Authorizes Michael Winston Hoard, the widower of Kathy Marie Dwyer-Hoard, to file a new service retirement application and an option election form on behalf of his deceased wife with the New York state and local employees' retirement system.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4725
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 12, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
AN ACT in relation to authorizing Michael Winston Hoard, the widower of
Kathy Marie Dwyer-Hoard, to file a new service retirement application
and option election form with the New York state and local employees'
retirement system on behalf of such deceased member
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 Michael Winston Hoard, the widower of Kathy Marie Dwyer-Hoard, who was a
3 member of the New York state and local employees' retirement system, who
4 died after she filed the paperwork for retirement but prior to the date
5 her retirement would have become effective, shall be authorized to file
6 a new service retirement application and an option election form on
7 behalf of his deceased wife with a joint allowance full option, if,
8 within one year from the effective date of this act, he shall submit a
9 request therefor to the state comptroller. In addition, her date of
10 retirement shall be deemed to have been October 21, 2019. Once such
11 application is received, any rights or benefits to the pre-retirement
12 ordinary death benefit payable upon the death of a member in service
13 pursuant to section 448 of the retirement and social security law shall
14 be waived. Any amounts paid by the New York state and local employees'
15 retirement system as the result of the death of Kathy Marie Dwyer-Hoard
16 prior to the filing of the request for a service retirement benefit
17 pursuant to this section shall be deducted from the service retirement
18 benefit payable thereafter.
19 § 2. Any additional costs for this act shall be paid by the state of
20 New York.
21 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00943-03-5
S. 4725 2
This bill would authorize Michael Winston Hoard, the widower of
deceased member Kathy Marie Dwyer-Hoard, to file a new service retire-
ment application and option election form on behalf of the deceased with
the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System (NYSLERS). The
date of retirement will be October 21, 2019, four days prior to the date
of death of Kathy Marie Dwyer-Hoard. The option election will be a joint
allowance full. Any rights and benefits to an ordinary death benefit
payable upon the death of Kathy Marie Dwyer-Hoard shall be waived. Any
such death benefit paid by the NYSLERS prior to the filing of a new
service retirement application will be deducted from the benefits paya-
ble under this legislation.
If this bill is enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, there
will be an immediate past service cost of approximately $486,000 which
will be borne by the State of New York as a one-time payment. This esti-
mate 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 January 15, 2025, and intended for use only
during the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-11. As
Chief Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, I,
Aaron Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with
applicable Actuarial Standards of Practice as well as the Code of
Professional Conduct and Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing
Statements of Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of
which I am a member.
