S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   2926
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 30, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sens. RITCHIE, GALLIVAN -- read twice and ordered printed,
   and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and
   Pensions
 
 AN  ACT  to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
   death benefits for certain members; and providing for  the  repeal  of
   such provisions upon expiration thereof

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision b of section 448 of the retirement  and  social
 security law is amended by adding a new paragraph 3 to read as follows:
   3. PROVIDED FURTHER, NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS ARTI-
 CLE TO THE CONTRARY, WHERE A MEMBER IS IN A TITLE AS DEFINED IN SUBDIVI-
 SION  I OF SECTION EIGHTY-NINE OF THIS CHAPTER UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF
 THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND COMMUNITY SUPERVISION, AND WOULD  HAVE
 BEEN  ENTITLED TO A SERVICE RETIREMENT BENEFIT AT THE TIME OF HIS OR HER
 DEATH AND WHERE HIS OR HER DEATH OCCURS ON  OR  AFTER  JULY  FIRST,  TWO
 THOUSAND  NINETEEN,  THE  BENEFICIARY  OR  BENEFICIARIES  MAY  ELECT  TO
 RECEIVE, IN A LUMP SUM, AN AMOUNT PAYABLE WHICH SHALL BE  EQUAL  TO  THE
 PENSION  RESERVE THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED HAD THE MEMBER RETIRED
 ON THE DATE OF HIS OR HER DEATH, OR THE VALUE OF THE DEATH  BENEFIT  AND
 THE RESERVE-FOR-INCREASED-TAKE-HOME-PAY, IF ANY, WHICHEVER IS GREATER.
   § 2. Subdivision b of section 508 of the retirement and social securi-
 ty  law,  as  amended  by chapter 476 of the laws of 2018, is amended to
 read as follows:
   b. A member of a retirement system subject to the provisions  of  this
 article who is a police officer, firefighter, correction officer, inves-
 tigator  revised plan member or sanitation worker and is in a plan which
 permits immediate retirement upon completion of a  specified  period  of
 service  without  regard  to  age or who is subject to the provisions of
 section five hundred four or five hundred five of  this  article,  shall
 upon  completion  of  ninety  days  of  service be covered for financial
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD04978-02-9

 S. 2926                             2
 
 protection in the event of death in service pursuant  to  this  subdivi-
 sion.
   1. Such death benefit shall be equal to three times the member's sala-
 ry  raised  to the next highest multiple of one thousand dollars, but in
 no event shall it exceed three times the  maximum  salary  specified  in
 section one hundred thirty of the civil service law or, in the case of a
 member  of  a  retirement system other than the New York city employees'
 retirement system, or in the case of a  member  of  the  New  York  city
 employees'   retirement   system  who  is  a  New  York  city  uniformed
 correction/sanitation revised plan member  or  an  investigator  revised
 plan member, the specific limitations specified for age of entrance into
 service  contained  in subparagraphs (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) of para-
 graph two of subdivision a of this section.
   2. PROVIDED FURTHER, NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS ARTI-
 CLE TO THE CONTRARY, WHERE A MEMBER IS IN A TITLE AS DEFINED IN SUBDIVI-
 SION I OF SECTION EIGHTY-NINE OF THIS CHAPTER UNDER THE JURISDICTION  OF
 THE  DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND COMMUNITY SUPERVISION, AND WOULD HAVE
 BEEN ENTITLED TO A SERVICE RETIREMENT BENEFIT AT THE TIME OF HIS OR  HER
 DEATH  AND  WHERE  HIS  OR  HER DEATH OCCURS ON OR AFTER JULY FIRST, TWO
 THOUSAND  NINETEEN,  THE  BENEFICIARY  OR  BENEFICIARIES  MAY  ELECT  TO
 RECEIVE,  IN  A  LUMP SUM, AN AMOUNT PAYABLE WHICH SHALL BE EQUAL TO THE
 PENSION RESERVE THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED HAD THE MEMBER  RETIRED
 ON  THE  DATE OF HIS OR HER DEATH, OR THE VALUE OF THE DEATH BENEFIT AND
 THE RESERVE-FOR-INCREASED-TAKE-HOME-PAY, IF ANY, WHICHEVER IS GREATER.
   § 3. This act shall take effect  immediately  and  shall  expire  five
 years after the date on which it shall have become a law.
   FISCAL NOTE. -- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill  would  modify  the  in-service  death  benefit for tiers 2
 through 6 state correction officers. The in-service death  benefit  will
 be  the  value  of  the  pension reserve as if the member had retired on
 their date of death. The provision is scheduled  to  expire  five  years
 after the date it is enacted.
   If  such  a  proposal  is enacted during the 2019 legislative session,
 there will be a past service cost of $13.1 million, which would be borne
 by the state of New York as a one-time payment. This estimate  is  based
 on the assumption that payment will be made on March 1, 2020.
   If  this  provision is extended or made permanent by subsequent legis-
 lation, there would be additional costs.
   These  estimated  costs  are  based  on  approximately  20,700   state
 correction  officers  with  a  total annual salary of approximately $1.5
 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018.
   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, 2018 actuarial valu-
 ation.  Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the  2018
 Report  of  the  Actuary  and  the  2018  Comprehensive Annual Financial
 Report.
   The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2015,
 2016,  2017  and  2018  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, 2018
 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.

 S. 2926                             3
 
   This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the  viability
 of  the  proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for
 the professional judgment of an attorney.
   This  estimate,  dated  January  29,  2019,  and intended for use only
 during the  2019  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2019-37,
 prepared  by  the  Actuary  for  the New York State and Local Retirement
 System.