Bill Text: NY A06598 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Relates to death benefits for certain members under the jurisdiction of the department of corrections and community supervision.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to governmental employees [A06598 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A06598-Introduced.html


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          6598
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                     March 12, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  M.  of A. JONES, WEPRIN -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Governmental Employees
        AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
          death  benefits  for  certain members; and providing for the repeal of
          such provisions upon expiration thereof
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  Subdivision b of section 448 of the retirement and social
     2  security law is amended by adding a new paragraph 3 to read as follows:
     3    3. Provided further, notwithstanding any other provision of this arti-
     4  cle to the contrary, where a member is in a title as defined in subdivi-
     5  sion i of section eighty-nine of this chapter under the jurisdiction  of
     6  the  department of corrections and community supervision, and would have
     7  been entitled to a service retirement benefit at the time of his or  her
     8  death  and  where  his  or  her death occurs on or after July first, two
     9  thousand  nineteen,  the  beneficiary  or  beneficiaries  may  elect  to
    10  receive,  in  a  lump sum, an amount payable which shall be equal to the
    11  pension reserve that would have been established had the member  retired
    12  on  the  date of his or her death, or the value of the death benefit and
    13  the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if any, whichever is greater.
    14    § 2. Subdivision b of section 508 of the retirement and social securi-
    15  ty law, as amended by chapter 476 of the laws of  2018,  is  amended  to
    16  read as follows:
    17    b.  A  member of a retirement system subject to the provisions of this
    18  article who is a police officer, firefighter, correction officer, inves-
    19  tigator revised plan member or sanitation worker and is in a plan  which
    20  permits  immediate  retirement  upon completion of a specified period of
    21  service without regard to age or who is subject  to  the  provisions  of
    22  section  five  hundred  four or five hundred five of this article, shall
    23  upon completion of ninety days  of  service  be  covered  for  financial
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04978-02-9

        A. 6598                             2
     1  protection  in  the  event of death in service pursuant to this subdivi-
     2  sion.
     3    1. Such death benefit shall be equal to three times the member's sala-
     4  ry  raised  to the next highest multiple of one thousand dollars, but in
     5  no event shall it exceed three times the  maximum  salary  specified  in
     6  section one hundred thirty of the civil service law or, in the case of a
     7  member  of  a  retirement system other than the New York city employees'
     8  retirement system, or in the case of a  member  of  the  New  York  city
     9  employees'   retirement   system  who  is  a  New  York  city  uniformed
    10  correction/sanitation revised plan member  or  an  investigator  revised
    11  plan member, the specific limitations specified for age of entrance into
    12  service  contained  in subparagraphs (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) of para-
    13  graph two of subdivision a of this section.
    14    2. Provided further, notwithstanding any other provision of this arti-
    15  cle to the contrary, where a member is in a title as defined in subdivi-
    16  sion i of section eighty-nine of this chapter under the jurisdiction  of
    17  the  department of corrections and community supervision, and would have
    18  been entitled to a service retirement benefit at the time of his or  her
    19  death  and  where  his  or  her death occurs on or after July first, two
    20  thousand  nineteen,  the  beneficiary  or  beneficiaries  may  elect  to
    21  receive,  in  a  lump sum, an amount payable which shall be equal to the
    22  pension reserve that would have been established had the member  retired
    23  on  the  date of his or her death, or the value of the death benefit and
    24  the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if any, whichever is greater.
    25    § 3. This act shall take effect  immediately  and  shall  expire  five
    26  years after the date on which it shall have become a law.
          FISCAL NOTE. -- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          This  bill  would  modify  the  in-service  death  benefit for tiers 2
        through 6 state correction officers. The in-service death  benefit  will
        be  the  value  of  the  pension reserve as if the member had retired on
        their date of death. The provision is scheduled  to  expire  five  years
        after the date it is enacted.
          If  such  a  proposal  is enacted during the 2019 legislative session,
        there will be a past service cost of $13.1 million, which 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, 2020.
          If  this  provision is extended or made permanent by subsequent legis-
        lation, there would be additional costs.
          These  estimated  costs  are  based  on  approximately  20,700   state
        correction  officers  with  a  total annual salary of approximately $1.5
        billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018.
          Summary of relevant resources:
          The membership data used in  measuring  the  impact  of  the  proposed
        change  was  the same as that used in the March 31, 2018 actuarial valu-
        ation.  Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the  2018
        Report  of  the  Actuary  and  the  2018  Comprehensive Annual Financial
        Report.
          The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2015,
        2016,  2017  and  2018  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, 2018
        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.

        A. 6598                             3
          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  29,  2019,  and intended for use only
        during the  2019  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2019-37,
        prepared  by  the  Actuary  for  the New York State and Local Retirement
        System.
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