Permits an eligible retirement system member to receive, in lieu of an ordinary death benefit, a death benefit such member would otherwise be entitled to receive provided such member is a state-paid judge or justice of the unified court system or a housing judge of the civil court of the city of New York.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5083
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 18, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. SEPULVEDA, BAILEY -- 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 the beneficiaries of certain members of the retire-
ment system
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
2 a new section 63-j to read as follows:
3 § 63-j. Death benefits for state-paid judges and justices. a. As used
4 in this section, the term "judge or justice" shall mean a state-paid
5 judge or justice of the unified court system including a retired judge
6 of the court of appeals or retired justice of the supreme court who is
7 serving as a justice of the supreme court pursuant to certification by
8 the administrative board of the courts in accordance with section one
9 hundred fourteen or one hundred fifteen of the judiciary law, or a hous-
10 ing judge of the civil court of the city of New York.
11 b. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, where a judge
12 or justice would have been entitled to a service retirement benefit at
13 the time of such judge or justice's death and where such death occurs on
14 or after the effective date of this section, the beneficiary or benefi-
15 ciaries may elect to receive, in a lump sum, an amount payable which
16 shall be equal to the pension reserve that would have been established
17 had the member retired on the date of such judge or justice's death, or
18 the value of the death benefit and the reserve-for-increased-take-home-
19 pay, if any, whichever is greater.
20 § 2. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new
21 section 508-d to read as follows:
22 § 508-d. Death benefits for state-paid judges and justices. a. As
23 used in this section, the term "judge or justice" shall mean a state-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02220-02-5
S. 5083 2
1 paid judge or justice of the unified court system including a retired
2 judge of the court of appeals or retired justice of the supreme court
3 who is serving as a justice of the supreme court pursuant to certif-
4 ication by the administrative board of the courts in accordance with
5 section one hundred fourteen or one hundred fifteen of the judiciary
6 law, or a housing judge of the civil court of the city of New York.
7 b. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, where a judge
8 or justice would have been entitled to a service retirement benefit at
9 the time of such judge or justice's death and where such death occurs on
10 or after the effective date of this section, the beneficiary or benefi-
11 ciaries may elect to receive, in a lump sum, an amount payable which
12 shall be equal to the pension reserve that would have been established
13 had the member retired on the date of such judge or justice's death, or
14 the value of the death benefit and the reserve-for-increased-take-home-
15 pay, if any, whichever is greater.
16 § 3. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new
17 section 606-d to read as follows:
18 § 606-d. Death benefits for state-paid judges and justices. a. As
19 used in this section, the term "judge or justice" shall mean a state-
20 paid judge or justice of the unified court system including a retired
21 judge of the court of appeals or retired justice of the supreme court
22 who is serving as a justice of the supreme court pursuant to certif-
23 ication by the administrative board of the courts in accordance with
24 section one hundred fourteen or one hundred fifteen of the judiciary
25 law, or a housing judge of the civil court of the city of New York.
26 b. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, where a judge
27 or justice would have been entitled to a service retirement benefit at
28 the time of such judge or justice's death and where such death occurs on
29 or after the effective date of this section, the beneficiary or benefi-
30 ciaries may elect to receive, in a lump sum, an amount payable which
31 shall be equal to the pension reserve that would have been established
32 had the member retired on the date of such judge or justice's death, or
33 the value of the death benefit and the reserve-for-increased-take-home-
34 pay, if any, whichever is greater.
35 § 4. All past service costs associated with implementing the
36 provisions of this act shall be borne by the state of New York and may
37 be amortized over a period of ten years.
38 § 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none
39 of the provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation
40 requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
41 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would modify the in-service death benefit for retirement
eligible members of the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement
System who are employed as state-paid judges or justices of the Unified
Court System. The in-service death benefit will be the value of the
pension reserve as if the member had retired on their date of death.
If this bill is enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, we antic-
ipate that there will be an increase of approximately $287,000 in the
annual contributions of the State of New York for the fiscal year ending
March 31, 2026. In future years this cost will vary but is expected to
average 0.1% of salary annually.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of approximately $4.85 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. If the State of New
S. 5083 3
York elects to amortize this cost over a 10-year period, the cost for
each year including interest would be $619,000.
These estimated costs are based on 1,153 affected members employed by
the State of New York, with annual salary of approximately $228 million
as of March 31, 2024.
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 February 13, 2025, and intended for use only
during the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-24. 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.
