Senate Bill S2519

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   2519
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 23, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  GALLIVAN,  KENNEDY,  ORTT, WEIK -- read twice and
   ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee  on
   Civil Service and Pensions
 
 AN  ACT  to  deem an application filed with the New York state and local
   police and fire retirement system by the widow of Lawrence Lakeman  as
   timely filed

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of any  general  or  special
 law,  rule  or regulation to the contrary, an application for conversion
 of service or disability retirement to  accidental  death  benefits  for
 victims  of  the 2001 World Trade Center disaster filed by Audra Lakeman
 with the New York state and local police and fire retirement system,  on
 behalf  of  her  deceased  husband  Lawrence  Lakeman who was previously
 employed by the New York State Police as a trooper and who was granted a
 disability retirement benefit  on  April  24,  2007  which  pursuant  to
 section  361  of  the retirement and social security law had to be filed
 with such retirement system by August 24, 2009 but was filed on December
 16, 2016 shall be considered timely filed.
   § 2. All costs of implementing the provisions of  this  act  shall  be
 borne by the state of New York.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill  would  deem  the  Application for Conversion of Service or
 Disability Retirement to Accidental Death Benefit  for  Victims  of  the
 2001  World Trade Center Disaster originally filed by Audra Lakeman, the
 beneficiary of deceased police officer Lawrence Lakeman's performance of
 duty disability benefit, on  December  16,  2016  to  be  timely  filed.
 Lawrence  Lakeman  died on August 24, 2007. Such application for conver-
 sion is required to be filed within two years of  a  retiree's  date  of
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00554-02-3
 S. 2519                             2
              

 
 death  as  provided in Section 361 of the Retirement and Social Security
 Law.
   If  this  bill  is  enacted during the 2023 legislative session, there
 will be an immediate past service cost of  approximately  $4.87  million
 which will be borne by the State of New York as a one-time payment. This
 estimate assumes that payment will be made on March 1, 2024.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership  data as of March 31, 2022 was used in measuring the impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2022 actuari-
 al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the
 2022  Report  of the Actuary and the 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial
 Report.
   The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2020,
 2021,  and  2022  Annual  Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assump-
 tions, 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, 2022
 New  York  State  and  Local  Retirement System Financial Statements and
 Supplementary Information.
   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 January 13,  2023,  and  intended  for  use  only
 during the 2023 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2023-8, prepared
 by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.