STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10037
IN ASSEMBLY
April 29, 2022
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, the education
law and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation
to providing cost-of-living adjustments
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision g of section 78-a of the retirement and social
2 security law, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 g. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, effective the first day
5 of September, two thousand twenty-three, the surviving spouse of a
6 deceased retired member who retired under an option which provides that
7 benefits are to be continued for life to the surviving spouse after the
8 death of the retired member, shall be entitled to receive benefits
9 pursuant to this section. Said benefits shall be [fifty] one hundred
10 percent of the monthly benefits which the pensioner would be receiving
11 pursuant to this section if living, and shall commence (i) with a
12 payment for the month of September, two thousand twenty-three, or (ii)
13 the month following the death of the deceased retired member, whichever
14 is later.
15 § 2. Subdivision g of section 378-a of the retirement and social secu-
16 rity law, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to
17 read as follows:
18 g. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, effective the first day
19 of September, two thousand twenty-three, the surviving spouse of a
20 deceased retired member who retired under an option which provides that
21 benefits are to be continued for life to the surviving spouse after the
22 death of the retired member, shall be entitled to receive benefits
23 pursuant to this section. Said benefits shall be [fifty] one hundred
24 percent of the monthly benefits which the pensioner would be receiving
25 pursuant to this section if living, and shall commence (i) with a
26 payment for the month of September, two thousand twenty-three, or (ii)
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09819-07-2
A. 10037 2
1 the month following the death of the deceased retired member, whichever
2 is later.
3 § 3. Subdivision g of section 532-a of the education law, as added by
4 chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as follows:
5 g. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, effective the first day
6 of September, two thousand twenty-three, the surviving spouse of a
7 deceased retired member who retired under an option which provides that
8 benefits are to be continued for life to the surviving spouse after the
9 death of the retired member, shall be entitled to receive benefits
10 pursuant to this section. Said benefits shall be [fifty] one hundred
11 percent of the monthly benefits which the pensioner would be receiving
12 pursuant to this section if living, and shall commence (i) with a
13 payment for the month of September, two thousand twenty-three, or (ii)
14 the month following the death of the deceased retired member, whichever
15 is later.
16 § 4. Subdivision g of section 13-696 of the administrative code of the
17 city of New York, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is
18 amended to read as follows:
19 g. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, effective the first day
20 of September, two thousand twenty-three, the surviving spouse of a
21 deceased retired member of the New York city employees' retirement
22 system, the New York city teachers' retirement system, the New York city
23 police pension fund, the New York city fire department pension fund or
24 the New York city board of education retirement system who retired under
25 an option which provides that benefits are to be continued for life to
26 the surviving spouse after the death of the member, shall be entitled to
27 receive a benefit pursuant to this section. Said benefit shall be
28 [fifty] one hundred percent of the monthly benefit which the pensioner
29 would be receiving if living, and shall commence (i) with a payment for
30 the month of September, two thousand twenty-three, or (ii) the month
31 following the death of the deceased retired member, whichever is later.
32 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE. -- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would provide an increase in the defined benefit cost-of-
living adjustment (COLA) for New York public retirement systems. Start-
ing with a payment in September 2023, the cost-of-living benefit payable
to a surviving spouse who is eligible for COLA will be increased from
fifty percent to one hundred percent of the benefit that the pensioner
would have received.
Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local Employees'
Retirement System, pursuant to Section 25 of the Retirement and Social
Security Law, the increased costs would be borne entirely by the State
of New York and would require an itemized appropriation sufficient to
pay the cost of the provision. If this bill were enacted, the increase
in the present value of benefits would be approximately $1.4 billion.
Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local Police and
Fire Retirement System (PFRS), the increased costs would be shared by
the State of New York and the participating employers in the PFRS. If
this bill were enacted, the increase in the present value of benefits
would be approximately $150 million. The estimated first year cost would
be approximately $3.0 million to the State of New York and approximately
$11 million to the participating employers in the PFRS.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2021 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2021 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
A. 10037 3
2021 Report of the Actuary and the 2021 Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2020
and 2021 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, 2021
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 14, 2022, and intended for use only
during the 2022 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2022-50,
prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement
System.
