STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7120
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 18, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. WEBER -- 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 Thomas Collins to file a request for
change of benefit coverage with the New York state teachers' retire-
ment system
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, Thomas Collins,
2 who is currently a member of the New York state teachers' retirement
3 system, who retired from Pearl River School District on July 1, 2010,
4 and who since his date of retirement has been receiving the largest
5 possible retirement benefit under the maximum retirement benefit
6 election, and who, for reasons not ascribable to his own negligence,
7 even upon notice in 2010 from the retirement system of his election of
8 the maximum retirement benefit election, failed to change his retirement
9 option election prior to the expiration of the thirty days in accordance
10 with article 11 of the education law and to nominate his wife as the
11 beneficiary of the one hundred percent survivor option, shall be author-
12 ized to change said maximum retirement option to the one hundred percent
13 survivor option, if within one year of the effective date of this act,
14 he shall file a written request on a form prescribed by the New York
15 state teachers' retirement system with the head of said retirement
16 system. Such change of benefit coverage shall be deemed to become effec-
17 tive on July 1, 2010.
18 § 2. Any costs attributable to implementation of the retirement
19 election option change, authorized by section one of this act, and the
20 recovery for the overpayment received by Thomas Collins since his date
21 of retirement to change his election from the maximum benefit to the one
22 hundred percent joint and survivor option with Sandra Collins as the
23 beneficiary, shall be borne by Thomas Collins. The costs shall be calcu-
24 lated from the date of his retirement, July 1, 2010, to the date his new
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10601-02-3
S. 7120 2
1 retirement option election, filed in accordance with section one of this
2 act, is deemed effective with the System and upon receipt of his payment
3 for making said election. Any other costs attributable to the implemen-
4 tation of this act shall be borne by the employers of members of the New
5 York state teachers' retirement system.
6 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would allow Thomas Collins, a retired member of the New York
State Teachers' Retirement System, who elected the maximum single life
benefit upon his date of retirement of July 1, 2010 to change his
retirement benefit to the 100% joint and survivor option benefit desig-
nating his spouse Sandra Collins as beneficiary of such optional form of
benefit. The 100% joint and survivor benefit would be effective as of
his date of retirement. Mr. Collins would be required to re-pay to the
Retirement System the excess of the maximum single life benefit over the
100% joint and survivor option benefit that he has received from his
date of retirement through the effective date of the change in his bene-
fit. Mr. Collins must file a written request with the head of the New
York State Teachers' Retirement System within one year of the effective
date of this act.
The total cost of this benefit cannot be determined. If this bill is
enacted the Retirement System will be providing a survivor benefit to
Mr. Collins' spouse. The ultimate cost of this benefit will be deter-
mined by how long Mr. Collins and his spouse live. Mr. Collins would be
responsible for repaying the overpayments he has received, which total
approximately $121,000. Allowing retired members to change their benefit
option after retirement weakens the pooling of longevity risk and the
pricing of the options and would potentially result in actuarial losses.
Member data is from the System's most recent actuarial valuation
files, consisting of data provided by the employers to the Retirement
System. Data distributions and statistics can be found in the System's
Annual Report. System assets are as reported in the System's financial
statements and can also be found in the System's Annual Report. Actuar-
ial assumptions and methods are provided in the System's Actuarial Valu-
ation Report.
The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2023-30 dated April 18,
2023 prepared by the Office of the Actuary of the New York State Teach-
ers' Retirement System and is intended for use only during the 2023
Legislative Session. I, Richard A. Young, am the Chief Actuary for the
New York State Teachers' Retirement System. I am a member of the Ameri-
can Academy of Actuaries and I meet the Qualification Standards of the
American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained
herein.
