STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         5763--C

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                      May 14, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sens.  SKOUFIS,  ADDABBO,  BIAGGI,  CARLUCCI, GOUNARDES,
          HARCKHAM, RITCHIE -- 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 -- reported favorably from said commit-
          tee, ordered to first and second report, ordered to a  third  reading,
          passed  by Senate and delivered to the Assembly, recalled, vote recon-
          sidered, restored to third reading,  amended  and  ordered  reprinted,
          retaining  its  place  in the order of third reading -- recommitted to
          the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions in accordance with  Senate
          Rule  6,  sec.  8  --  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

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD11209-11-0

        S. 5763--C                          2

     1  than  ninety  days subsequent to such date of filing. An application for
     2  service retirement, filed hereunder in accordance with the provisions of
     3  subdivision c of section sixty-two or subdivision f  of  section  sixty-
     4  three  of  this  article,  shall  be  processed  in  the regular manner,
     5  provided that if the application filed  simultaneously  therewith  under
     6  either  of  such  subdivisions  is  granted,  then and in that event the
     7  retirement allowance granted in accordance with the provisions  of  this
     8  section  shall  be  appropriately  adjusted.  Notwithstanding  any other
     9  provision of law, for any member who is eligible to retire and  who  has
    10  died  while  in  active  service,  and  who has filed an application for
    11  service retirement less than thirty days prior to  death,  the  member's
    12  active  beneficiary shall have the option to choose the death benefit or
    13  if such member filed an option election form prior to death, the benefit
    14  elected by the member on such form, in which case  the  member  will  be
    15  deemed to have retired the day prior to death.
    16    §  2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none
    17  of the provisions of this act shall be subject  to  section  25  of  the
    18  retirement and social security law.
    19    §  3.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to
    20  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, plan, 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, 2019  actuarial  valu-
        ation.    Distributions  and  other  statistics can be found in the 2019
        Report of the  Actuary  and  the  2019  Comprehensive  Annual  Financial
        Report.
          The  actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015,
        2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial
        Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules, and Regulations of the State  of  New
        York: Audit and Control.

        S. 5763--C                          3

          The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2019
        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  January  28,  2020,  and intended for use only
        during the  2020  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2020-45,
        prepared  by  the  Actuary  for  the New York State and Local Retirement
        System.