What's happening
This bill allows certain Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester county correction employees' beneficiaries to receive a lump-sum death benefit equal to the pension reserve if the employee dies eligible for retirement.
Why it matters
Provides greater financial security for families. of correction officers and similar employees in Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties, potentially resulting in a significantly larger death benefit payment than current law, especially for those who die just before retirement.
Addresses a gap in existing benefits. by allowing beneficiaries to receive the full value of the member’s pension reserve rather than a standard death benefit, recognizing the risks and demands faced by these public safety employees as they approach retirement.
Shifts fiscal responsibility to local counties. , requiring Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester to cover both the immediate and ongoing costs of the enhanced benefit, which could impact county budgets and resource allocation.
May influence recruitment and retention. for correctional and law enforcement positions in these counties, as enhanced survivor benefits can be a significant factor in employment decisions for high-risk public sector jobs.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Expand Death Benefits Coverage
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to civil service and pensions
- Print number 6060a
- Amend and recommit to civil service and pensions
- Referred to civil service and pensions
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Expand Death Benefits Coverage
In Assembly Committee · Governmental Employees · Sponsor Peter Abbate
Full text
3 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6060--A
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 16, 2019
Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions -- 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 death benefits for certain members employed by Nassau, Suffolk or Westchester county
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new section 508-b to read as follows:
§ 508-b. Death benefits for certain members employed by Nassau county, Suffolk county or Westchester county. 1. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(a) "Nassau county employee" shall mean a correction officer, uniformed correction division personnel, sheriff, undersheriff or deputy sheriff, as defined in section eighty-nine-g of this chapter.
(b) "Suffolk county employee" shall mean any warden, deputy warden, correction captain, correction lieutenant, correction lieutenant investigator, correction sergeant, correction sergeant investigator, correction investigator, correction officer, sheriff, undersheriff or deputy sheriff who is employed by Suffolk county.
(c) "Westchester county employee" shall mean a sheriff, deputy sheriff, undersheriff, correction officer, correction officer-sergeant, correction officer-captain, assistant warden, associate warden or warden who is employed by Westchester county and in a plan that allows for immediate retirement upon the completion of a specified period of service without regard to age.
2. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, where a Nassau county employee, Suffolk county employee or Westchester county employee would have been entitled to a service retirement benefit at the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11413-04-9
S. 6060--A 2
time of his or her death and where his or her death occurs on or after the effective date of this section, the beneficiary or beneficiaries 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 his or her death, or the value of the death benefit and the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if any, whichever is greater.
§ 2. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new section 606-b to read as follows:
§ 606-b. Death benefits for certain members employed by Nassau county, Suffolk county or Westchester county. 1. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(a) "Nassau county employee" shall mean a correction officer, uniformed correction division personnel, sheriff, undersheriff or deputy sheriff, as defined in section eighty-nine-g of this chapter.
(b) "Suffolk county employee" shall mean any warden, deputy warden, correction captain, correction lieutenant, correction lieutenant investigator, correction sergeant, correction sergeant investigator, correction investigator, correction officer, sheriff, undersheriff or deputy sheriff who is employed by Suffolk county.
(c) "Westchester county employee" shall mean a sheriff, deputy sheriff, undersheriff, correction officer, correction officer-sergeant, correction officer-captain, assistant warden, associate warden or warden who is employed by Westchester county and in a plan that allows for immediate retirement upon the completion of a specified period of service without regard to age.
2. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, where a Nassau county employee, Suffolk county employee or Westchester county employee would have been entitled to a service retirement benefit at the time of his or her death and where his or her death occurs on or after the effective date of this section, the beneficiary or beneficiaries 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 his or her death, or the value of the death benefit and the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if any, whichever is greater.
§ 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none of the provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
§ 4. All past service costs associated with this act shall be paid by the counties of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester. Each such county shall be responsible for one-third of such costs.
§ 5. 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 tiers 3 through 6 members of the New York State and Local
Employees' Retirement System who are employed by Nassau, Suffolk or
Westchester counties and are in certain correction officer, deputy sher-
iff and warden job titles. 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 legislation is enacted during the 2019 legislative session, we
anticipate that there will be an increase in the annual contributions of
the counties of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester of approximately
$110,000, $160,000 and $93,000, respectively.
S. 6060--A 3
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of approximately $8.94 million, of which
$2.98 million is to be borne by each of the counties of Nassau, Suffolk
and Westchester as a one-time payment.
These estimated costs are based on 940, 1,234 and 879 affected members
employed by the counties of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester, respective-
ly, with salaries of approximately $106 million, $154 million and $88
million, respectively.
Summary of relevant resources:
The membership data used in measuring the impact of the proposed
change was the same as that used in the March 31, 2018 actuarial valu-
ation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2018
Report of the Actuary and the 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015,
2016, 2017 and 2018 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, 2018
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 16, 2019, and intended for use only during
the 2019 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2019-2, prepared by the
Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to death benefits for certain members employed by Nassau, Suffolk or Westchester county
Purpose or general idea of bill
To provide enhanced death benefits to the beneficiaries of corrections officers in Westchester, Nassau, and Suffolk Counties when the officers die before they can receive their pension
Summary of provisions
Section 1 adds a new section 508-b to Retirement and Social Security Law to provide that where certain corrections employees in Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties who are eligible for a service retirement bene- fit but still actively employed die before they take that benefit, their beneficiaries may elect to receive the value of the decedent's pension or a death benefit and the reserve-for- increased-take-home-pay, which- ever is greater, in a lump sum payment.
Section 2 adds a new section 606-b to Retirement and Social Security Law to provide that where certain corrections employees in Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties who are eligible for a service retirement bene- fit but still actively employed die before they take that benefit, their beneficiaries may elect to receive the value of the decedent's pension or a death benefit and the reserve-for- increased-take-home-pay, which- ever is greater, in a lump sum payment.
Section 3 provides that this bill is not subject to the appropriation requirement of Section 25 of the Retirement and Social Security Law.
Section 4 provides that all past service costs associated with this act shall be paid by the counties of Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester, split by one-third each.
Section 5 provides that the act shall take effect immediately.
Justification
The men and women who patrol our prisons have one of the most dangerous and violent professions in the state, with the number of assaults on corrections officers increasing from 556 in 2007 to 760 in 2016. Many seek to retire with a well-fought public pension once they reach retire- ment age and are fully vested, rightfully predicting that the longer they stay in their jobs, the more likely they will someday become the victim of an assault that seriously injures or kills them. There is thus insufficient incentive to continue reporting to a job that presents great risk and little reward for each additional year served. Yet at the same time, the corrections system would benefit greatly from keeping these seasoned officers around.
This bill aims to correct this predicament and offer justice to surviv- ing families by enhancing the death benefits for deceased corrections officers. Currently, in the majority of cases the families of pension- eligible corrections officers in New York State who die before they take retirement receive a death benefit of three times the officer's final year earnings raised to the next highest multiple of $1,000. This lump sum payment leaves many surviving families in the lurch as it provides for only three years worth of lost wages. This bill would allow these families the option of receiving either A) the traditional death benefit of three times final average salary or B) the full amount of the pension the officer earned and would have received if still alive. This change will both give seasoned, valuable officers more of an incentive to stay and provide their families a much-needed financial cushion in the event of their premature death.
Fiscal implications
See bill.
Effective date
This bill would take effect immediately
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.