Bill Text: NY A07825 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Authorizes the widow of Peter Sistrom to file a retirement option election on behalf of her deceased husband.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to governmental employees [A07825 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A07825-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7825 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY June 15, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. SIMON -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees AN ACT to authorize the widow of Peter Sistrom to file a retirement option election form on behalf of her deceased husband The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special 2 law, rule or regulation to the contrary, Peter Sistrom, who was last 3 employed by the metropolitan transportation authority and had over twen- 4 ty-eight years of public service credited in the New York state and 5 local employees' retirement system and exceeded the age of sixty-five, 6 shall be deemed eligible for a service retirement benefit, notwithstand- 7 ing the fact that he died on September 10, 2021. On or before one year 8 from the effective date of this act, the spouse of Peter Sistrom, may 9 file with the retirement system an application for service retirement 10 benefits on behalf of Peter Sistrom with an effective date of retirement 11 of September 9, 2021 and an option election form electing to receive 12 retirement benefits pursuant to the terms of the joint allowance full 13 option with Peter Sistrom's spouse as the beneficiary. Once such appli- 14 cation is received, any rights or benefits payable to Peter Sistrom's 15 spouse shall be retroactive to September 9, 2021. The filing of a 16 service retirement application will constitute a waiver of any rights or 17 benefits to the ordinary death benefit payable upon the death of a 18 member in service pursuant to section 508 or 606 of the retirement and 19 social security law. Any amounts paid by the New York state and local 20 employees' retirement system as the result of the death of Peter Sistrom 21 prior to the filing of the request for a service retirement benefit 22 pursuant to this section shall be deducted from the pension reserve and 23 the pension payable thereafter shall be the actuarial equivalent of the 24 pension reserve as so reduced. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD03172-04-3A. 7825 2 1 § 2. All past service costs associated with the implementation of this 2 act shall be borne by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 3 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would deem deceased member Peter Sistrom eligible to receive a service retirement benefit effective September 9, 2021. Peter Sistrom's spouse shall be authorized to file for this service retirement benefit with an option election form electing to receive a joint allow- ance full option. Upon filing of the service application, all rights and benefits to the ordinary death benefits the beneficiary would otherwise be entitled to receive will be waived. Any payments received from such ordinary death benefit will be deducted from the benefits payable under this legislation. If this bill is enacted during the 2023 legislative session, there will be an immediate past service cost of approximately $1.01 million which will be borne by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority as a one-time payment. This estimate assumes that payment will be made on February 1, 2024. Summary of relevant resources: Membership data as of March 31, 2022 was used in measuring the impact of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2022 actuari- al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2022 Report of the Actuary and the 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2020, 2021, and 2022 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assump- tions, 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, 2022 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 7, 2023, and intended for use only during the 2023 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2023-163, prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.