NY State Senate Bill 2021-S8400A

Senate Bill S8400A

2021-2022 Legislative Session

Allows beneficiaries of certain deceased members to elect to receive death benefits in a lump sum

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Finance 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
May 10, 2022	reported and committed to finance
Mar 11, 2022	print number 8400a
Mar 11, 2022	amend and recommit to civil service and pensions
Feb 23, 2022	referred to civil service and pensions

Votes

- May 9, 2022 - Civil Service And Pensions Committee Vote
  S8400A
  
  7
  
  Aye
  
  0
  
  Nay
  
  0
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Civil Service And Pensions Committee Vote: May 9, 2022
      
      aye (7)
      
      Addabbo Jr.
      
      Akshar
      
      Gounardes
      
      Jackson
      
      Mannion
      
      Savino
      
      Weik

Bill Amendments

Original

A (Active)

2021-S8400 - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A9934
Current Committee:: Senate Finance
Law Section:: Retirement and Social Security Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§448 & 508, R & SS L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:: S5849, S8408, A5630, A9084

2021-S8400 - Summary

Allows a beneficiary of a member whose death occurs on or after July 1, 2022 and who would have been entitled to a service credit at the time of such member's death to elect to receive a lump sum payment equal to the pension reserve that would have been established had the member retired on the date of such member's death.

2021-S8400 - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8400

SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
allowing beneficiaries of certain deceased members to elect to receive
death benefits in a lump sum

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To modify the in-service death benefit for participants in § 89 retire-
ment plan codified in the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL).

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill amends subdivision b of section 448 of RSSL to
authorize beneficiaries of the § 89 retirement plan participants to
receive, in a lump sum, an amount 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-in-
creased-take-home pay, if any, whichever is greater.

Section two of the bill amends subdivision b of section 508 of RSSL to
provide the same benefit for members holding one of the same § 89 titles
but in a different tier.

Section three of this bill sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

This bill provides state correctional officers employed at the Depart-
ment of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) as well as securi-
ty hospital treatment assistants employed by the Office of Mental Health
(OMH) with a death gamble benefit. The death gamble was enacted for New
York law enforcement officers, firefighters and teachers in 2000 (Chap-
ter 554) to incentivize public employees who wish to work past retire-
ment age by providing that should the employee pass away before taking
retirement, his or her family shall be able to receive the full value of
his or her pension benefit. The death gamble was most recently extended
to Nassau and Suffolk County correction officers in Chapters 534 and 535
of 2021 - but not to DOCCS officers or any other type of frontline civil
servant.

In extending this benefit to the other civil service titles captured by
this bill, New York State can ensure that our most senior and experi-
enced correctional officers and security hospital treatment assistants
have some form of incentive to remain on the job past retirement eligi-
bility. Based on the number of seasoned employees leaving state service,
New York must ensure that those who can properly train our newest
employees remain in active service to ensure the safety of our correc-
tional and forensic psychiatric facilities.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

None

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

See bill

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate

2021-S8400 - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8400
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 23, 2022
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- 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
   allowing beneficiaries of certain deceased members to elect to receive
   death benefits in a lump sum
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision b of section 448 of the retirement and social
 security law is amended by adding a new paragraph 3 to read as follows:
   3. PROVIDED FURTHER, NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS ARTI-
 CLE TO THE CONTRARY, WHERE THE MEMBER IS IN A TITLE AS DEFINED IN SUBDI-
 VISION I OF SECTION EIGHTY-NINE OF THIS CHAPTER,  AND  WOULD  HAVE  BEEN
 ENTITLED  TO  A  SERVICE RETIREMENT BENEFIT AT THE TIME OF SUCH MEMBER'S
 DEATH AND WHERE SUCH MEMBER'S DEATH OCCURS ON OR AFTER JULY  FIRST,  TWO
 THOUSAND  TWENTY-TWO, 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  SUCH
 MEMBER'S  DEATH,  OR THE VALUE OF THE DEATH BENEFIT AND THE RESERVE-FOR-
 INCREASED-TAKE-HOME-PAY, IF ANY, WHICHEVER IS GREATER.
   § 2. Subdivision b of section 508 of the retirement and social securi-
 ty law, as amended by chapter 476 of the laws of  2018,  is  amended  to
 read as follows:
   b.  A  member of a retirement system subject to the provisions of this
 article who is a police officer, firefighter, correction officer, inves-
 tigator revised plan member or sanitation worker and is in a plan  which
 permits  immediate  retirement  upon completion of a specified period of
 service without regard to age or who is subject  to  the  provisions  of
 section  five  hundred  four or five hundred five of this article, shall
 upon completion of ninety days  of  service  be  covered  for  financial
 protection  in  the  event of death in service pursuant to this subdivi-
 sion.
   1. Such death benefit shall be equal to three times the member's sala-
 ry raised to the next highest multiple of one thousand dollars,  but  in
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD14308-03-2
 S. 8400                             2
 
 no  event  shall  it  exceed three times the maximum salary specified in
 section one hundred thirty of the civil service law or, in the case of a
 member of a retirement system other than the New  York  city  employees'
 retirement  system,  or  in  the  case  of a member of the New York city
 employees'  retirement  system  who  is  a  New  York   city   uniformed
 correction/sanitation  revised  plan  member  or an investigator revised
 plan member, the specific limitations specified for age of entrance into
 service contained in subparagraphs (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f)  of  para-
 graph two of subdivision a of this section.
   2. PROVIDED FURTHER, NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS ARTI-
 CLE TO THE CONTRARY, WHERE THE MEMBER IS IN A TITLE AS DEFINED IN SUBDI-
 VISION  I  OF  SECTION  EIGHTY-NINE OF THIS CHAPTER, AND WOULD HAVE BEEN
 ENTITLED TO A SERVICE RETIREMENT BENEFIT AT THE TIME  OF  SUCH  MEMBER'S
 DEATH  AND  WHERE SUCH MEMBER'S DEATH OCCURS ON OR AFTER JULY FIRST, TWO
 THOUSAND TWENTY-TWO, 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 SUCH
 MEMBER'S DEATH, OR THE VALUE OF THE DEATH BENEFIT AND  THE  RESERVE-FOR-
 INCREASED-TAKE-HOME-PAY, IF ANY, WHICHEVER IS GREATER.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill  would  modify  the  in-service  death  benefit for tiers 2
 through 6 state correction  officers  and  security  hospital  treatment
 assistants.  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 bill is enacted during the 2022 legislative session, we antic-
 ipate that there will be an increase of approximately  $1.7  million  in
 the  annual  contributions  of the State of New York for the fiscal year
 ending March 31, 2023. In future years, this cost will vary as the bill-
 ing rates and salary of the affected members change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an immediate past service cost of approximately $3.54 million which will
 be borne by the State of New York as a one-time payment.  This  estimate
 is based on the assumption that payment will be made on March 1, 2023.
   These estimated costs are based on 18,958 affected members employed by
 the  State of New York, with annual salary of approximately $1.6 billion
 as of March 31, 2021.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership data as of March 31, 2021 was used in measuring the  impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2021 actuari-
 al  valuation.    Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
 2021 Report of the Actuary and the 2021 Comprehensive  Annual  Financial
 Report.
   The  actuarial  assumptions and methods used are described in the 2020
 and 2021 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, 2021
 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.
 S. 8400                             3
 
   This  estimate,  dated  February  17,  2022, and intended for use only
 during the  2022  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2022-62,
 prepared  by  the  Actuary  for  the New York State and Local Retirement
 System.

co-Sponsors

2021-S8400A (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A9934
Current Committee:: Senate Finance
Law Section:: Retirement and Social Security Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§448 & 508, R & SS L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:: S5849, S8408, A5630, A9084

2021-S8400A (ACTIVE) - Summary

2021-S8400A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8400A

SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
allowing beneficiaries of certain deceased members to elect to receive
death benefits in a lump sum

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To modify the in-service death benefit for participants in § 89 retire-
ment plan codified in the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL).

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill amends subdivision b of section 448 of RSSL to
authorize beneficiaries of the § 89 retirement plan participants to
receive, in a lump sum, an amount 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-in-
creased-take-home pay, if any, whichever is greater.

Section two of the bill amends subdivision b of section 508 of RSSL to
provide the same benefit for members holding one of the same § 89 titles
but in a different tier.

Section three of this bill sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

This bill provides state correctional officers employed at the Depart-
ment of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) as well as securi-
ty hospital treatment assistants employed by the Office of Mental Health
(OMH) with a death gamble benefit. The death gamble was enacted for New
York law enforcement officers, firefighters and teachers in 2000 (Chap-
ter 554) to incentivize public employees who wish to work past retire-
ment age by providing that should the employee pass away before taking
retirement, his or her family shall be able to receive the full value of
his or her pension benefit. The death gamble was most recently extended
to Nassau and Suffolk County correction officers in Chapters 534 and 535
of 2021 - but not to DOCCS officers or any other type of frontline civil
servant.

In extending this benefit to the other civil service titles captured by
this bill, New York State can ensure that our most senior and experi-
enced correctional officers and security hospital treatment assistants
have some form of incentive to remain on the job past retirement eligi-
bility. Based on the number of seasoned employees leaving state service,
New York must ensure that those who can properly train our newest
employees remain in active service to ensure the safety of our correc-
tional and forensic psychiatric facilities.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

None

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

See bill

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate

2021-S8400A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  8400--A
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 23, 2022
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
   --  committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended
   and recommitted to said committee
 
 AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
   allowing beneficiaries of certain deceased members to elect to receive
   death benefits in a lump sum
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision b of section 448 of the retirement  and  social
 security law is amended by adding a new paragraph 3 to read as follows:
   3. PROVIDED FURTHER, NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS ARTI-
 CLE TO THE CONTRARY, WHERE THE MEMBER IS IN A TITLE AS DEFINED IN SUBDI-
 VISION  I  OF  SECTION  EIGHTY-NINE OF THIS CHAPTER, AND WOULD HAVE BEEN
 ENTITLED TO A SERVICE RETIREMENT BENEFIT AT THE TIME  OF  SUCH  MEMBER'S
 DEATH  AND  WHERE SUCH MEMBER'S DEATH OCCURS ON OR AFTER JULY FIRST, TWO
 THOUSAND TWENTY-TWO, 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 SUCH
 MEMBER'S DEATH, OR THE VALUE OF THE DEATH BENEFIT AND  THE  RESERVE-FOR-
 INCREASED-TAKE-HOME-PAY, IF ANY, WHICHEVER IS GREATER.
   § 2. Subdivision b of section 508 of the retirement and social securi-
 ty  law,  as  amended  by chapter 476 of the laws of 2018, is amended to
 read as follows:
   b. A member of a retirement system subject to the provisions  of  this
 article who is a police officer, firefighter, correction officer, inves-
 tigator  revised plan member or sanitation worker and is in a plan which
 permits immediate retirement upon completion of a  specified  period  of
 service  without  regard  to  age or who is subject to the provisions of
 section five hundred four or five hundred five of  this  article,  shall
 upon  completion  of  ninety  days  of  service be covered for financial
 protection in the event of death in service pursuant  to  this  subdivi-
 sion.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD14308-04-2
 S. 8400--A                          2
 
   1. Such death benefit shall be equal to three times the member's sala-
 ry  raised  to the next highest multiple of one thousand dollars, but in
 no event shall it exceed three times the  maximum  salary  specified  in
 section one hundred thirty of the civil service law or, in the case of a
 member  of  a  retirement system other than the New York city employees'
 retirement system, or in the case of a  member  of  the  New  York  city
 employees'   retirement   system  who  is  a  New  York  city  uniformed
 correction/sanitation revised plan member  or  an  investigator  revised
 plan member, the specific limitations specified for age of entrance into
 service  contained  in subparagraphs (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) of para-
 graph two of subdivision a of this section.
   2. PROVIDED FURTHER, NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS ARTI-
 CLE TO THE CONTRARY, WHERE THE MEMBER IS IN A TITLE AS DEFINED IN SUBDI-
 VISION I OF SECTION EIGHTY-NINE OF THIS CHAPTER,  AND  WOULD  HAVE  BEEN
 ENTITLED  TO  A  SERVICE RETIREMENT BENEFIT AT THE TIME OF SUCH MEMBER'S
 DEATH AND WHERE SUCH MEMBER'S DEATH OCCURS ON OR AFTER JULY  FIRST,  TWO
 THOUSAND  TWENTY-TWO, 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  SUCH
 MEMBER'S  DEATH,  OR THE VALUE OF THE DEATH BENEFIT AND THE RESERVE-FOR-
 INCREASED-TAKE-HOME-PAY, IF ANY, WHICHEVER IS GREATER.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would modify  the  in-service  death  benefit  for  tiers  2
 through  6  state  correction  officers  and security hospital treatment
 assistants. 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 bill is enacted during the 2022 legislative session, we antic-
 ipate  that  there  will be an increase of approximately $1.7 million in
 the annual contributions of the State of New York for  the  fiscal  year
 ending March 31, 2023. In future years, this cost will vary as the bill-
 ing rates and salary of the affected members change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an immediate past service cost of approximately $10.3 million which will
 be  borne  by the State of New York as a one-time payment. This estimate
 is based on the assumption that payment will be made on March 1, 2023.
   These estimated costs are based on 18,958 affected members employed by
 the State of New York, with annual salary of approximately $1.6  billion
 as of March 31, 2021.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership  data as of March 31, 2021 was used in measuring the impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2021 actuari-
 al valuation.  Distributions and other statistics can be  found  in  the
 2021  Report  of the Actuary and the 2021 Comprehensive Annual Financial
 Report.
   The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in  the  2020
 and  2021 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, 2021
 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.
 S. 8400--A                          3
 
   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  25,  2022, and intended for use only
 during the  2022  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2022-62,
 prepared  by  the  Actuary  for  the New York State and Local Retirement
 System.

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.