Allows the New York State and local employees' retirement system to posthumously establish a service retirement for Gustin L. Reichbach and extends the time in which the administrator of his estate may apply to obtain service credit for his service as a judge with the United Nations administration mission in Kosovo.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A4986A
SPONSOR: Millman
 
TITLE OF BILL: An act to allow the New York state and local employ-
ees' retirement system to posthumously establish a service retirement
for Gustin L. Reichbach; and to amend chapter 43 of the laws of 2012,
relating to allowing Gustin L. Reichbach to obtain service credit for
his service as a judge with the United Nations administration mission in
Kosovo, in relation to the filing requirements for such service credit
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: This bill would deem the service
retirement application filed by Gustin L. Reichbach to have taken effect
one day before the date of his death. In addition, this bill would allow
the administrator of Gustin L. Reichbach's estate to file for additional
service credit for service rendered as a judge with the United Nations
War Crimes Tribunal in Kosovo from September 1, 2003 through February
27, 2004.
 
JUSTIFICATION: Justice Reichbach was asked to serve on the Kosovo
Supreme Court to preside over war crime trials and appeals in the
after-math of the ethnic conflict in Kosovo by members of a United
Nations Mission to Kosovo. Prior to his decision, he contacted the NYS
Comptroller's Office and received approval of his retirement service
credit for the time he was to serve in Kosovo. Based on this authori-
zation, he agreed to participate on the international court. After
making this commitment and following his departure, the Comptroller's
office notified Justice Reichbach that his approval was made in error
thus disallowing the service credit:
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:; This is new legislation.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: In text of legislation.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE: Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
S. 3760--A A. 4986--A
Cal. No. 223
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
SENATE - ASSEMBLY
February 14, 2013
___________
IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sen. MONTGOMERY -- read twice and ordered
printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil
Service and Pensions -- 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
IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by M. of A. MILLMAN, AUBRY -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees -- advanced to a
third reading, amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place on
the order of third reading
AN ACT to allow the New York state and local employees' retirement
system to posthumously establish a service retirement for Gustin L.
Reichbach; and to amend chapter 43 of the laws of 2012, relating to
allowing Gustin L. Reichbach to obtain service credit for his service
as a judge with the United Nations administration mission in Kosovo,
in relation to the filing requirements for such service credit
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 the service retirement application filed with the New York state and
3 local employees' retirement system by Gustin L. Reichbach, who was
4 employed as a justice of the supreme court, second judicial district,
5 was a member of such retirement system and who died on July 14, 2012
6 prior to the effective date of his retirement, shall be deemed to have
7 taken effect one day before the date of his death. If, within one year
8 from the effective date of this act, the administrator of the estate of
9 Gustin L. Reichbach files a written request for such service retirement
10 with the administrative head of said retirement system. The filing of
11 such a request will constitute a waiver of any rights or benefits to
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06481-04-4
S. 3760--A 2 A. 4986--A
1 Article 15 disability retirement awarded to Gustin L. Reichbach pursuant
2 to section 605 of the retirement and social security law.
3 § 2. Section 1 of chapter 43 of the laws of 2012, relating to allowing
4 Gustin L. Reichbach to obtain service credit for his service as a judge
5 with the United Nations administration mission in Kosovo, is amended to
6 read as follows:
7 Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
8 Gustin L. Reichbach, [currently serving] who died on July 14, 2012, and
9 who served as a justice of the supreme court, second judicial district,
10 and [an active] was a tier 4 member of the New York state and local
11 employees' retirement system, shall be eligible to receive additional
12 service credit for any time not already credited in such system for the
13 period from September 1, 2003 through February 27, 2004, during which
14 period he rendered service as a judge with the United Nations adminis-
15 tration mission in Kosovo. The additional service credit granted, when
16 added to the service already credited, shall not exceed a total of one
17 year of credit for all service rendered in the fiscal year ending March
18 31, 2004. Any increase in benefits resulting from the additional service
19 credit provided by this act shall be retroactive to the date of retire-
20 ment. Such additional credit shall be obtained only if on or before
21 December 31, [2012] 2014, the administrator of the estate of Gustin L.
22 Reichbach files a written request for such service credit with the
23 administrative head of the said retirement system. All costs necessary
24 to finance the granting of this service credit shall be borne by the
25 state of New York.
26 § 3. All costs associated with the implementation of this act shall be
27 borne by the state of New York.
28 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE. -- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would deem the service retirement application filed by
Gustin L. Reichbach, a justice of the Supreme Court, to have taken
affect one day before his date of death. In addition, this bill will
allow the administrator of his estate to file a written request with the
New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System for additional
service credit for service rendered as a judge with the United Nations
War Crimes Tribunal in Kosovo from September 1, 2003 through February
27, 2004.
If this bill is enacted, there will be an immediate past service cost
of approximately $115,000, which would be borne by the State of New York
as a one-time payment. This estimate is based on the assumption that
payment will be made on March 1, 2015.
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, 2013 actuarial valu-
ation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2013
Report of the Actuary and the 2013 Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2010,
2011, 2012 and 2013 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, 2013
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.
S. 3760--A 3 A. 4986--A
This estimate, dated February 13, 2014, and intended for use only
during the 2014 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2014-75,
prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Employees'
Retirement System.