STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4811--A 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 15, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the general municipal law and the retirement and social security law, in relation to increasing the special accidental death benefit of certain deceased members The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision c of section 208-f of the general municipal 2 law, as separately amended by chapters 528 and 782 of the laws of 3 2022, is amended to read as follows: 4 c. Commencing July first, two thousand [twenty-two] twenty-three the 5 special accidental death benefit paid to a widow or widower or the 6 deceased member's children under the age of eighteen or, if a student, 7 under the age of twenty-three, if the widow or widower has died, or to 8 the deceased member's parents if the member has no widow, widower, chil- 9 dren under the age of eighteen, or a student under the age of twenty- 10 three, shall be escalated by adding thereto an additional percentage of 11 the salary of the deceased member (as increased pursuant to subdivision 12 b of this section) in accordance with the following schedule: 13 calendar year of death 14 of the deceased member per centum 15 1977 or prior [278.2%] 289.5% 16 1978 [267.1%] 278.2% 17 1979 [256.5%] 267.1% 18 1980 [246.1%] 256.5% 19 1981 [236%] 246.1% 20 1982 [226.2%] 236.0% 21 1983 [216.7%] 226.2% 22 1984 [207.5%] 216.7% EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD06851-03-3
S. 4811--A 2 1 1985 [198.5%] 207.5% 2 1986 [189.8%] 198.5% 3 1987 [181.4%] 189.8% 4 1988 [173.2%] 181.4% 5 1989 [165.2%] 173.2% 6 1990 [157.5%] 165.2% 7 1991 [150.0%] 157.5% 8 1992 [142.7%] 150.0% 9 1993 [135.7%] 142.7% 10 1994 [128.8%] 135.7% 11 1995 [122.1%] 128.8% 12 1996 [115.7%] 122.1% 13 1997 [109.4%] 115.7% 14 1998 [103.3%] 109.4% 15 1999 [97.4%] 103.3% 16 2000 [91.6%] 97.4% 17 2001 [86.0%] 91.6% 18 2002 [80.6%] 86.0% 19 2003 [75.4%] 80.6% 20 2004 [70.2%] 75.4% 21 2005 [65.3%] 70.2% 22 2006 [60.5%] 65.3% 23 2007 [55.8%] 60.5% 24 2008 [51.3%] 55.8% 25 2009 [46.9%] 51.3% 26 2010 [42.6%] 46.9% 27 2011 [38.4%] 42.6% 28 2012 [34.4%] 38.4% 29 2013 [30.5%] 34.4% 30 2014 [26.7%] 30.5% 31 2015 [23.0%] 26.7% 32 2016 [19.4%] 23.0% 33 2017 [15.9%] 19.4% 34 2018 [12.6%] 15.9% 35 2019 [9.3%] 12.6% 36 2020 [6.1%] 9.3% 37 2021 [3.0%] 6.1% 38 2022 [0.0%] 3.0% 39 2023 0.0% 40 § 2. Subdivision c of section 361-a of the retirement and social secu- 41 rity law, as amended by chapter 528 of the laws of 2022, is amended to 42 read as follows: 43 c. Commencing July first, two thousand [twenty-two] twenty-three the 44 special accidental death benefit paid to a widow or widower or the 45 deceased member's children under the age of eighteen or, if a student, 46 under the age of twenty-three, if the widow or widower has died, shall 47 be escalated by adding thereto an additional percentage of the salary of 48 the deceased member, as increased pursuant to subdivision b of this 49 section, in accordance with the following schedule: 50 calendar year of death 51 of the deceased member per centum 52 1977 or prior [278.2%] 289.5% 53 1978 [267.1%] 278.2% 54 1979 [256.5%] 267.1% 55 1980 [246.1%] 256.5% 56 1981 [236%] 246.1%
S. 4811--A 3 1 1982 [226.2%] 236.0% 2 1983 [216.7%] 226.2% 3 1984 [207.5%] 216.7% 4 1985 [198.5%] 207.5% 5 1986 [189.8%] 198.5% 6 1987 [181.4%] 189.8% 7 1988 [173.2%] 181.4% 8 1989 [165.2%] 173.2% 9 1990 [157.5%] 165.2% 10 1991 [150.0%] 157.5% 11 1992 [142.7%] 150.0% 12 1993 [135.7%] 142.7% 13 1994 [128.8%] 135.7% 14 1995 [122.1%] 128.8% 15 1996 [115.7%] 122.1% 16 1997 [109.4%] 115.7% 17 1998 [103.3%] 109.4% 18 1999 [97.4%] 103.3% 19 2000 [91.6%] 97.4% 20 2001 [86.0%] 91.6% 21 2002 [80.6%] 86.0% 22 2003 [75.4%] 80.6% 23 2004 [70.2%] 75.4% 24 2005 [65.3%] 70.2% 25 2006 [60.5%] 65.3% 26 2007 [55.8%] 60.5% 27 2008 [51.3%] 55.8% 28 2009 [46.9%] 51.3% 29 2010 [42.6%] 46.9% 30 2011 [38.4%] 42.6% 31 2012 [34.4%] 38.4% 32 2013 [30.5%] 34.4% 33 2014 [26.7%] 30.5% 34 2015 [23.0%] 26.7% 35 2016 [19.4%] 23.0% 36 2017 [15.9%] 19.4% 37 2018 [12.6%] 15.9% 38 2019 [9.3%] 12.6% 39 2020 [6.1%] 9.3% 40 2021 [3.0%] 6.1% 41 2022 [0.0%] 3.0% 42 2023 0.0% 43 § 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: SUMMARY OF BILL: This proposed legislation would amend General Munici- pal Law (GML) Section 208-f(c) to increase certain Special Accidental Death Benefits (SADB) for Eligible Beneficiaries of former members of certain New York City Retirement Systems and Pension Funds (NYCRS) and died as a natural and proximate result of an accident sustained in the performance of duty. Effective Date: July 1, 2023. BACKGROUND: Under the GML, the basic SADB is defined as: The salary of the deceased member at date of death (or, in certain instances, a greater salary based on a higher rank or other status) (Final Salary), less the following payments to an Eligible Beneficiary:
S. 4811--A 4 * Any NYCRS death benefit as adjusted by any Supplementation or Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA), * Any Social Security death benefit, and * Any Workers' Compensation benefit. The GML also provides that the SADB is subject to escalation based on the calendar year in which the former member died. The SADB is paid to the deceased member's surviving spouse, if alive. If the spouse is no longer alive, the SADB is paid to the deceased member's children until age eighteen or until age twenty-three if a student. If neither a spouse nor a dependent child is alive, the SADB may be paid to the member's parents or certain other individuals, if eligible. IMPACT ON BENEFITS: The SADB has been increased on a year-by-year basis. Under the proposed legislation, an additional 3.0% of Final Salary would be applied to the SADB paid effective July 1, 2023. With respect to the NYCRS, the proposed legislation would impact the SADB payable to certain survivors of members of the: * New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS), * New York City Police Pension Fund (POLICE), or * New York City Fire Pension Fund (FIRE), and who were employed by one of the following employers in certain positions: * New York City Police Department - Uniformed Position, * New York City Fire Department - Uniformed Position, * New York City Department of Sanitation - Uniformed Position, * New York City Housing Authority - Uniformed Position, * New York City Transit Authority - Uniformed Position, * New York City Department of Correction - Uniformed Position, * New York City - Uniformed Position as Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), * New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation - Uniformed Posi- tion as EMT, or * Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority - Bridge and Tunnel Posi- tion. FINANCIAL IMPACT - PRESENT VALUES: Based on the Eligible Beneficiaries of deceased NYCRS members who would be impacted by this proposed legis- lation and the actuarial assumptions and methods described herein, the enactment of this proposed legislation would increase the Present Value of Future Benefits (PVFB) by approximately $63.5 million. FINANCIAL IMPACT - ANNUAL EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS: The costs of this proposed legislation have already been accounted for and will not result in a further increase in employer contributions. There will, however, be a decrease in employer contributions if the proposed legislation is not enacted. This would result in a decrease in NYCRS annual employer contributions of approximately $7.5 million each year. The decrease in expected pension payments due to this legislation not passing would be treated as an actuarial gain. These actuarial gains would be amortized over a 15-year period (14 payments under the One-Year Lag Methodology) using level dollar payments. CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based upon the census data for such Eligible Beneficiaries provided by NYCRS. Annual Accidental Death Retirement System Number of Deceased Benefit Prior to Proposed Members with Eligible July 1, 2023 Increase
S. 4811--A 5 Survivors ($ Millions) NYCERS 79 $ 8.0 POLICE 564 71.1 FIRE 676 91.8 Total 1,319 $170.9 ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have been calculated based on the actuarial assumptions and methods used for the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2024 employer contributions of NYCERS, POLICE, and FIRE. Based on the historical practice of providing 3.0% COLAs on the SADB each year, and the likelihood that COLAs will continue to be granted in the future, the Actuary assumes that the SADB benefit will continue to increase 3.0% per year in the future when determining NYCRS employer contributions. For the purposes of this Fiscal Note, it is assumed that the changes if this proposed legislation fails to pass would be reflected for the first time in the June 30, 2022 actuarial valuations of NYCERS, POLICE, and FIRE used to determine employer contributions for Fiscal Year 2024. RISK AND UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend highly on the realization of the actuarial assumptions used, demograph- ics of the impacted population and other factors such as investment, contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates from actu- arial assumptions, the actual costs could differ from those presented herein. Costs are also dependent on the actuarial methods used, and therefore different actuarial methods could produce different results. Quantifying these risks is beyond the scope of this Fiscal Note. Not measured in this Fiscal Note are the following: * The initial, additional administrative costs to implement the proposed legislation. STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Marek Tyszkiewicz, am the Chief Actuary for, and independent of, the New York City Retirement Systems and Pension Funds. I am an Associate of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. I am a member of NYCERS but do not believe it impairs my objectivity and I meet the Qualification Standards of the American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein. To the best of my knowledge, the results contained herein have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted actuarial principles and procedures and with the Actuarial Standards of Practice issued by the Actuarial Standards Board. FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2023-11 dated March 14, 2023 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Employees' Retirement System, the New York City Police Pension Fund, and New York City Fire Pension Fund. This estimate is intended for use only during the 2023 Legislative Session.