S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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    S. 7056                                                  A. 9577

                      S E N A T E - A S S E M B L Y

                             March 21, 2016
                               ___________

IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sen. LAVALLE -- read twice and ordered print-
  ed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service
  and Pensions

IN  ASSEMBLY  -- Introduced by M. of A. THIELE -- read once and referred
  to the Committee on Governmental Employees

AN ACT to provide for an increased death benefit for the survivors of  a
  deceased police officer

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

  Section 1. The legislature finds and declares that the  late  Theodore
Raffel  served  the  village  of  Southampton  for nineteen years, three
hundred sixty-four days and fifteen and one-half hours as a police offi-
cer.  At the time of officer Raffel's death, a situation which  was  not
due  to  negligence  on the part of such individual, there had been paid
into the New York state and local police and fire retirement  system  on
his  behalf  contributions  in  the  amount of approximately one hundred
eighteen thousand dollars.  Nevertheless, the amount of the death  bene-
fit paid to officer Raffel's widow was much less than that amount.
  S  2.  Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, the New York
state and local police and fire  retirement  system  is  authorized  and
directed  to  pay  to the beneficiary of police officer Theodore Raffel,
who was employed by the village of Southampton as a police officer  from
1966,  until  his  death on June 1, 1986, the sum of all of the contrib-
utions paid by the village of Southampton to such system  on  behalf  of
such  police  officer,  less  any sums previously paid by such system to
such beneficiary, with interest, compounded annually, calculated at  the
rate  established  in accordance with the provisions of subdivision c of
section 1202 of the retirement and social security  law.  Such  interest
shall be calculated from June 1, 1986 to May 31, 2016.
  S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
  FISCAL NOTE. -- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
  This bill would create an additional death benefit paid to the benefi-
ciary  of  deceased police officer Theodore Raffel. The additional death

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

                                                           LBD11287-10-6

S. 7056                             2                            A. 9577

benefit amount would be the sum of the contributions paid by the Village
of Southampton to the New York State and Local Police and  Fire  Retire-
ment  System  on  behalf of Mr. Raffel, less any sums previously paid by
such  system  to  his  beneficiary.  Such balance would have 5% interest
applied for the period 6/1/86 - 5/31/16.
  If this bill is enacted, the estimated cost of  the  additional  death
benefit  would  be  approximately $171,000. This cost would be shared by
the State of New York and all participating employers in  the  New  York
State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System.
  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, 2015  actuarial  valu-
ation.    Distributions  and  other  statistics can be found in the 2015
Report of the  Actuary  and  the  2015  Comprehensive  Annual  Financial
Report.
  The  actuarial  assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015
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, 2015
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  estimate,  dated  March 3, 2016 and intended for use only during
the 2016 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No.  2016-73,  prepared  by
the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.