S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   10037
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              April 29, 2022
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Governmental Employees
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend the retirement and social security law, the education
   law and the administrative code of the city of New York,  in  relation
   to providing cost-of-living adjustments
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision g of section 78-a of the retirement and  social
 security law, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to
 read as follows:
   g. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, EFFECTIVE THE FIRST DAY
 OF  SEPTEMBER,  TWO  THOUSAND  TWENTY-THREE,  the  surviving spouse of a
 deceased retired member who retired under an option which provides  that
 benefits  are to be continued for life to the surviving spouse after the
 death of the retired member,  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  benefits
 pursuant  to  this  section.  Said benefits shall be [fifty] ONE HUNDRED
 percent of the monthly benefits which the pensioner would  be  receiving
 pursuant  to  this  section  if  living,  and  shall commence (i) with a
 payment for the month of September, two thousand TWENTY-THREE,  or  (ii)
 the  month following the death of the deceased retired member, whichever
 is later.
   § 2. Subdivision g of section 378-a of the retirement and social secu-
 rity law, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of  2000,  is  amended  to
 read as follows:
   g. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, EFFECTIVE THE FIRST DAY
 OF  SEPTEMBER,  TWO  THOUSAND  TWENTY-THREE,  the  surviving spouse of a
 deceased retired member who retired under an option which provides  that
 benefits  are to be continued for life to the surviving spouse after the
 death of the retired member,  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  benefits
 pursuant  to  this  section.  Said benefits shall be [fifty] ONE HUNDRED
 percent of the monthly benefits which the pensioner would  be  receiving
 pursuant  to  this  section  if  living,  and  shall commence (i) with a
 payment for the month of September, two thousand TWENTY-THREE,  or  (ii)
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD09819-07-2
              

 A. 10037                            2
 
 the  month following the death of the deceased retired member, whichever
 is later.
   §  3. Subdivision g of section 532-a of the education law, as added by
 chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as follows:
   g. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, EFFECTIVE THE FIRST DAY
 OF SEPTEMBER, TWO THOUSAND  TWENTY-THREE,  the  surviving  spouse  of  a
 deceased  retired member who retired under an option which provides that
 benefits are to be continued for life to the surviving spouse after  the
 death  of  the  retired  member,  shall  be entitled to receive benefits
 pursuant to this section. Said benefits shall  be  [fifty]  ONE  HUNDRED
 percent  of  the monthly benefits which the pensioner would be receiving
 pursuant to this section if  living,  and  shall  commence  (i)  with  a
 payment  for  the month of September, two thousand TWENTY-THREE, or (ii)
 the month following the death of the deceased retired member,  whichever
 is later.
   § 4. Subdivision g of section 13-696 of the administrative code of the
 city  of  New  York,  as  added  by  chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is
 amended to read as follows:
   g. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, EFFECTIVE THE FIRST DAY
 OF SEPTEMBER, TWO THOUSAND  TWENTY-THREE,  the  surviving  spouse  of  a
 deceased  retired  member  of  the  New  York city employees' retirement
 system, the New York city teachers' retirement system, the New York city
 police pension fund, the New York city fire department pension  fund  or
 the New York city board of education retirement system who retired under
 an  option  which provides that benefits are to be continued for life to
 the surviving spouse after the death of the member, shall be entitled to
 receive a benefit pursuant  to  this  section.  Said  benefit  shall  be
 [fifty]  ONE  HUNDRED percent of the monthly benefit which the pensioner
 would be receiving if living, and shall commence (i) with a payment  for
 the  month  of  September,  two thousand TWENTY-THREE, or (ii) the month
 following the death of the deceased retired member, whichever is later.
   § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE. -- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would provide an increase in the  defined  benefit  cost-of-
 living  adjustment (COLA) for New York public retirement systems. Start-
 ing with a payment in September 2023, the cost-of-living benefit payable
 to a surviving spouse who is eligible for COLA will  be  increased  from
 fifty  percent  to one hundred percent of the benefit that the pensioner
 would have received.
   Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and  Local  Employees'
 Retirement  System,  pursuant to Section 25 of the Retirement and Social
 Security Law, the increased costs would be borne entirely by  the  State
 of  New  York  and would require an itemized appropriation sufficient to
 pay the cost of the provision. If this bill were enacted,  the  increase
 in the present value of benefits would be approximately $1.4 billion.
   Insofar  as  this bill affects the New York State and Local Police and
 Fire Retirement System (PFRS), the increased costs would  be  shared  by
 the  State  of  New York and the participating employers in the PFRS. If
 this bill were enacted, the increase in the present  value  of  benefits
 would be approximately $150 million. The estimated first year cost would
 be approximately $3.0 million to the State of New York and approximately
 $11 million to the participating employers in the PFRS.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership  data as of March 31, 2021 was used in measuring the impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2021 actuari-
 al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the
 A. 10037                            3
 
 2021  Report  of the Actuary and the 2021 Comprehensive Annual Financial
 Report.
   The  actuarial  assumptions and methods used are described in the 2020
 and 2021 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, 2021
 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  14,  2022,  and intended for use only
 during the  2022  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2022-50,
 prepared  by  the  Actuary  for  the New York State and Local Retirement
 System.