Bill Text: NY S04860 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Authorizes Janice Middlebrooks, the widow of William James Middlebrooks, to file a retirement option election on behalf of her deceased husband.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-05-31 - referred to governmental employees [S04860 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S04860-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         4860--A

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    February 16, 2021
                                       ___________

        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:

     1    Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
     2  Janice  Middlebrooks,  the  widow  of William James Middlebrooks who was
     3  employed by the Albion Correctional Facility, was a member  of  the  New
     4  York  state  and  local employees' retirement system, was diagnosed with
     5  cancer in January of 2004, was advised on October 31, 2004 that he would
     6  be unable to return to employment as the result of  his  malignancy  and
     7  the  treatment  therefor, and died on December 3, 2006 prior to filing a
     8  retirement election form with the New York state  and  local  employees'
     9  retirement system, shall be authorized to file such option election form
    10  on behalf of her deceased husband with a joint allowance full option, if
    11  on  or  before  December 31, 2022 she shall submit a request therefor to
    12  the state comptroller.   In addition,  his  application  for  disability
    13  retirement shall be deemed to have become effective on November 1, 2004.
    14  All  retirement  benefits payable pursuant to the provisions of this act
    15  shall be paid to Janice Middlebrooks and shall be  in  addition  to  any
    16  other death benefits paid.
    17    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          This  bill  would  authorize  Janice  Middlebrooks to file an ordinary
        disability application with a date of retirement of November 1, 2004 and
        an option election form with a joint allowance full option on behalf  of

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD07653-04-2
        S. 4860--A                          2

        her deceased husband William James Middlebrooks. The deceased received a
        disability  retirement which was paid beginning on 3/28/2005. Upon death
        all payments ceased because no option election form was filed. By filing
        the  disability  application  and an option election form, an additional
        benefit will be paid for the period beginning on 11/1/04 and  ending  on
        3/28/05,  and  a  benefit  will  continue to Janice Middlebrooks for her
        lifetime.
          If this bill is enacted during the  2022  legislative  session,  there
        will  be an immediate past service cost of $426,000 which will be shared
        by the State of New York and all of the participating employers  in  the
        New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System.
          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 23, 2022, and intended for  use  only  during
        the  2022  Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2022-145, prepared by
        the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.