Bill Text: NY S06223 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Authorizes Thomas Collins to file a request for change of benefit coverage with the New York state teachers' retirement system.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-06-01 - referred to governmental employees [S06223 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S06223-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         6223--A

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                     April 15, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen. REICHLIN-MELNICK -- 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  in relation to authorizing Thomas Collins to file a request for
          change of benefit coverage with the New York state  teachers'  retire-
          ment system

          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, Thomas Collins,
     2  who is currently a member of the New  York  state  teachers'  retirement
     3  system,  who  retired  from Pearl River School District on July 1, 2010,
     4  and who since his date of retirement  has  been  receiving  the  largest
     5  possible   retirement  benefit  under  the  maximum  retirement  benefit
     6  election, and who, for reasons not ascribable  to  his  own  negligence,
     7  even  upon  notice in 2010 from the retirement system of his election of
     8  the maximum retirement benefit election, failed to change his retirement
     9  option election prior to the expiration of the thirty days in accordance
    10  with article 11 of the education law and to nominate  his  wife  as  the
    11  beneficiary of the one hundred percent survivor option, shall be author-
    12  ized to change said maximum retirement option to the one hundred percent
    13  survivor  option,  if within one year of the effective date of this act,
    14  he shall file a written request on a form prescribed  by  the  New  York
    15  state  teachers'  retirement  system  with  the  head of said retirement
    16  system. Such change of benefit coverage shall be deemed to become effec-
    17  tive on July 1, 2010.
    18    § 2. Any  costs  attributable  to  implementation  of  the  retirement
    19  election  option  change, authorized by section one of this act, and the
    20  recovery for the overpayment received by Thomas Collins since  his  date

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08311-03-2

        S. 6223--A                          2

     1  of retirement to change his election from the maximum benefit to the one
     2  hundred  percent  joint  and  survivor option with Sandra Collins as the
     3  beneficiary, shall be borne by Thomas Collins. The costs shall be calcu-
     4  lated from the date of his retirement, July 1, 2010, to the date his new
     5  retirement option election, filed in accordance with section one of this
     6  act, is deemed effective with the System and upon receipt of his payment
     7  for  making said election. Any other costs attributable to the implemen-
     8  tation of this act shall be borne by the employers of members of the New
     9  York state teachers' retirement system.
    10    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          This bill would allow Thomas Collins, a retired member of the New York
        State Teachers' Retirement System, who elected the maximum  single  life
        benefit  upon  his  date  of  retirement  of  July 1, 2010 to change his
        retirement benefit to the 100% joint and survivor option benefit  desig-
        nating his spouse Sandra Collins as beneficiary of such optional form of
        benefit.    The 100% joint and survivor benefit would be effective as of
        his date of retirement. Mr. Collins would be required to re-pay  to  the
        Retirement System the excess of the maximum single life benefit over the
        100%  joint  and  survivor  option benefit that he has received from his
        date of retirement through the effective date of the change in his bene-
        fit. Mr. Collins must file a written request with the head  of  the  New
        York  State Teachers' Retirement System within one year of the effective
        date of this act.
          The total cost of this benefit cannot be determined. If this  bill  is
        enacted  the  Retirement  System will be providing a survivor benefit to
        Mr.  Collins' spouse. The ultimate cost of this benefit will  be  deter-
        mined  by how long Mr. Collins and his spouse live. Mr. Collins would be
        responsible for re-paying the overpayments he has received, which  total
        approximately $111,000. Allowing retired members to change their benefit
        option  after  retirement  weakens the pooling of longevity risk and the
        pricing of the options and would potentially result in actuarial losses.
          Member data is from  the  System's  most  recent  actuarial  valuation
        files,  consisting  of  data provided by the employers to the Retirement
        System.  Data distributions and statistics can be found in the  System's
        Annual  Report.  System assets are as reported in the System's financial
        statements and can also be found in the System's Annual Report.  Actuar-
        ial assumptions and methods are provided in the System's Actuarial Valu-
        ation Report and the 2021 Actuarial Assumptions Report.
          The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note  2022-23  dated  April  13,
        2022  prepared by the Office of the Actuary of the New York State Teach-
        ers' Retirement System and is intended for  use  only  during  the  2022
        Legislative  Session.  I, Richard A. Young, am the Chief Actuary for the
        New York State Teachers' Retirement System. I am a member of the  Ameri-
        can  Academy  of Actuaries and I meet the Qualification Standards of the
        American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion  contained
        herein.
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