NY State Senate Bill 2017-S8895

Senate Bill S8895

2017-2018 Legislative Session

Relates to extending the period of time to file an application for an accidental death benefit

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Civil Service And Pensions Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jun 01, 2018	referred to civil service and pensions

2017-S8895 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A11100
Current Committee:: Senate Civil Service And Pensions
Law Section:: Retirement and Social Security Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§61, 361, 509 & 607, R & SS L

2017-S8895 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Extends the period of time to file an application for an accidental death benefit after the death of a member of the New York state and local employees' retirement system or the New York state and local police and fire retirement system.

2017-S8895 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S8895

SPONSOR: GOLDEN
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the retirement and social security
law, in relation to extending the period of time to file an application
for an accidental death benefit after the death of a member of the New
York state and local employees' retirement system or the New York state
and local police and fire retirement system

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this bill is to extend the period of time to 5 years
within which to file an application for an Accidental Death Benefit
after the death of a member of the New York State and Local Retirement
System or the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System
(collectively NYSLRS).

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of this bill amends the section heading and the opening para-
graph of subdivision a of section 61 of the retirement and social secu-

rity law to establish that an accidental death benefit shall be payable
upon the death of a eligible member upon application filed within five
years after the death of a member rather than within two years.

Section 2 of this bill amends the opening paragraph of subdivision a of
section 361 of the retirement and social security law to establish that
an accidental death benefit shall be payable upon the death of a eligi-
ble member upon application filed within five years after the death of a
member rather than within two years.

Section 3 of this bill amends the opening paragraph of subdivision a of
section 509 of the retirement and social security law to establish that
an accidental death benefit shall be payable upon the death of a eligi-
ble member upon application filed within five years after the death of a
member rather than within two years.

Section 4 of this bill amends subdivision a of section 607 of the
retirement and social security law to establish that an accidental death
benefit shall be payable upon the death of a eligible member upon appli-
cation filed within five years after the death of a member rather than
within sixty days.

Section 5 of this bill provides for an effective date of January 1, 2019
and further provides that the provisions of the bill shall apply to the
death of a member occurring on or after such date.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Currently, the beneficiaries of NYSLRS members must file for an Acci-
dental Death Benefit within either 60 days of a member's death or within
two years of a member's death, depending on the deceased member's tier
and system. On occasion, the grieving process may prevent beneficiaries
from becoming aware of this benefit until after the filing period has
passed. Extending the filing period to five years from the date of the
member's death, allows a family sufficient time after the death of their
loved one in which to apply for an Accidental Death Benefit. Specif-
ically, these death benefits apply to the eligible beneficiaries of
vested members who die as a result of a qualifying World Trade Center
condition.

It is of utmost importance to the Comptroller to ensure that these bene-
ficiaries be given ample opportunity to take advantage of every benefit
available to them pursuant to the Retirement and Social Security Law.
Additionally, it standardizes the period in which to file for an Acci-
dental Death Benefit to 5 years from the member's date of death, across
the membership of NYSLRS.

Accordingly, the Comptroller urges passage of this legislation.

 
BUDGET IMPLICATIONS:

This bill would have no actual cost to the State.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill would take effect January 1, 2019 and apply to the death of a
member occurring on or after such date.

2017-S8895 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8895
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               June 1, 2018
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  GOLDEN -- (at request of the State Comptroller) --
   read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to  be  committed  to
   the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN  ACT  to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
   extending the period of time to file an application for an  accidental
   death  benefit  after  the death of a member of the New York state and
   local employees' retirement system or the New  York  state  and  local
   police and fire retirement system
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The section heading and the opening paragraph  of  subdivi-
 sion  a  of  section  61  of  the retirement and social security law, as
 amended by chapter 336 of the laws of  1960,  are  amended  to  read  as
 follows:
   [Accidential] ACCIDENTAL death benefit.
   An  [accidential]  ACCIDENTAL  death  benefit  and the reserve-for-in-
 creased-take-home-pay shall be payable upon the death of  a  member  if,
 upon  application  filed within [two] FIVE years after the death of such
 member, the comptroller shall determine, on the basis of  the  evidence,
 that such member:
   §  2.  The  opening  paragraph  of subdivision a of section 361 of the
 retirement and social security law, as added by chapter 1000 of the laws
 of 1966, is amended to read as follows:
   An accidental death benefit and  the  reserve-for-increased-take-home-
 pay  shall  be  payable upon the death of a member if, upon application,
 filed within [two] FIVE years after the death of such member  the  comp-
 troller shall determine, on the basis of the evidence, that such member:
   §  3.  The  opening  paragraph  of subdivision a of section 509 of the
 retirement and social security law, as amended by  chapter  489  of  the
 laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
   The  eligible  beneficiary  of a member in service, or a vested member
 that dies as a result of a qualifying World Trade  Center  condition  as
 defined  in  section  two of this chapter, shall be entitled to an acci-
 dental death benefit in the form of a pension equal to fifty percent  of
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14308-02-8

 S. 8895                             2
 
 such  member's  final  average  salary if, upon application filed within
 [two] FIVE years after the death of the member, the head of the  retire-
 ment system determines that such member:
   § 4. Subdivision a of section 607 of the retirement and social securi-
 ty  law,  as  amended  by chapter 582 of the laws of 2011, is amended to
 read as follows:
   a. The eligible beneficiary of a member in service,  or  of  a  vested
 member who dies as a result of a qualifying World Trade Center condition
 as defined in section two of this chapter, shall be entitled to an acci-
 dental  death benefit in the form of a pension equal to fifty percent of
 such member's wages earned during his or her last year of actual service
 or his or her annual wage rate if he or she was credited with less  than
 one  year  of service since last becoming a member, if, upon application
 filed within [sixty days] FIVE YEARS after the death of the member,  the
 head  of  the  retirement system determines that such member died before
 the effective date of retirement, as the natural and proximate result of
 an accident not caused by his or her own willful negligence sustained in
 the performance of his or her duties in active service and while actual-
 ly a member of the retirement system.
   Notwithstanding the provisions of section two hundred  forty-two,  two
 hundred forty-three or two hundred forty-four of the military law or the
 provisions  of  any other law to the contrary and solely for the purpose
 of determining eligibility for an accidental  death  benefit,  a  member
 shall  be considered to have died as the natural and proximate result of
 an accident sustained in the performance of duty  provided  such  member
 was  on the payroll in the service upon which membership is based at the
 time he or she was ordered to active duty pursuant to Title  10  of  the
 United  States  Code,  with  the armed forces of the United States or to
 service in the uniformed services pursuant to Chapter 43 of Title 38  of
 the  United States Code and died while on such active duty or service in
 the uniformed services on or after June fourteenth, two thousand five.
   Provided, however, the head of  the  retirement  system  in  its  sole
 discretion  may  accept  an  application for an accidental death benefit
 after the expiration of the [sixty day] APPLICABLE filing period, where,
 but only where, an ordinary death benefit has not been previously paid.
   § 5. This act shall take effect January 1, 2019 and shall apply to the
 death of a member occurring on or after such date.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.