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S07525 Summary:

S07525 Actions:

S07525 Committee Votes:

S07525 Floor Votes:

S07525 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          7525
 
                    IN SENATE
 
                                    January 19, 2018
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  Sen. RITCHIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
        AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
          death  benefits  for  certain members; and providing for the repeal of
          such provisions upon expiration thereof

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section  1.  Subdivision b of section 448 of the retirement and social
     2  security law is amended by adding a new paragraph 3 to read as follows:
     3    3. Provided further, notwithstanding any other provision of this arti-
     4  cle to the contrary, where a member is in a title as defined in subdivi-
     5  sion i of section eighty-nine of this chapter under the jurisdiction  of
     6  the  department of corrections and community supervision, and would have
     7  been entitled to a service retirement benefit at the time of his or  her
     8  death  and  where  his  or  her death occurs on or after July first, two
     9  thousand  eighteen,  the  beneficiary  or  beneficiaries  may  elect  to
    10  receive,  in  a  lump sum, an amount payable which shall be equal to the
    11  pension reserve that would have been established had the member  retired
    12  on  the  date of his or her death, or the value of the death benefit and
    13  the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if any, whichever is greater.
    14    § 2. Subdivision b of section 508 of the retirement and social securi-
    15  ty law, as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read
    16  as follows:
    17    b. A member of a retirement system subject to the provisions  of  this
    18  article  who  is  a policeman, fireman, correction officer, investigator
    19  revised plan member or sanitation man and is in  a  plan  which  permits
    20  immediate  retirement  upon  completion of a specified period of service
    21  without regard to age or who is subject to  the  provisions  of  section
    22  five  hundred  four  or  five  hundred  five of this article, shall upon
    23  completion of ninety days of service be covered for financial protection
    24  in the event of death in service pursuant to this subdivision.
    25    1. Such death benefit shall be equal to three times the member's sala-
    26  ry raised to the next highest multiple of one thousand dollars,  but  in
    27  no  event  shall  it  exceed three times the maximum salary specified in
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02565-12-8
        S. 7525                             2
 
     1  section one hundred thirty of the civil service law or, in the case of a
     2  member of a retirement system other than the New  York  city  employees'
     3  retirement  system,  or  in  the  case  of a member of the New York city
     4  employees'   retirement   system  who  is  a  New  York  city  uniformed
     5  correction/sanitation revised plan member  or  an  investigator  revised
     6  plan member, the specific limitations specified for age of entrance into
     7  service  contained  in subparagraphs (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) of para-
     8  graph two of subdivision a of this section.
     9    2. Provided further, notwithstanding any other provision of this arti-
    10  cle to the contrary, where a member is in a title as defined in subdivi-
    11  sion i of section eighty-nine of this chapter under the jurisdiction  of
    12  the  department of corrections and community supervision, and would have
    13  been entitled to a service retirement benefit at the time of his or  her
    14  death  and  where  his  or  her death occurs on or after July first, two
    15  thousand  eighteen,  the  beneficiary  or  beneficiaries  may  elect  to
    16  receive,  in  a  lump sum, an amount payable which shall be equal to the
    17  pension reserve that would have been established had the member  retired
    18  on  the  date of his or her death, or the value of the death benefit and
    19  the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if any, whichever is greater.
    20    § 3. This act shall take effect  immediately  and  shall  expire  five
    21  years after the date on which it shall have become a law.
          FISCAL NOTE. -- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          This  bill  would  modify  the  in-service  death  benefit for tiers 2
        through 6 state correction officers. The in-service death  benefit  will
        be  the  value  of  the  pension reserve as if the member had retired on
        their date of death. The provision is scheduled  to  expire  five  years
        after the date it is enacted.
          If such proposal is enacted during the 2018 legislative session, there
        will  be  a  one-time past service cost of $13.2 million, 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 March 1, 2019.
          If  this  provision is extended or made permanent by subsequent legis-
        lation, there would be additional costs.
          These estimated costs are based on 20,712  state  correction  officers
        with  a total annual salary of approximately $1.5 billion for the fiscal
        year ending March 31, 2017.
          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, 2017 actuarial valu-
        ation.  Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the  2017
        Report  of  the  Actuary  and  the  2017  Comprehensive Annual Financial
        Report.
          The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2015,
        2016,  and  2017  Annual  Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assump-
        tions, 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, 2017
        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 estimate, dated January 17,  2018,  and  intended  for  use  only
        during  the  2018  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No. 2018-31,
        prepared by the Actuary for the New  York  State  and  Local  Retirement
        System.