S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  4860--A
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 16, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. KENNEDY -- 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  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, 2022 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

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD07653-04-2
              

 S. 4860--A                          2
 
 her deceased husband William James Middlebrooks. The deceased received a
 disability  retirement which was paid beginning on 3/28/2005. Upon death
 all payments ceased because no option election form was filed. By filing
 the  disability  application  and an option election form, an additional
 benefit will be paid for the period beginning on 11/1/04 and  ending  on
 3/28/05,  and  a  benefit  will  continue to Janice Middlebrooks for her
 lifetime.
   If this bill is enacted during the  2022  legislative  session,  there
 will  be an immediate past service cost of $426,000 which will be shared
 by the State of New York and all of the participating employers  in  the
 New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System.
   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 May 23, 2022, and intended for  use  only  during
 the  2022  Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2022-145, prepared by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.