Bill Text: NY S05763 | 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: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-1)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-03-10 - REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE [S05763 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S05763-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         5763--A

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                      May 14, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
          -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered  reprinted  as  amended
          and recommitted to said committee

        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

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD11209-03-9
        S. 5763--A                          2

     1  provision  of law, any member who is eligible to retire and who has died
     2  while in active service, and who has filed an  application  for  service
     3  retirement less than thirty days prior to death, shall be deemed to have
     4  retired and the member's designated beneficiary shall have the option to
     5  choose  the benefit provided by service retirement rather than the death
     6  benefit, provided, however that if the designated beneficiary elects the
     7  service retirement benefit such person shall be required  to  choose  an
     8  option under section ninety of this article.
     9    §  2.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to
    10  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 designated  beneficiary  the
        option  to  choose the survivor's benefit provided by service retirement
        or the member's active death benefit, provided the member is (1)  eligi-
        ble  to  retire  (on  the day before the date of death), (2) has died in
        active service, and (3) has filed an application for service  retirement
        less  than  thirty  days  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, plan, and the optional form  selected  by
        the member's designated beneficiary. For certain alternative options, as
        permitted  under the Retirement and Social Security Law §90, §447, §514,
        and §610, there will be an estimated additional cost of up to eight  (8)
        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  250  beneficiaries could benefit from this provision each
        year. Pursuant to Section 25 of the Retirement and Social Security  Law,
        those costs arising would be borne solely by the State of New York.
          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 April 30, 2019, and intended for use only  during
        the  2019  Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2019-104, prepared by
        the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.