S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  4411--A
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 4, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
   -- recommitted to the Committee  on  Civil  Service  and  Pensions  in
   accordance  with  Senate  Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
   amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said  commit-
   tee
 
 AN  ACT  to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
   authorizing the beneficiaries of a  member  of  the  state  and  local
   employees'  retirement system who die after filing a retirement appli-
   cation to choose pension benefits rather than a death benefit
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision  a of section 70 of the retirement and social
 security law, as amended by chapter 375 of the laws of 2011, is  amended
 to read as follows:
   a. Any member may retire if he or she shall have attained at least the
 minimum retirement age while in service as a member, or while in federal
 service,  or in the service of the United Nations or other international
 organizations of which the United  States  is  a  member,  as  a  member
 continued pursuant to paragraph one of subdivision f of section forty of
 this article, or while entitled to make application for a vested retire-
 ment  allowance  pursuant to section seventy-six of this title. Any such
 member desiring to retire shall execute and file with the comptroller an
 application for retirement, which shall specify the  effective  date  of
 his  or  her  retirement,  which shall be not less than fifteen nor more
 than ninety days subsequent to such date of filing. An  application  for
 service retirement, filed hereunder in accordance with the provisions of
 subdivision  c  of  section sixty-two or subdivision f of section sixty-
 three of this  article,  shall  be  processed  in  the  regular  manner,
 provided  that  if  the application filed simultaneously therewith under
 either of such subdivisions is granted,  then  and  in  that  event  the

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD05866-03-2
              

 S. 4411--A                          2
 
 retirement  allowance  granted in accordance with the provisions of this
 section shall  be  appropriately  adjusted.  NOTWITHSTANDING  ANY  OTHER
 PROVISION  OF  LAW, FOR ANY MEMBER WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO RETIRE AND WHO HAS
 DIED  WHILE  IN  ACTIVE  SERVICE,  AND  WHO HAS FILED AN APPLICATION FOR
 SERVICE RETIREMENT LESS THAN THIRTY DAYS PRIOR TO  DEATH,  THE  MEMBER'S
 ACTIVE  BENEFICIARY SHALL HAVE THE OPTION TO CHOOSE THE DEATH BENEFIT OR
 IF SUCH MEMBER FILED AN OPTION ELECTION FORM PRIOR TO DEATH, THE BENEFIT
 ELECTED BY THE MEMBER ON SUCH FORM, IN WHICH CASE  THE  MEMBER  WILL  BE
 DEEMED TO HAVE RETIRED THE DAY PRIOR TO DEATH.
   §  2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none
 of the provisions of this act shall be subject  to  section  25  of  the
 retirement and social security law.
   §  3.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to
 have been in full force and effect on and after January 1, 2017.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would allow a deceased member's active death beneficiary the
 option to make effective the service retirement and option election form
 filed by the member, resulting in payment of  a  survivor's  benefit  in
 lieu  of  the  member's  active death benefit, provided the member is 1)
 eligible to retire (on the day before the date of death), 2) has died in
 active service, 3) has FILED an application for service retirement  less
 than  thirty  days  prior  to death, and 4) has FILED an option election
 form prior to death. The date used for  the  deemed  service  retirement
 will  be  the  day  prior  to the member's death. This bill will include
 deaths which occurred on or after January 1, 2017.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2022 legislative session, the  cost
 will  depend  upon the deceased member's age, service, salary, plan, and
 the optional form selected by the member on  the  option  election  form
 filed   with   the  New  York  State  and  Local  EmployeesÆ  Retirement
 System(NYSLERS).  For standard options, there will be an estimated addi-
 tional cost of up to five (5) times the salary  of  a  deceased  member.
 This cost assumes that the post-retirement death benefit will be payable
 on  behalf  of  eligible  members  when  the  service retirement form is
 selected but not when the active death benefit form is selected.
   The number of members and beneficiaries who could be affected by  this
 legislation  cannot  be  readily  determined,  but  it is estimated that
 approximately 450 beneficiaries could benefit from this  provision  each
 year. Those costs arising would be shared and spread by the State of New
 York and the participating employers in NYSLERS.
   In  addition  to  the  per  person  costs  stated above, there will be
 significant administrative costs to implement  the  provisions  of  this
 legislation.
   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.
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   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 March 11, 2022, and intended for use only during
 the 2022 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No.  2022-83,  prepared  by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.