S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                 1865--A

                       2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 9, 2013
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen. KENNEDY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
  -- recommitted to the Committee  on  Civil  Service  and  Pensions  in
  accordance  with  Senate  Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
  amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said  commit-
  tee

AN  ACT  to  authorize the widow of William James Middlebrooks to file a
  retirement option election form

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
Janice  Middlebrooks,  the  widow  of William James Middlebrooks who was
employed by the Albion Correctional Facility, was a member  of  the  New
York  state  and  local employees' retirement system, was diagnosed with
cancer in January of 2004, was advised on October 31, 2004 that he would
be unable to return to employment as the result of  his  malignancy  and
the  treatment  therefor, and died on December 3, 2006 prior to filing a
retirement election form with the New York state  and  local  employees'
retirement system, shall be authorized to file such option election form
on behalf of her deceased husband with a joint allowance full option, if
on  or  before  December 31, 2014 she shall submit a request therefor to
the state comptroller.   In addition,  his  application  for  disability
retirement shall be deemed to have become effective on November 1, 2004.
All  retirement  benefits payable pursuant to the provisions of this act
shall be paid to Janice Middlebrooks and shall be  in  addition  to  any
other death benefits paid.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
  FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
  This  bill  would  authorize  Janice  Middlebrooks to file an ordinary
disability application with a date of retirement of November 1, 2004 and

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                           LBD04130-02-4

S. 1865--A                          2

an option election form with a joint allowance full option on behalf  of
her  deceased  husband  William  James  Middlebrooks.  Mr.  Middlebrooks
received a disability retirement which was paid beginning on  3/28/2005.
Upon  his  death all payments ceased because no option election form was
filed. By filing the disability application and an option election form,
an additional benefit will be paid for the period 11/1/04-3/28/05 and  a
benefit will continue to Janice Middlebrooks for her lifetime.
  If  this bill is enacted, there will be an immediate past service cost
of approximately $203,000 which will be shared by the State of New  York
and  all  the  participating  employers  in the New York State and Local
Employees' Retirement System.
  Summary of relevant resources:
  The membership data used in  measuring  the  impact  of  the  proposed
change  was  the same as that used in the March 31, 2013 actuarial valu-
ation.  Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the  2013
Report  of  the  Actuary  and  the  2013  Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report.
  The actuarial assumptions and methods  used  are  described  in  2010,
2011,  2012  and  2013  Annual  Report  to  the Comptroller on Actuarial
Assumptions, and the Codes Rules and Regulations of  the  State  of  New
York: Audit and Control.
  The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2013
New  York  State  and  Local  Retirement System Financial Statements and
Supplementary Information.
  I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
  This estimate, dated May 27, 2014, and intended for  use  only  during
the  2014  Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2014-144, prepared by
the Actuary for the New  York  State  and  Local  Employees'  Retirement
System.