S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
8087
I N S E N A T E
January 25, 2022
___________
Introduced by Sen. KENNEDY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
AN ACT to authorize the widow of Gerald J. Sullivan to file an applica-
tion with the New York state and local police and fire retirement
system on behalf of such deceased member and deem such application as
timely filed
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special
law, rule or regulation to the contrary, Bonnie E. Sullivan is author-
ized to file an application for accidental disability retirement with a
firefighters' cancer disability presumption pursuant to section 363-d of
the retirement and social security law on behalf of her deceased husband
Gerald J. Sullivan who was previously employed by the Buffalo Fire
Department and was a performance of duty disability retiree of the New
York state and local police and fire retirement system since June 1,
2015 pursuant to section 363-c of the retirement and social security law
and passed away from cancer on December 17, 2020. Such application if
filed with the state comptroller within one year of the effective date
of this act shall be deemed as timely filed.
§ 2. Any additional costs for this act shall be paid by the state of
New York.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would authorize Bonnie Sullivan, the widow of Gerald Sulli-
van, to file an application for accidental disability retirement on
behalf of her deceased husband pursuant to section 363-d of the RSSL and
deem such application as timely filed. Mr. Sullivan passed away from
cancer on December 17, 2020. The retirement benefit will be recalculated
and payment will be made retroactive to his date of retirement of June
1, 2015.
If this bill is enacted during the 2022 legislative session and the
accidental disability is granted to Mr. Sullivan as of his date of
retirement, there will be an immediate past service cost of approximate-
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13591-02-2
S. 8087 2
ly $175,000 that would 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, 2023.
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 January 24, 2021, and intended for use only
during the 2022 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2022-55,
prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement
System.
