We want to update you on two important pieces of legislation that the United Probation Officers Association has been actively working on to improve protections and benefits for probation officers in New York City and our brothers and sisters across the state.
Heart Disease Presumption (Heart Bill)
As many of you know, legislation that would establish a heart disease presumption for Probation Officers, Supervising Probation Officers, and Probation Officer Trainees was passed by the Legislature earlier this year. Unfortunately, Governor Hochul vetoed the bill last week.
While this was disappointing, this fight is far from over. We have been in direct contact with Senator Robert Jackson’s office, and they have confirmed that the Heart Bill will be a priority in the coming legislative session. Senator Jackson remains fully committed to reintroducing and advancing this legislation so that probation officers receive the same presumptive protections already afforded to other law enforcement professionals.
Probation officers face extraordinary stress and risk every day, and this bill is critical to ensuring that heart disease developed after entry into service is recognized as job-related and treated accordingly for retirement and disability purposes.
General Municipal Law 207-c (Disability Benefits)
In addition, UPOA has joined forces with probation officers from other counties across the state to renew our push for General Municipal Law 207-ccoverage. If enacted, this legislation would move us one step closer to ensuring that probation officers statewide receive full disability benefits if they are injured or become ill in the line of duty. At present, only Nassau County Probation Officers receive full 207-c coverage.
If the state law is passed, probation officers would then be able to approach their individual county legislatures for final approval. In other words, this state legislation is the first and necessary step—with final decisions ultimately made at the county level.
To strengthen this effort, we are launching a Change.org petition instead of a traditional letter-writing campaign. The petition is supported by the CSEA 815 Probation Sectionand the Erie County Probation Officers Association, and it is written so that it can be signed by any probation officer – or family member or friend of an officer – anywhere in New York State. This is not Erie County–specific, so please share it widely with your contacts throughout the state.
We are aiming to collect as many signatures as possible by January 5, as the New York State Legislature returns to Albany in early January. The bill is currently stalled in committee, and on January 5 the petition will be delivered to members of the Assembly, Senate, and the Governor’s office to urge action.
The petition also includes an explanation of General Municipal Law 207-c for those who may be unfamiliar with it.
Please sign the petition and encourage others to do the same. After signing, you can skip any optional prompts to donate or sign other petitions. Most importantly, please share the link via email (feel free to forward this message) and on social media.
You can sign the petition at this link:
https://c.org/GhqYSPJXpx
Thank you, as always, for standing together and supporting these critical efforts to protect probation officers across New York State.
In solidarity,
Dalvanie K. Powell
United Probation Officers Association\