Allows a beneficiary of a member whose death occurs on or after July 1, 2024 and who would have been entitled to a service credit at the time of such member's death to elect to receive a lump sum payment equal to the pension reserve that would have been established had the member retired on the date of such member's death.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9084
SPONSOR: Jones TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
allowing beneficiaries of certain deceased members to elect to receive
death benefits in a lump sum
PURPOSE:
To modify the in-service death benefit for participants in Section 89
retirement plan codified in the Retirement and Social Security Law
(RSSL).
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 adds a new paragraph 3 to subdivision b of Section 448 of the
Retirement and Social Security Law to authorize beneficiaries of the
Section 89 retirement plan participants to receive, in a lump sum, an
amount 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-in-creased-take-home pay, if any,
whichever is greater.
Section 1 amends subdivision b of Section 508 of the Retirement and
Social Security Law to provide the same benefit for members holding one
of the same Section 89 titles but in a different tier.
Section 3 is the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
This bill provides state correctional officers employed at the Depart-
ment of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) as well as securi-
ty hospital treatment assistants employed by the Office of Mental Health
(OMH) with a death gamble benefit. The death gamble was enacted for New
York law enforcement officers, firefighters and teachers in 2000 (Chap-
ter 554) to incentivize public employees who wish to work past retire-
ment age by providing that should the employee pass away before taking
retirement, his or her family shall be able to receive the full value of
his or her pension benefit. The death gamble was most recently extended
to Nassau and Suffolk County correction officers in Chapters 534 and 535
of 2021 - but not to DOCCS officers or any other type of frontline civil
servant.
In extending this benefit to the other civil service titles captured by
this bill, New York State can ensure that our most senior and experi-
enced correctional officers and security hospital treatment assistants
have some form of incentive to remain on the job past retirement eligi-
bility. Based on the number of seasoned employees leaving state service,
New York must ensure that those who can properly train our newest
employees remain in active service to ensure the safety of our correc-
tional and forensic psychiatric facilities.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023: S5849/A5630 (AM Jones) - vetoed by the Governor - memo 87
2021-2022: S.8400-A - Reported and Committed to Finance/A.9934 -
Referred to Governmental Employees
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
See fiscal note.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
