Senate Bill S7544A

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                 7544--A
    Cal. No. 1102

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             April 20, 2010
                               ___________

Introduced by Sens. VALESKY, THOMPSON -- read twice and ordered printed,
  and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and
  Pensions  --  reported  favorably from said committee and committed to
  the Committee on Finance -- reported favorably from said committee and
  committed to the Committee on Rules -- reported  favorably  from  said
  committee,  ordered to a third reading, passed by Senate and delivered
  to the Assembly, recalled, vote reconsidered, restored to third  read-
  ing,  amended  and ordered reprinted, retaining its place in the order
  of third reading

AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
  allowing  state  police  officers to receive an improved death benefit
  where such officers die without twenty years of service credit

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Subdivision  aaa  of  section 360-a of the retirement and
social security law, as added by chapter 358 of the  laws  of  2002,  is
amended to read as follows:
  aaa.  Provided  further,  notwithstanding  any other provision of this
article to the contrary, where the member is an officer or member of the
state police and would have been entitled to a service retirement  bene-
fit at the time of his or her death and where his or her death occurs on
or  after July first, two thousand, the beneficiary or beneficiaries may
elect to receive, in a lump sum, an amount payable which shall be  equal
to  the  pension reserve that would have been established had the member
retired on the date of his or her death, or the value of the death bene-
fit and the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if  any,  whichever  is
greater.  PROVIDED FURTHER, THAT FOR THE PURPOSE OF DETERMINING ENTITLE-
MENT  TO  THE  BENEFIT PROVIDED BY THIS SUBDIVISION, AND NOTWITHSTANDING
THE PROVISIONS OF SUBDIVISION J OF SECTION THREE  HUNDRED  FORTY-ONE  OF
THIS  ARTICLE, THE TOTAL NUMBER OF DAYS OF UNUSED SICK LEAVE AND ACCUMU-
LATED VACATION CREDIT ACCRUED BY THE MEMBER AT THE TIME OF  HIS  OR  HER
DEATH  SHALL  BE  CONSIDERED  IN  MEETING  THE  TOTAL CREDITABLE SERVICE
REQUIRED TO QUALIFY FOR A SERVICE RETIREMENT  BENEFIT  PROVIDED  WITHOUT

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                           LBD16864-03-0

S. 7544--A                          2

REGARD TO AGE WHERE HIS OR HER DEATH OCCURS ON OR AFTER JULY SECOND, TWO
THOUSAND NINE.
  S 2. Paragraph 2 of subdivision b of section 448 of the retirement and
social  security  law, as amended by chapter 666 of the laws of 2002, is
amended to read as follows:
  2. Provided further, notwithstanding any other provision of this arti-
cle to the contrary, where the member is a police officer or firefighter
and would have been entitled to a service retirement benefit at the time
of his or her death and where his or her death occurs on or  after  July
first,  two thousand, the beneficiary or beneficiaries nominated for the
purposes of this subdivision may elect to receive, in  a  lump  sum,  an
amount  payable  which  shall be equal to the pension reserve that would
have been established had the member retired on the date of his  or  her
death,  or the value of the death benefit and the reserve-for-increased-
take-home-pay, if any, whichever is greater, provided further  THAT  FOR
THE  PURPOSE  OF DETERMINING ENTITLEMENT TO THE BENEFIT PROVIDED BY THIS
SUBDIVISION, AND NOTWITHSTANDING SUBDIVISION J OF SECTION THREE  HUNDRED
FORTY-ONE  OF  THIS CHAPTER, WHERE THE MEMBER IS AN OFFICER OR MEMBER OF
THE STATE POLICE THE TOTAL NUMBER OF DAYS OF UNUSED SICK LEAVE AND ACCU-
MULATED VACATION CREDIT ACCRUED BY THE MEMBER AT THE TIME OF HIS OR  HER
DEATH  SHALL  BE  CONSIDERED  IN  MEETING  THE  TOTAL CREDITABLE SERVICE
REQUIRED TO QUALIFY FOR A SERVICE RETIREMENT  BENEFIT  PROVIDED  WITHOUT
REGARD TO AGE WHERE HIS OR HER DEATH OCCURS ON OR AFTER JULY SECOND, TWO
THOUSAND  NINE. PROVIDED FURTHER that where such police officer or fire-
fighter dies on or after July first, two thousand, after having  retired
from service, but before a first payment of a retirement allowance, such
person shall be deemed to have been in service at the time of his or her
death  for  the  purposes of this subdivision only, and provided further
that the pension reserve established pursuant to this  paragraph  for  a
person who dies after retiring from service, but before first payment of
a retirement allowance, shall be determined as of the date of retirement
and  any  pension  payments  payable for the period of time prior to the
retiree's death shall be deducted from any benefits payable pursuant  to
this subdivision.
  S  3.  All past service costs incurred due to enactment of this legis-
lation shall be borne by the state of New York.
  S 4. This act shall take effect immediately and  shall  be  deemed  to
have been in full force and effect on and after July 2, 2009.
  FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
  This  bill will provide an improved death benefit equal to the pension
reserve to the beneficiaries of State Police Officers by allowing  their
unused  vacation and sick leave credit to be included with their service
credit for the purpose of determining retirement eligibility.  All  past
service  costs  will  be  paid  by the State of New York, and all future
costs will be shared and spread over the  future  working  lifetimes  of
current members.
  If  this  bill is enacted, for the one person known to be affected, we
anticipate that there will be a cost to the State of New York of approx-
imately $357,000, based on a billing date  of  March  1,  2011.  In  the
future,  we  anticipate  that  there will be few individuals affected by
this legislation.
  This estimate, dated March 31, 2010 and intended for use  only  during
the  2010  Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2010-126, prepared by
the Actuary for the New York State and Local Police and Fire  Retirement
System.