S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6515
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              March 19, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  M. MILLER  --  read once and referred to the
   Committee on Governmental Employees
 
 AN ACT to authorize the widow of Howard  Mahler  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,
 Robin Garfinkle, the widow of Howard Mahler, who  was  employed  by  the
 Office  of  Alcoholism  and Substance Abuse Services and was a member of
 the New York state and local employees' retirement system, and who  died
 on December 23, 2014 prior to filing a retirement election form with the
 New York state and local employees' retirement system and after 28 years
 and  11 months of state service, 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 one year after the effective date of this
 act she shall submit a request therefor to  the  state  comptroller.  In
 addition,  Howard  Mahler's  date  of retirement shall be deemed to have
 been December 22, 2014.
   § 2. All costs shall be borne by the state of New York, and the amount
 payable to Robin Garfinkle shall  be  the  full  amount  otherwise  owed
 pursuant  to  the provisions of this act, except any amounts paid by the
 New York state and local employees' retirement system as the  result  of
 the  death  of  Howard  Mahler  prior to the filing of the request for a
 service retirement benefit pursuant to this act shall be  deducted  from
 the service retirement benefit payable thereafter.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE-- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill  would deem Howard Mahler eligible for a service retirement
 benefit effective December 22, 2014, notwithstanding the  fact  that  he
 died  on  December 23, 2014.   Robin Garfinkle, the widow of Mr. Mahler,
 shall be authorized to file a service retirement application with a date

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

                                                            LBD03621-02-1

 A. 6515                             2
 
 of retirement of December 22, 2014 and an option election form selecting
 the joint allowance full option on behalf of her deceased  husband.  The
 amount  paid  to Ms. Garfinkle shall be less any sums previously paid by
 the retirement system to any beneficiary of Mr.  Mahler.
   If  this bill is enacted, there will be an immediate past service cost
 of approximately $1.01 million which will 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, 2022.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership data as of March 31, 2020 was used in measuring the  impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2020 actuari-
 al  valuation.    Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
 2020 Report of the Actuary and the 2020 Comprehensive  Annual  Financial
 Report.
   The  actuarial  assumptions and methods used are described in the 2020
 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, 2020
 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  December  28,  2020, and intended for use only
 during the 2021 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2021-2, prepared
 by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.