NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7336
SPONSOR: Brown E TITLE OF BILL:
An act to authorize the widow of Howard Mahler to file a retirement
option election form
PURPOSE:
To allow Robin Garfinkle to file an option election form on behalf of
her deceased husband Howard Mahler.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
Robin Garfinkle, the widow of Howard Mahler, who was employed by the
Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services and was a member of
the New York state and local employees' retirement system, and who died
on December 23, 2014 prior to filing a retirement election form with the
New York state and local employees' retirement system and after 28 years
and 11 months of state service, shall be authorized to file such option
election form on behalf of her deceased husband with a joint allowance
full option, if on or before one year after the effective date of this
act she shall submit a request therefor to the state comptroller. In
addition, Howard Mahler's date of retirement shall be deemed to have
been December 22, 2014.
§ 2. All costs shall be borne by the state of New York, and the amount
payable to Robin Garfinkle shall be thP full amount otherwise owed
pursuant to the provisions of this act, except any amounts paid by the
New York state and local employees' retirement system as the result of
the death of Howard Mahler prior to the filing of the request for a
service retirement benefit pursuant to this act shall be deducted from
the service retirement benefit payable thereafter.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
JUSTIFICATION:
This act is designed to provide financial assistance to the widow of
Howard Mahler, who was employed by the Office of Alcoholism and
Substance. Abuse Services and a member of the NYS and local employees'
retirement system. Mr. Mahler died on December 23, 2014 prior to filing
a retirement election form with New York state and local employees'
retirement system. This bill allows Robin Garfinkle to file an option
election form on behalf of her deceased husband with a joint allowance
full option with a retirement date of December 2 2, 2014. If this bill
is enacted, an immediate past service cost of $946,000 borne by New York
State will be paid to Robin Garfinkle.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: A.5676a-amend and recommit to governmental employees;
2021-2022: A.6515-referred to Governmental Employees;
2019-2020: A.7059-referred to Governmental Employees
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would
deem Howard Mahler retired effective December 22, 2014, notwithstanding
their death on December 23, 2014. Robin Garfinkle, the widow of Howard
Mahler, would be authorized to file an option election form selecting
the joint allowance full option on behalf of their deceased husband. The
amount paid to Robin Garfinkle shall be reduced by any sums previously
paid by the New York State and Local Retirement System to any benefici-
ary of Howard Mahler.
If this bill is enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, there will
be an immediate past service cost of approximately $1.33 million which
will be borne by the State of New York as a one-time payment. This
estimate assumes that payment will be made on March 1, 2026. Summary of
relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2024 was used in measuring the impact of
the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2024 actuarial
valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2024
Report of the Actuary and the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial
Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the
2024 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, 2024 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements
and Supplementary Information.
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 March 19, 2025, and intended for use only during
the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-94. As Chief Actu-
ary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, I, Aaron Schottin
Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with applicable Actu-
arial Standards of Practice as well as the Code of Professional Conduct
and Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuari-
al Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of which I am a member.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7336
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 25, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. E. BROWN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to authorize the widow of Howard Mahler to file a retirement
option election form
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
2 Robin Garfinkle, the widow of Howard Mahler, who was employed by the
3 Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services and was a member of
4 the New York state and local employees' retirement system, and who died
5 on December 23, 2014 prior to filing a retirement election form with the
6 New York state and local employees' retirement system and after 28 years
7 and 11 months of state service, shall be authorized to file such option
8 election form on behalf of her deceased husband with a joint allowance
9 full option, if on or before one year after the effective date of this
10 act she shall submit a request therefor to the state comptroller. In
11 addition, Howard Mahler's date of retirement shall be deemed to have
12 been December 22, 2014.
13 § 2. All costs shall be borne by the state of New York, and the amount
14 payable to Robin Garfinkle shall be the full amount otherwise owed
15 pursuant to the provisions of this act, except any amounts paid by the
16 New York state and local employees' retirement system as the result of
17 the death of Howard Mahler prior to the filing of the request for a
18 service retirement benefit pursuant to this act shall be deducted from
19 the service retirement benefit payable thereafter.
20 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would deem Howard Mahler retired effective December 22,
2014, notwithstanding their death on December 23, 2014. Robin Garfinkle,
the widow of Howard Mahler, would be authorized to file an option
election form selecting the joint allowance full option on behalf of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04681-02-5
A. 7336 2
their deceased husband. The amount paid to Robin Garfinkle shall be
reduced by any sums previously paid by the New York State and Local
Retirement System to any beneficiary of Howard Mahler.
If this bill is enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, there
will be an immediate past service cost of approximately $1.33 million
which will be borne by the State of New York as a one-time payment. This
estimate assumes that payment will be made on March 1, 2026.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2024 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2024 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2024 Report of the Actuary and the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial
Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the
2024 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, 2024 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements
and Supplementary Information.
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 March 19, 2025, and intended for use only during
the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-94. As Chief Actu-
ary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, I, Aaron Schottin
Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with applicable Actu-
arial Standards of Practice as well as the Code of Professional Conduct
and Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuari-
al Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of which I am a member.
