The state needs a Covid presumptive pension law

New York’s essential workers are in dire need of a Covid presumptive law to help secure disability pension protections they are being denied. When Covid first struck, and most New Yorkers quarantined, socially distanced and “went remote,” municipal and civil-service workers were required to go to work, out on the “front lines,” and have continued to do so ever since, thereby placing them at a greater risk for Covid exposure and infection than the general public. 

Many have died, and many more have and continue to become seriously ill. These are workers without whom New York cannot function and could not have gotten through the pandemic. They include emergency responders like police and fire personnel, as well as bus drivers, child welfare agents, maintenance personnel and many others.