Senate Bill S6406A

2025-2026 Legislative Session

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

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Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Civil Service And Pensions 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

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Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 09, 2026	print number 6406a
Jan 09, 2026	amend and recommit to civil service and pensions
Jan 07, 2026	referred to civil service and pensions
Mar 13, 2025	referred to civil service and pensions

Bill Amendments

Original

A (Active)

co-Sponsors

2025-S6406 - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A10843
Current Committee:: Senate Civil Service And Pensions
Law Section:: Retirement and Social Security Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§448 & 508, R & SS L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2021-2022: S8400, A9934
2023-2024: S5849, S8408, A5630, A9084

2025-S6406 - Summary

Allows a beneficiary of a member whose death occurs on or after July 1, 2026 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.

2025-S6406 - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S6406

SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
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:

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

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 adds a new paragraph 3 to subdivision b of Section 448 of the
Retirement and Social Security Law to authorize beneficiaries of the
Section 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 1 amends subdivision b of Section 508 of the Retirement and
Social Security Law to provide the same benefit for members holding one
of the same Section 89 titles but in a different tier.

Section 3 is 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.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2024: S8408/A9084 (AM Jones) - vetoes by the Governor - memo 82

2023:  S5849/A5630 (AM Jones) - vetoed by the Governor - memo 87

2021-2022: S.8400-A - Reported and Committed to Finance/A.9934 Referred
to Governmental Employees

 
STATE, AND LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

See fiscal note.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2025-S6406 - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6406
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 13, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. JACKSON -- 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-FIVE, 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
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD08636-02-5
 S. 6406                             2

 
 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
 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-FIVE, 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 retirement
 eligible members of the New York State and Local  Employees'  Retirement
 System  employed  by  New York State as 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 2025 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, 2026. In future  years  this  cost  will  vary  but  is
 expected to average 0.1% of salary annually.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an immediate past service cost of approximately $16.6 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, 2026.
   These estimated costs are based on 15,927 affected members employed by
 the State of New York, with annual salary of approximately $1.5  billion
 as of March 31, 2024.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership  data as of March 31, 2024 was used in measuring the impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2024 actuari-
 al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the
 2024  Report  of the Actuary and the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial
 Report.  The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the
 2024 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, 2024 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements
 and Supplementary Information.
 S. 6406                             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  26,  2025, and intended for use only
 during the 2025 Legislative Session, is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2025-62.  As
 Chief  Actuary  of  the  New  York State and Local Retirement System, I,
 Aaron Schottin Young, hereby certify that this  analysis  complies  with
 applicable  Actuarial  Standards  of  Practice  as  well  as the Code of
 Professional Conduct and Qualification Standards for  Actuaries  Issuing
 Statements of Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of
 which I am a member.

co-Sponsors

2025-S6406A (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A10843
Current Committee:: Senate Civil Service And Pensions
Law Section:: Retirement and Social Security Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§448 & 508, R & SS L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2021-2022: S8400, A9934
2023-2024: S5849, S8408, A5630, A9084

2025-S6406A (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S6406A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S6406A

SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
PURPOSE:  To modify the in-service death benefit for participants in
Section 89 retirement plan codified in the Retirement and Social Securi-
ty Law (RSSL).

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 adds a new paragraph 3 to subdivision b of Section 448 of the
Retirement and Social Security Law to authorize beneficiaries of the
Section 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 1 amends subdivision b of Section 508 of the Retirement and
Social Security Law to provide the same benefit for members holding one
of the same Section 89 titles but in a different tier.

Section 3 is 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
(OMB) 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.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2024: S8408/A9084 (AM Jones) - vetoes by the Governor - memo 82

2023: S5849/A5630 (AM Jones) - vetoed by the Governor - memo 87

2021-2022: S.8400-A - Reported and Committed to Finance/A.9934 Referred
to Governmental Employees

 
STATE, AND LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

See fiscal note.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2025-S6406A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  6406--A
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 13, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sens. JACKSON, HARCKHAM, WALCZYK -- 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 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-SIX, 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
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD08636-04-6

 S. 6406--A                          2
 
 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
 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-SIX, 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 retirement
 eligible members of the New York State and Local  Employees'  Retirement
 System  employed  by  the  state  of New York as 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.
   We  estimate  that  the  state of New York's annual contributions will
 increase $1.7 million beginning FYE 2027. Annual costs will vary but are
 expected to average 0.1% of salary.
   In addition, there will be an immediate past  service  cost  of  $25.6
 million  borne by the state of New York as a one-time payment. This cost
 assumes that payment will be made on March 1, 2027.
   These estimated costs are based on 14,529 affected members employed by
 the State of New York, with annual salary of approximately $1.6  billion
 as of March 31, 2025.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership data as of March 31, 2025 was used to measure the impact of
 the  bill, the same data used in the Actuarial Valuations dated April 1,
 2025. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2025 Report
 of the Actuary and the 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial  Report.  The
 actuarial  assumptions and methods used are described in the 2025 Annual
 Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules
 and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and  Control.  The  fair
 value  of assets and GASB disclosures can be found in the 2025 Financial
 Statements and Supplementary Information.
 S. 6406--A                          3

   Assumptions, demographics, and  other  considerations  may  have  been
 modified  to  better reflect specific provisions of any proposed benefit
 change(s).
   This  fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability
 of the bill, nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the profes-
 sional judgment of an attorney.
   This estimate, dated January 5, 2026, and intended for use only during
 the 2026 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note Number  2026-18.  As  Chief
 Actuary  of  the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS), I,
 Aaron Schottin Young, hereby certify that this  analysis  complies  with
 applicable  Actuarial  Standards of Practice as well as the Code of Pro-
 fessional Conduct and  Qualification  Standards  for  Actuaries  Issuing
 Statements of Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of
 which  I  am  a  member.  I  am a member of NYSLRS but do not believe it
 impairs my objectivity.

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Senate Bill S6406A

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Civil Service And Pensions Committee

Actions

Bill Amendments

co-Sponsors

2025-S6406 - Details

2025-S6406 - Summary

2025-S6406 - Sponsor Memo

2025-S6406 - Bill Text download pdf

co-Sponsors

2025-S6406A (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S6406A (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S6406A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S6406A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

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Sponsored By

Robert Jackson

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Civil Service And Pensions Committee

Actions

Bill Amendments

co-Sponsors

Pete Harckham

Mark Walczyk

2025-S6406 - Details

2025-S6406 - Summary

2025-S6406 - Sponsor Memo

2025-S6406 - Bill Text download pdf

co-Sponsors

Pete Harckham

Julia Salazar

Mark Walczyk

2025-S6406A (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S6406A (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S6406A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S6406A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments