S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
3759
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
February 13, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sen. KENNEDY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
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, 2019 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.
§ 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
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,
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03586-02-9
S. 3759 2
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 $257,000 which will be shared by the State of New York
and all participating employers in the New York State and Local Employ-
ees' 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, 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.
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 9, 2019, and intended for use only during
the 2019 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2019-14, prepared by
the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
