Senate Bill S7883

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7883
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 28, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  GALLIVAN, ORTT -- read twice and ordered printed,
   and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and
   Pensions
 
 AN ACT deeming Lawrence Lakeman to have died as a natural and  proximate
   result of his participation in the World Trade Center rescue, recovery
   or cleanup operations

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, rule or  regu-
 lation to the contrary, Lawrence Lakeman, who was previously employed by
 the  New York state police as a trooper and was a member of the New York
 state and local police and fire retirement system,  who  was  granted  a
 state  police disability retirement benefit on April 24, 2007 due to the
 incapacitation he sustained as a result  of  his  participation  in  the
 World  Trade  Center  rescue,  recovery  or cleanup operations, shall be
 deemed to have died as a natural and proximate result of such  incapaci-
 tation,  and  as such, his beneficiary, Audra Lakeman, shall be eligible
 to request and such request shall not be time barred, the conversion  of
 such  retiree's  state  police disability retirement benefit to an acci-
 dental death benefit, if such request to that effect is filed  with  the
 state comptroller within one year from the effective date of this act.
   §  2.  All  costs  of implementing the provisions of this act shall be
 borne by the state of New York and all participating  employers  in  the
 New York state and local police and fire retirement system.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill  will  provide  Audra  Lakeman, the beneficiary of deceased
 police officer Lawrence Lakeman's performance of duty  disability  bene-
 fit, the option to resubmit the Application for Conversion of Service or
 Disability  Retirement  to  Accidental  Death Benefit for Victims of the
 2001 World Trade Center Disaster, and that such application  be  consid-
 ered  by the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) without
 regard to the requirement that such  application  be  filed  within  two
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD13478-02-0

 S. 7883                             2
 
 years  of  the retiree's date of death as provided in Section 361 of the
 Retirement  and Social Security Law.
   If  this  bill  is  enacted during the 2020 legislative session, there
 will be an immediate past service cost of  approximately  $3.60  million
 which  will  be  shared  by  the State of New York and the participating
 employers of the New York State and Local  Police  and  Fire  Retirement
 System.  This  estimate  is based on the assumption that payment will be
 made on March 1, 2021.
   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, 2019 actuarial valu-
 ation.  Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the  2019
 Report  of  the  Actuary  and  the  2019  Comprehensive Annual Financial
 Report.
   The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2015,
 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 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, 2019
 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  February  6,  2020,  and intended for use only
 during the  2020  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2020-10,
 prepared  by  the  Actuary  for  the New York State and Local Retirement
 System.