New York State Assembly

 
•  Summary 
 
•  Actions 
 
•  Committee Votes 
 
•  Floor Votes 
 
•  Memo 
 
•  Text 
 
•  LFIN 
 
•  Chamber Video/Transcript 

S06313 Summary:

S06313 Actions:

S06313 Committee Votes:

S06313 Floor Votes:

S06313 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          6313
 
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                    IN SENATE
 
                                      June 4, 2019
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- (at request of the State Comptroller) --
          read  twice  and  ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to
          the Committee on Rules
 
        AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
          extending  the period of time to file an application for an accidental
          death benefit after the death of a member of the New  York  state  and
          local  employees'  retirement  system  or the New York state and local
          police and fire retirement system
 
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section  1.  The section heading and the opening paragraph of subdivi-
     2  sion a of section 61 of the  retirement  and  social  security  law,  as
     3  amended  by  chapter  336  of  the  laws of 1960, are amended to read as
     4  follows:
     5    [Accidential] Accidental death benefit.
     6    An [accidential] accidental  death  benefit  and  the  reserve-for-in-
     7  creased-take-home-pay  shall  be  payable upon the death of a member if,
     8  upon application filed within [two] five years after the death  of  such
     9  member,  the  comptroller shall determine, on the basis of the evidence,
    10  that such member:
    11    § 2. The opening paragraph of subdivision a  of  section  361  of  the
    12  retirement and social security law, as added by chapter 1000 of the laws
    13  of 1966, is amended to read as follows:
    14    An  accidental  death benefit and the reserve-for-increased-take-home-
    15  pay shall be payable upon the death of a member  if,  upon  application,
    16  filed  within  [two] five years after the death of such member the comp-
    17  troller shall determine, on the basis of the evidence, that such member:
    18    § 3. The opening paragraph of subdivision a  of  section  509  of  the
    19  retirement  and  social  security  law, as amended by chapter 489 of the
    20  laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08969-04-9
        S. 6313                             2
 
     1    The eligible beneficiary of a member in service, or  a  vested  member
     2  that  dies  as  a result of a qualifying World Trade Center condition as
     3  defined in section two of this chapter, shall be entitled  to  an  acci-
     4  dental  death benefit in the form of a pension equal to fifty percent of
     5  such  member's  final  average  salary if, upon application filed within
     6  [two] five years after the death of the member, the head of the  retire-
     7  ment system determines that such member:
     8    § 4. Subdivision a of section 607 of the retirement and social securi-
     9  ty  law,  as  amended  by chapter 582 of the laws of 2011, is amended to
    10  read as follows:
    11    a. The eligible beneficiary of a member in service,  or  of  a  vested
    12  member who dies as a result of a qualifying World Trade Center condition
    13  as defined in section two of this chapter, shall be entitled to an acci-
    14  dental  death benefit in the form of a pension equal to fifty percent of
    15  such member's wages earned during his or her last year of actual service
    16  or his or her annual wage rate if he or she was credited with less  than
    17  one  year  of service since last becoming a member, if, upon application
    18  filed within [sixty days] five years after the death of the member,  the
    19  head  of  the  retirement system determines that such member died before
    20  the effective date of retirement, as the natural and proximate result of
    21  an accident not caused by his or her own willful negligence sustained in
    22  the performance of his or her duties in active service and while actual-
    23  ly a member of the retirement system.
    24    Notwithstanding the provisions of section two hundred  forty-two,  two
    25  hundred forty-three or two hundred forty-four of the military law or the
    26  provisions  of  any other law to the contrary and solely for the purpose
    27  of determining eligibility for an accidental  death  benefit,  a  member
    28  shall  be considered to have died as the natural and proximate result of
    29  an accident sustained in the performance of duty  provided  such  member
    30  was  on the payroll in the service upon which membership is based at the
    31  time he or she was ordered to active duty pursuant to Title  10  of  the
    32  United  States  Code,  with  the armed forces of the United States or to
    33  service in the uniformed services pursuant to Chapter 43 of Title 38  of
    34  the  United States Code and died while on such active duty or service in
    35  the uniformed services on or after June fourteenth, two thousand five.
    36    Provided, however, the head of  the  retirement  system  in  its  sole
    37  discretion  may  accept  an  application for an accidental death benefit
    38  after the expiration of the [sixty day] applicable filing period, where,
    39  but only where, an ordinary death benefit has not been previously paid.
    40    § 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the  contrary,  the
    41  provisions of this act shall not be subject to the provisions of section
    42  twenty-five  of  the  retirement  and  social  security law requiring an
    43  appropriation in an amount equal to the value of the benefits associated
    44  with prior service when enacted on a statewide basis. This  act  extends
    45  the filing deadline for accidental death benefits from two to five years
    46  following the death of an active member occurring on or after January 1,
    47  2020.  Since  it  is  impossible  to determine the number of members who
    48  could be affected by this act specifically, the number  of  members  who
    49  participated  in  World  Trade  Center rescue, recovery or cleanup oper-
    50  ations and who will qualify for a death benefit, it  cannot  be  readily
    51  determined the amount, if any, of an appropriation.
    52    § 6. This act shall take effect January 1, 2020 and shall apply to the
    53  death of a member occurring on or after such date.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          This  bill would extend the filing deadline for accidental death bene-
        fits to 5 years following the death  of  an  active  member  of  certain
        S. 6313                             3

        public retirement systems. Currently the filing deadline is 2 years. The
        filing  extension  will apply only to those deaths occurring on or after
        January 1, 2020. The provisions of Section  25  of  the  Retirement  and
        Social Security Law (RSSL) will not apply.
          If this bill is enacted, insofar as it would affect the New York State
        and  Local Employees' Retirement System (ERS) and the New York State and
        Local Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS),  it  is  estimated  that
        there  would  be  an  average per person cost of approximately 3.5 times
        final salary on behalf of affected ERS members and 11 times final salary
        on behalf of affected PFRS members whose applications are  filed  within
        the extended period.
          The  number  of  members  and  retirees  who could be affected by this
        legislation cannot be readily determined. Those  costs  arising  in  ERS
        would  be  borne  by  the  State  of  New York and all the participating
        employers in ERS. Those costs arising in PFRS  would  be  borne  by  the
        State of New York and all the participating employers in PFRS.
          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, 2018  actuarial  valu-
        ation.    Distributions  and  other  statistics can be found in the 2018
        Report of the  Actuary  and  the  2018  Comprehensive  Annual  Financial
        Report.
          The  actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015,
        2016, 2017 and 2018  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, 2018
        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  May 13, 2019, and intended for use only during
        the 2019 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2019-113,  prepared  by
        the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.