new congressional session beginning in January.

Even if that is just setting down a marker for a next congressional session, the legislation as introduced was receiving some early praise.

"The federal government must reimburse the state and city for costs related to death and disability payments. Failing to cover these costs unfairly threatens future retirees' pensions," Mario Cilento, president of the New York State AFL-CIO, said in a statement.

Ben Chevat, executive director of the nonprofit 9/11 Health Watch, noted that recent disclosures from the City of New York "show that we are still learning about the full extent of the health effects of the toxic chemicals at Ground Zero."