S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9670
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              March 28, 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, in relation to
   providing certain death benefits to  correction  officers,  correction
   officer-sergeants,  correction  officer-captains,  assistant  wardens,
   associate wardens or wardens employed by Westchester county

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Section 89-e of the retirement and social security law is
 amended by adding a new subdivision k to read as follows:
   K. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY PROVISION OF  LAW  TO  THE  CONTRARY,  WHERE  A
 CORRECTION  OFFICER  WOULD HAVE BEEN ENTITLED TO RETIRE PURSUANT TO THIS
 SECTION AT THE TIME OF HIS OR HER DEATH  AND  WHERE  HIS  OR  HER  DEATH
 OCCURS  ON OR AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE CHAPTER OF THE LAWS OF TWO
 THOUSAND TWENTY-TWO THAT ADDED  THIS  SUBDIVISION,  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  ESTAB-
 LISHED  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. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new
 section 606-c to read as follows:
   §  606-C. DEATH BENEFITS FOR CORRECTION OFFICERS EMPLOYED BY WESTCHES-
 TER COUNTY. A. AS USED IN THIS SECTION, THE  TERM  "CORRECTION  OFFICER"
 SHALL  MEAN  A  PERSON  EMPLOYED  BY  THE  WESTCHESTER COUNTY CORRECTION
 DEPARTMENT WITH A TITLE OF CORRECTION OFFICER,  CORRECTION  OFFICER-SER-
 GEANT, CORRECTION OFFICER-CAPTAIN, ASSISTANT WARDEN, ASSOCIATE WARDEN OR
 WARDEN.
   B.  NOTWITHSTANDING  ANY  PROVISION  OF  LAW  TO THE CONTRARY, WHERE A
 CORRECTION OFFICER 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 THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE CHAPTER OF THE LAWS OF  TWO
 THOUSAND  TWENTY-TWO THAT ADDED THIS SECTION, THE BENEFICIARY OR BENEFI-
 CIARIES MAY ELECT TO RECEIVE, IN A LUMP SUM,  AN  AMOUNT  PAYABLE  WHICH
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD14541-02-2
 A. 9670                             2
 
 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.  All  past  service  costs  associated  with  implementing  the
 provisions of this act shall be borne by the county of  Westchester  and
 may be amortized over a period of ten years.
   §  4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none
 of the provisions of this act shall  be  subject  to  the  appropriation
 requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
   § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill  would  modify  the  in-service  death  benefit for tiers 2
 through 6 Westchester County 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.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2022 legislative session, we antic-
 ipate that there will be an increase of  approximately  $93,000  in  the
 annual  contributions  of  Westchester County for the fiscal year ending
 March 31, 2023. In future years, this cost  will  vary  as  the  billing
 rates and salary of the affected members change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an  immediate  past service cost of approximately $681,000 which will be
 borne by Westchester County as a  one-time  payment.  This  estimate  is
 based  on  the assumption that payment will be made on February 1, 2023.
 If Westchester County elects to amortize this cost over a 10-year  peri-
 od, the cost for the first year including interest would be $87,000.
   These  estimated  costs  are based on 776 affected members employed by
 the State of New York, with annual salary of approximately $88.3 million
 as of March 31, 2021.
   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
 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  February  25,  2022, and intended for use only
 during the 2022 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2022-77 Revised,
 prepared by the Actuary for the New  York  State  and  Local  Retirement
 System.