Families of sanitation workers killed in the line of duty will now receive the same benefits available to those of other uniformed agencies.

The bill signed by Governor Cuomo goes into effect immediately and is retroactive to November 1996.

Since then twenty-one sanitation workers have died on the job.

The law now allows their surviving spouses to remarry without losing accidental death benefits.

It also increases the pension to 100 percent of the total salary.