Authorizes Liliana Fernandez-Clemente, the widow of Daniel Clemente, 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.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7397
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 14, 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 Liliana Fernandez-Clemente, the widow
of Daniel Clemente, 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 Liliana Fernandez-Clemente, the widow of Daniel Clemente, who was a
3 member of the New York state and local employees' retirement system, who
4 died after he commenced the filing of paperwork for retirement but prior
5 to his selected retirement date, shall be authorized to file a new
6 service retirement application and an option election form on behalf of
7 her deceased husband with a joint allowance full option, if, within one
8 year from the effective date of this act, she shall submit a request
9 therefor to the state comptroller. In addition, his date of retirement
10 shall be deemed to have been December 8, 2024. Once such application is
11 received, any rights or benefits to the pre-retirement ordinary death
12 benefit payable upon the death of a member in service pursuant to
13 section 448 of the retirement and social security law shall be waived.
14 Any amounts paid by the New York state and local employees' retirement
15 system as the result of the death of Daniel Clemente prior to the filing
16 of the request for a service retirement benefit pursuant to this section
17 shall be deducted from the service retirement benefit payable thereaft-
18 er.
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.
LBD10114-02-5
S. 7397 2
This bill would authorize Liliana Fernandez-Clemente, the widow of
deceased member Daniel Clemente, to file a new service retirement appli-
cation and option election form with the New York State and Local
Employees' Retirement System (NYSLERS). The date of retirement will be
December 8, 2024, one day prior to the date of death of Daniel Clemente.
The option election will be a joint allowance full. Any ordinary death
benefit paid by NYSLERS prior to the filing of a new service retirement
application will be deducted from the benefits payable under this legis-
lation.
If this bill is enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, there
will be an immediate past service cost of approximately $634,000 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 March 12, 2025, and intended for use only during
the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-92. As Chief Actu-
ary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, I, Aaron Schottin
Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with applicable Actu-
arial Standards of Practice as well as the Code of Professional Conduct
and Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuari-
al Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of which I am a member.
