New York Senate Bill S06553 Latest Draft

   
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6553--A 2023-2024 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE April 26, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions -- recommitted to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit- tee AN ACT to authorize Susan Gillinder, the widow of Robert C. Ritchie, 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 Susan Gillinder, the widow of Robert C. Ritchie, who was a member of the 3 New York state and local employees' retirement system, who died after he 4 filed for retirement but prior to his selected retirement date, shall be 5 authorized to file a new service retirement application and an option 6 election form on behalf of her deceased husband with a joint allowance 7 full option, if, within one year from the effective date of this act, 8 she shall submit a request therefor to the state comptroller. In addi- 9 tion, his date of retirement shall be deemed to have been August 15, 10 2016. Once such application is received, any rights or benefits to the 11 pre-retirement ordinary death benefit payable upon the death of a member 12 in service pursuant to section 448 of the retirement and social security 13 law shall be waived. Any amounts paid by the New York state and local 14 employees' retirement system as the result of the death of Robert C. 15 Ritchie prior to the filing of the request for a service retirement 16 benefit pursuant to this section shall be deducted from the service 17 retirement benefit payable thereafter. 18 § 2. Any additional costs for this act shall be paid by the state of 19 New York. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD08909-03-4 
 S. 6553--A 2 1 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would authorize Susan Gillinder, the widow of deceased member Robert C. Ritchie, to file a new service retirement application and option election form on behalf of their deceased spouse with the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System (NYSLERS). The date of retirement will be August 15, 2016, one day prior to the date of death of Robert C. Ritchie. The option election will be a joint allowance full. Any rights and benefits to an ordinary death benefit payable upon the death of Robert C. Ritchie shall be waived. Any such death benefit paid by the 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 2024 Legislative Session, there will be an immediate past service cost of approximately $496,000 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, 2025. Summary of relevant resources: Membership data as of March 31, 2023 was used in measuring the impact of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2023 actuari- al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2023 Report of the Actuary and the 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2023 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, 2023 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 January 26, 2024, and intended for use only during the 2024 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2024-71, prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.