Bill Text: NY A07553 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Authorizes the beneficiaries of a member of the state and local employees' retirement system who died after filing a retirement application to choose pension benefits rather than a death benefit.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-25 - reported referred to ways and means [A07553 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A07553-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         7553--A

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                       May 9, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  ZEBROWSKI  --  read once and referred to the
          Committee on Governmental  Employees  --  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:

     1    Section 1. Subdivision a of section 70 of the  retirement  and  social
     2  security  law, as amended by chapter 375 of the laws of 2011, is amended
     3  to read as follows:
     4    a. Any member may retire if he or she shall have attained at least the
     5  minimum retirement age while in service as a member, or while in federal
     6  service, or in the service of the United Nations or other  international
     7  organizations  of  which  the  United  States  is  a member, as a member
     8  continued pursuant to paragraph one of subdivision f of section forty of
     9  this article, or while entitled to make application for a vested retire-
    10  ment allowance pursuant to section seventy-six of this title.  Any  such
    11  member desiring to retire shall execute and file with the comptroller an
    12  application  for  retirement,  which shall specify the effective date of
    13  his or her retirement, which shall be not less  than  fifteen  nor  more
    14  than  ninety  days subsequent to such date of filing. An application for
    15  service retirement, filed hereunder in accordance with the provisions of
    16  subdivision c of section sixty-two or subdivision f  of  section  sixty-
    17  three  of  this  article,  shall  be  processed  in  the regular manner,
    18  provided that if the application filed  simultaneously  therewith  under
    19  either  of  such  subdivisions  is  granted,  then and in that event the
    20  retirement allowance granted in accordance with the provisions  of  this
    21  section  shall  be  appropriately  adjusted.  Notwithstanding  any other
    22  provision of law, for any member who is eligible to retire and  who  has
    23  died  while  in  active  service,  and  who has filed an application for
    24  service retirement less than thirty days prior to  death,  the  member's

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD11209-08-9
        A. 7553--A                          2

     1  active  beneficiary shall have the option to choose the death benefit or
     2  if such member filed an option election form prior to death, the benefit
     3  elected by the member on such form, in which case  the  member  will  be
     4  deemed to have retired the day prior to death.
     5    §  2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none
     6  of the provisions of this act shall be subject  to  section  25  of  the
     7  retirement and social security law.
     8    §  3.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to
     9  have been in full force and effect on and after January 1, 2017.
          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 and option election form
        filed by the member, resulting in payment of  a  survivor's  benefit  in
        lieu  of  the  member's active death benefit, provided the member is (1)
        eligible to retire (on the day before the date of death), (2)  has  died
        in  active  service, (3) has filed an application for service retirement
        less than thirty days prior to  death,  and  (4)  has  filed  an  option
        election  form  prior  to  death.  The  date used for the deemed service
        retirement will be the day prior to the member's death. This  bill  will
        include deaths which occurred on or after January 1, 2017.
          If  this  bill  is  enacted,  the  cost  will depend upon the deceased
        member's age, service, salary, pan, and the optional  form  selected  by
        the member on the option election form filed with the New York State and
        Local  Employees'  Retirement  System  (NYSLERS).  For standard options,
        there will be an estimated additional cost of up to five (5)  times  the
        salary  of a deceased member. This cost assumes that the post-retirement
        death benefit will be payable on behalf of eligible  members  only  when
        the service retirement form is selected.
          The  number of members and beneficiaries who could be affected by this
        legislation cannot be readily  determined,  but  it  is  estimated  that
        approximately  450  beneficiaries could benefit from this provision each
        year. Those costs arising would be shared and spread by the State of New
        York and the participating employers in NYSLERS.
          In addition to the per person costs stated above,  there  will  be  an
        administrative cost to implement the provisions of this legislation.
          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.
          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 June 12, 2019, and intended for use only during
        the 2019 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2019-140,  prepared  by
        the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.