Assembly Bill A7923

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7923
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               May 28, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Governmental Employees
 
 AN  ACT  to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
   death benefits for certain members  employed  by  Nassau,  Suffolk  or
   Westchester county
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
 a new section 508-b to read as follows:
   § 508-B. DEATH BENEFITS FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS EMPLOYED BY NASSAU COUNTY,
 SUFFOLK COUNTY OR WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 1. AS USED IN  THIS  SECTION,  THE
 FOLLOWING TERMS SHALL HAVE THE FOLLOWING MEANINGS:
   (A)   "NASSAU  COUNTY  EMPLOYEE"  SHALL  MEAN  A  CORRECTION  OFFICER,
 UNIFORMED CORRECTION DIVISION PERSONNEL, SHERIFF, UNDERSHERIFF OR DEPUTY
 SHERIFF, AS DEFINED IN SECTION EIGHTY-NINE-G OF THIS CHAPTER.
   (B) "SUFFOLK COUNTY EMPLOYEE" SHALL MEAN ANY  WARDEN,  DEPUTY  WARDEN,
 CORRECTION  CAPTAIN, CORRECTION LIEUTENANT, CORRECTION LIEUTENANT INVES-
 TIGATOR,  CORRECTION   SERGEANT,   CORRECTION   SERGEANT   INVESTIGATOR,
 CORRECTION  INVESTIGATOR,  CORRECTION  OFFICER, SHERIFF, UNDERSHERIFF OR
 DEPUTY SHERIFF WHO IS EMPLOYED BY SUFFOLK COUNTY.
   (C) "WESTCHESTER COUNTY EMPLOYEE" SHALL MEAN A SHERIFF,  DEPUTY  SHER-
 IFF,  UNDERSHERIFF,  CORRECTION  OFFICER,  CORRECTION  OFFICER-SERGEANT,
 CORRECTION OFFICER-CAPTAIN, ASSISTANT WARDEN, ASSOCIATE WARDEN OR WARDEN
 WHO IS EMPLOYED BY WESTCHESTER COUNTY AND IN  A  PLAN  THAT  ALLOWS  FOR
 IMMEDIATE  RETIREMENT  UPON  THE  COMPLETION  OF  A  SPECIFIED PERIOD OF
 SERVICE WITHOUT REGARD TO AGE.
   2. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY PROVISION OF  LAW  TO  THE  CONTRARY,  WHERE  A
 NASSAU  COUNTY  EMPLOYEE,  SUFFOLK COUNTY EMPLOYEE OR WESTCHESTER COUNTY
 EMPLOYEE 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
 THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION, THE BENEFICIARY OR BENEFICIARIES MAY
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD11413-03-9

 A. 7923                             2
 
 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.
   § 2. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new
 section 606-b to read as follows:
   § 606-B. DEATH BENEFITS FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS EMPLOYED BY NASSAU COUNTY,
 SUFFOLK COUNTY OR WESTCHESTER COUNTY. 1. AS USED IN  THIS  SECTION,  THE
 FOLLOWING TERMS SHALL HAVE THE FOLLOWING MEANINGS:
   (A)   "NASSAU  COUNTY  EMPLOYEE"  SHALL  MEAN  A  CORRECTION  OFFICER,
 UNIFORMED CORRECTION DIVISION PERSONNEL, SHERIFF, UNDERSHERIFF OR DEPUTY
 SHERIFF, AS DEFINED IN SECTION EIGHTY-NINE-G OF THIS CHAPTER.
   (B) "SUFFOLK COUNTY EMPLOYEE" SHALL MEAN ANY  WARDEN,  DEPUTY  WARDEN,
 CORRECTION  CAPTAIN, CORRECTION LIEUTENANT, CORRECTION LIEUTENANT INVES-
 TIGATOR,  CORRECTION   SERGEANT,   CORRECTION   SERGEANT   INVESTIGATOR,
 CORRECTION  INVESTIGATOR,  CORRECTION  OFFICER, SHERIFF, UNDERSHERIFF OR
 DEPUTY SHERIFF WHO IS EMPLOYED BY SUFFOLK COUNTY.
   (C) "WESTCHESTER COUNTY EMPLOYEE" SHALL MEAN A SHERIFF,  DEPUTY  SHER-
 IFF,  UNDERSHERIFF,  CORRECTION  OFFICER,  CORRECTION  OFFICER-SERGEANT,
 CORRECTION OFFICER-CAPTAIN, ASSISTANT WARDEN, ASSOCIATE WARDEN OR WARDEN
 WHO IS EMPLOYED BY WESTCHESTER COUNTY AND IN  A  PLAN  THAT  ALLOWS  FOR
 IMMEDIATE  RETIREMENT  UPON  THE  COMPLETION  OF  A  SPECIFIED PERIOD OF
 SERVICE WITHOUT REGARD TO AGE.
   2. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY PROVISION OF  LAW  TO  THE  CONTRARY,  WHERE  A
 NASSAU  COUNTY  EMPLOYEE,  SUFFOLK COUNTY EMPLOYEE OR WESTCHESTER COUNTY
 EMPLOYEE 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
 THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION, 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.
   § 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,  none
 of  the  provisions  of  this  act shall be subject to the appropriation
 requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
   § 4. All past service costs associated with this act shall be paid  by
 the counties of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester.  Each such county shall
 be responsible for one-third of such costs.
   § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill  would  modify  the in-service death benefit for retirement
 eligible tiers 3 through 6 members of  the  New  York  State  and  Local
 Employees'  Retirement  System  who  are  employed by Nassau, Suffolk or
 Westchester counties and are in certain correction officer, deputy sher-
 iff and warden job titles. The in-service  death  benefit  will  be  the
 value  of the pension reserve as if the member had retired on their date
 of death.
   If this legislation is enacted during the 2019 legislative session, we
 anticipate that there will be an increase in the annual contributions of
 the  counties  of  Nassau,  Suffolk  and  Westchester  of  approximately
 $110,000, $160,000 and $93,000, respectively.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an  immediate past service cost of approximately $8.94 million, of which

 A. 7923                             3
 
 $2.98 million is to be borne by each of the counties of Nassau,  Suffolk
 and Westchester as a one-time payment.
   These estimated costs are based on 940, 1,234 and 879 affected members
 employed by the counties of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester, respective-
 ly,  with  salaries  of approximately $106 million, $154 million and $88
 million, respectively.
   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, 2018 actuarial valu-
 ation.  Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the  2018
 Report  of  the  Actuary  and  the  2018  Comprehensive Annual Financial
 Report.
   The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2015,
 2016,  2017  and  2018  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, 2018
 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 May 16, 2019, and intended for  use  only  during
 the 2019 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2019-2, prepared by the
 Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.