NY State Senate Bill 2025-S4725

Senate Bill S4725

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Authorizes Michael Winston Hoard, the widower of Kathy Marie Dwyer-Hoard, to file a new service retirement application and election form with the New York state and local employees' retirement system

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Civil Service And Pensions Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Feb 12, 2025	referred to civil service and pensions

2025-S4725 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A5670
Current Committee:: Senate Civil Service And Pensions
Law Section:: Retirement
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:: S9631, A10546

2025-S4725 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Authorizes Michael Winston Hoard, the widower of Kathy Marie Dwyer-Hoard, to file a new service retirement application and an option election form on behalf of his deceased wife with the New York state and local employees' retirement system.

2025-S4725 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S4725

SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act in relation to authorizing Michael Winston Hoard, the widower of
Kathy Marie Dwyer-Hoard, to file a new service retirement application
and option election form with the New York state and local employees'
retirement system on behalf of such deceased member

 
PURPOSE:

To authorize Michael Winston Hoard, the widower of Kathy Marie Dwyer-
Hoard, to file a new service retirement application and election form
with the New York state and local employees' retirement system

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Authorizes Michael Winston Hoard, the widower of Kathy Marie
Dwyer-Hoard, who was a member of the New York state and local employees'
the retirement system, to file a new service retirement application and
an option election form on behalf of his deceased wife with a joint

allowance full option.

Section 2: Establishes that additional costs for this act shall be paid
by the state of New York.

Section 3: Sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Currently, members of the State and Local Employees Retirement System
who file a retirement application must wait a minimum of 15 days before
their retirement becomes active. Unfortunately, this waiting period has
led to tragic situations in which members who have submitted their
retirement applications pass away before the application becomes effec-
tive. In such cases, their families are deprived of the pension benefits
they would have been entitled to, instead receiving only the death bene-
fit, which is a significantly lower payment.

One such heartbreaking case involves Kathy Dwyer-Hoard and her husband,
Michael Hoard. Kathy served the State of New York for 38 years. On Octo-
ber 18, 2019, while in her hospital room at Orange Regional Medical
Center in Middletown, NY, Kathy signed her retirement paperwork in the
presence of a notary. The following day, October 19, 2019, her husband
mailed the forms to the New York State and Local Retirement System,
selecting October 21, 2019, as her retirement date. Tragically, Kathy
passed away on October 25, 2019-just eight days before the current law
would have allowed her retirement to become effective.

Kathy's retirement application was not deemed effective because the
required 15-day waiting period had not passed. As a result, her husband,
Michael, was only entitled to the death benefit rather than the pension
benefits Kathy had earned. This bill seeks to rectify this injustice by
allowing Mr. Hoard to receive the full pension benefits he rightfully
deserves, providing some relief during this difficult time.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

Senate

2024: S9631A, Passed Senate

Assembly

A10546: Referred to Governmental Employees

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

See fiscal note

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This shall take effect immediately

2025-S4725 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4725
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 12, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN ACT in relation to authorizing Michael Winston Hoard, the widower  of
   Kathy  Marie Dwyer-Hoard, to file a new service retirement application
   and option election form with the New York state and local  employees'
   retirement system on behalf of such deceased member
 
   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,
 Michael Winston Hoard, the widower of Kathy Marie Dwyer-Hoard, who was a
 member of the New York state and local employees' retirement system, who
 died after she filed the paperwork for retirement but prior to the  date
 her  retirement would have become effective, shall be authorized to file
 a new service retirement application and  an  option  election  form  on
 behalf  of  his  deceased  wife  with a joint allowance full option, if,
 within one year from the effective date of this act, he shall  submit  a
 request  therefor  to  the  state  comptroller. In addition, her date of
 retirement shall be deemed to have been October 21,  2019.    Once  such
 application  is  received,  any rights or benefits to the pre-retirement
 ordinary death benefit payable upon the death of  a  member  in  service
 pursuant  to section 448 of the retirement and social security law shall
 be waived. Any amounts paid by the New York state and  local  employees'
 retirement  system as the result of the death of Kathy Marie Dwyer-Hoard
 prior to the filing of the request  for  a  service  retirement  benefit
 pursuant  to  this section shall be deducted from the service retirement
 benefit payable thereafter.
   § 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:

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00943-03-5
 S. 4725                             2

 
   This  bill  would  authorize  Michael  Winston  Hoard,  the widower of
 deceased member Kathy Marie Dwyer-Hoard, to file a new  service  retire-
 ment application and option election form on behalf of the deceased with
 the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System (NYSLERS). The
 date of retirement will be October 21, 2019, four days prior to the date
 of death of Kathy Marie Dwyer-Hoard. The option election will be a joint
 allowance  full.  Any  rights  and benefits to an ordinary death benefit
 payable upon the death of Kathy Marie Dwyer-Hoard shall be  waived.  Any
 such  death  benefit  paid  by  the NYSLERS prior to the filing of a new
 service retirement application will be deducted from the benefits  paya-
 ble under this legislation.
   If  this  bill  is  enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, there
 will be an immediate past service cost of approximately  $486,000  which
 will be borne by the State of New York as a one-time payment. This esti-
 mate assumes that payment will be made on March 1, 2026.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership  data as of March 31, 2024 was used in measuring the impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2024 actuari-
 al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the
 2024  Report  of the Actuary and the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial
 Report.  The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the
 2024 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, 2024 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements
 and Supplementary Information.
   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  15,  2025,  and intended for use only
 during the 2025 Legislative Session, is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2025-11.  As
 Chief  Actuary  of  the  New  York State and Local Retirement System, I,
 Aaron Schottin Young, hereby certify that this  analysis  complies  with
 applicable  Actuarial  Standards  of  Practice  as  well  as the Code of
 Professional Conduct and Qualification Standards for  Actuaries  Issuing
 Statements of Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of
 which I am a member.

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