S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
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5876--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
March 20, 2023
___________
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.
LBD07498-04-4
S. 5876--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.
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 application and option
election form filed by the member with the New York State and Local
Employees' Retirement System (NYSLERS), resulting in payment of a survi-
vor's benefit in lieu of an active death benefit, provided the member is
1) eligible to retire as of the day immediately prior to their death,
2) had died in active service,
3) has filed an application for service retirement less thirty days
prior to their death, and
4) has filed an option election form prior to their death.
If this bill is enacted during the 2024 Legislative Session, the cost
will depend upon the deceased member's age, service, salary, plan, and
the optional form of payment elected by the member. There will be an
estimated additional cost of up to five (5) times the salary of the
deceased member. This cost assumes that the post-retirement death bene-
fit will be payable on behalf of any eligible member only in the event a
survivor's benefit is to be paid. All costs arising would be shared by
the State of New York and all participating employers in the NYSLERS.
Further, we anticipate significant administrative costs to implement
the provisions of this legislation.
The number of members and beneficiaries who could be affected by this
legislation cannot be readily determined. However, it is estimated that
approximately 300 beneficiaries could have benefited from this provision
in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2023 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2023 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2023 Report of the Actuary and the 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2023
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, 2023
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.
S. 5876--A 3
This estimate, dated February 6, 2024, and intended for use only
during the 2024 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2024-68,
prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement
System.
