NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8868
SPONSOR: Barclay TITLE OF BILL:
An act to deem an application filed with the New York state and local
police and fire retirement system by the widow of Paul C. Adam as timely
filed
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This legislation would allow for the application for conversion of
service or retirement to accidental death benefits for victims of the
2001 World Trade Center disaster filed by Cynthia Adam on behalf of Paul
C. Adam, who was granted a service retirement with the New York State
and Local Police and Fire Retirement System to be deemed timely.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one permits that a request may be made, without being time
barred, to convert such retiree's disability retirement benefit to an
accidental death benefit.
Section 2 states all costs of this act shall be paid by the State of New
York.
Section 3 establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Paul Adam, a Lieutenant with the New York State Department of Environ-
mental Conservation, was deployed to Ground Zero after the September
11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. Lt. Adam subsequently developed abdominal
cancer, which arose due to his service as a uniformed law enforcement
officer.
Lt. Adam having died as a result of the illness that was sustained due
to such deployment necessitates the passage of this important legis-
lation to afford his widow, Mrs. Adam, the ability to timely file for an
accidental death benefit.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
Assuming this bill is enacted during the 2024 legislative session, there
will be an immediate past service cost of approximately $3.17 million,
which will be borne by the State of New York as a one-time payment
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8868
IN ASSEMBLY
January 24, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BARCLAY -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to deem an application filed with the New York state and local
police and fire retirement system by the widow of Paul C. Adam as
timely filed
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special
2 law, rule or regulation to the contrary, an application for conversion
3 of service or disability retirement to accidental death benefits for
4 victims of the 2001 World Trade Center disaster filed by Cynthia Adam
5 with the New York state and local police and fire retirement system, on
6 behalf of her deceased husband Paul C. Adam who was previously employed
7 by the department of environmental conservation and who was granted a
8 service retirement benefit in March 2013, which was filed on September
9 11, 2018 shall be considered timely filed.
10 § 2. All costs of implementing the provisions of this act shall be
11 borne by the state of New York.
12 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would deem the Application for Conversion of Service or
Disability Retirement to Accidental Death Benefit for Victims of the
2001 World Trade Center Disaster originally filed by Cynthia Adam, the
beneficiary of deceased environmental conservation police officer Paul
Adam, on September 11, 2018 to be timely filed. Paul Adam died on
September 8, 2015. Such application for conversion is required to be
filed within two years of a retiree's date of death as provided in
Section 361 of the Retirement and Social Security Law.
If this bill is enacted during the 2024 Legislative Session, there
will be an immediate past service cost of approximately $3.17 million
which will be borne by the State of New York as a one-time payment. This
estimate assumes that payment will be made on March 1, 2025.
Summary of relevant resources:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13351-04-4
A. 8868 2
Membership data as of March 31, 2023 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2023 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2023 Report of the Actuary and the 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2023
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, 2023
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 January 10, 2024, and intended for use only
during the 2024 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2024-5, prepared
by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
