S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  5633--A
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 10, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. KENNEDY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
   -- recommitted to the Committee  on  Civil  Service  and  Pensions  in
   accordance  with  Senate  Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
   amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said  commit-
   tee
 
 AN  ACT  to  authorize the widow of William James Middlebrooks to file a
   retirement option election form
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
 Janice  Middlebrooks,  the  widow  of William James Middlebrooks who was
 employed by the Albion Correctional Facility, was a member  of  the  New
 York  state  and  local employees' retirement system, was diagnosed with
 cancer in January of 2004, was advised on October 31, 2004 that he would
 be unable to return to employment as the result of  his  malignancy  and
 the  treatment  therefor, and died on December 3, 2006 prior to filing a
 retirement election form with the New York state  and  local  employees'
 retirement system, shall be authorized to file such option election form
 on behalf of her deceased husband with a joint allowance full option, if
 on  or  before  December 31, 2024 she shall submit a request therefor to
 the state comptroller.   In addition,  his  application  for  disability
 retirement shall be deemed to have become effective on November 1, 2004.
 All  retirement  benefits payable pursuant to the provisions of this act
 shall be paid to Janice Middlebrooks and shall be  in  addition  to  any
 other death benefits paid.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill  would  authorize  Janice  Middlebrooks  to  file an option
 election form with a joint allowance full  option  on  behalf  of  their
 deceased husband William James Middlebrooks. In addition, the deceased's

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD01651-04-4
              

 S. 5633--A                          2
 
 application  for  disability  retirement  shall be deemed to have become
 effective on November 1,  2004.  The  deceased  was  paid  a  disability
 retirement benefit beginning on March 28, 2005. All payments ceased upon
 death  because  no  option election form had been filed. If this bill is
 enacted, and a new option election form is filed, an additional  benefit
 will be paid to Janice Middlebrooks for the period beginning on November
 1,  2004  and  ending  on  March 28, 2005 and a benefit continuance will
 begin to be paid to them for their lifetime.
   If this bill is enacted  during  the  2024  Legislative  Session,  and
 Janice  Middlebrooks  timely  files  the  required option election form,
 there will be an immediate past service cost of  approximately  $456,000
 which  will be shared by the State of New York and all local participat-
 ing employers in the New York  State  and  Local  Employees'  Retirement
 System.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership  data as of March 31, 2023 was used in measuring the impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2023 actuari-
 al valuation.  Distributions and other statistics can be  found  in  the
 2023  Report  of the Actuary and the 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial
 Report.
   The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in  the  2023
 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, 2023
 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 March 4, 2024, and intended for use  only  during
 the  2024  Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2024-130, prepared by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.