Senate Bill S7817A

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  7817--A
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                May 9, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  BASKIN -- 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
 no  later  than  one  year from the effective date of this act 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, the widow of retiree
 William James Middlebrooks, to file a new joint  allowance  full  option
 election  form  with  the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD04512-05-6
              

 S. 7817--A                          2
 
 System (NYSLERS) and revise the member's date of retirement to  November
 1, 2004.
   There  will be an immediate past service cost of $489,000 as of Febru-
 ary 1, 2027, which will be shared  by  all  participating  employers  in
 NYSLERS.
   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.
   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 April 15, 2026, and intended for use only during
 the 2026 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note Number 2026-151.  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
 Professional 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.