Bill Text: NY S02935 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Authorizes Robin Garfinkle, the widow of Howard Mahler, to file a retirement option election form on behalf of her deceased husband.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-06-01 - referred to governmental employees [S02935 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S02935-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         2935--A

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 26, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sen. KAMINSKY -- 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 Howard Mahler 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:

     1    Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
     2  Robin  Garfinkle,  the  widow  of Howard Mahler, who was employed by the
     3  Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services and was  a  member  of
     4  the  New York state and local employees' retirement system, and who died
     5  on December 23, 2014 prior to filing a retirement election form with the
     6  New York state and local employees' retirement system and after 28 years
     7  and 11 months of state service, shall be authorized to file such  option
     8  election  form  on behalf of her deceased husband with a joint allowance
     9  full option, if on or before one year after the effective date  of  this
    10  act  she  shall  submit  a request therefor to the state comptroller. In
    11  addition, Howard Mahler's date of retirement shall  be  deemed  to  have
    12  been December 22, 2014.
    13    § 2. All costs shall be borne by the state of New York, and the amount
    14  payable  to  Robin  Garfinkle  shall  be  the full amount otherwise owed
    15  pursuant to the provisions of this act, except any amounts paid  by  the
    16  New  York  state and local employees' retirement system as the result of
    17  the death of Howard Mahler prior to the filing  of  the  request  for  a
    18  service  retirement  benefit pursuant to this act shall be deducted from
    19  the service retirement benefit payable thereafter.
    20    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE.-- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03621-03-2
        S. 2935--A                          2

          This bill would deem Howard Mahler eligible for a  service  retirement
        benefit  effective  December  22, 2014, notwithstanding the fact that he
        died on December 23, 2014.  Robin Garfinkle, the widow of Howard Mahler,
        shall be authorized to file a service retirement application with a date
        of retirement of December 22, 2014 and an option election form selecting
        the  joint  allowance  full option on behalf of the deceased. The amount
        paid to Robin Garfinkle shall be less any sums previously  paid  by  the
        retirement system to any beneficiary of Howard Mahler.
          If  this  bill  is  enacted during the 2022 legislative session, there
        will be an immediate past service cost of  approximately  $1.13  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.
          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.
          This  estimate,  dated  May 12, 2022, and intended for use only during
        the 2022 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2022-141,  prepared  by
        the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.