NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7892
SPONSOR: Abbate TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the retirement and social security
law, in relation to extending the period of time to file an application
for an accidental death benefit after the death of a member of the New
York state and local employees' retirement system or the New York state
and local police and fire retirement system
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to extend the period of time to 5 years
within which to file an application for an Accidental Death Benefit
after the death of a member of the New York State and Local Retirement
System or the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System
(collectively NYSLRS).
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of this bill amends the section heading and the opening para-
graph of subdivision a of section 61 of the retirement and social secu-
rity law to establish that an accidental death benefit shall be payable
upon the death of a eligible member upon application filed within five
years after the death of a member rather than within two years.
Section 2 of this bill amends the opening paragraph of subdivision a of
section 361 of the retirement and social security law to establish that
an accidental death benefit shall be payable upon the death of a eligi-
ble member upon application filed within five years after the death of a
member rather than within two years.
Section 3 of this bill amends the opening paragraph of subdivision a of
section 509 of the retirement and social security law to establish that
an accidental death benefit shall be payable upon the death of a eligi-
ble member upon application filed within five years after the death of a
member rather than within two years.
Section 4 of this bill amends subdivision a of section 607 of the
retirement and social security law to establish that an accidental death
benefit shall be payable upon the death of a eligible member upon appli-
cation filed within five years after the death of a member rather than
within sixty days.
Section 5 of this bill notwithstands the provisions of Section 25 of the
Retirement and Social Security Law.
Section 6 of this bill provides for an effective date of January 1, 2020
and further provides that the provisions of the bill shall apply to the
death of a member occurring on or after such date.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.11100/S.8895 of 2018
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently, the beneficiaries of NYSLRS members must file for an Acci-
dental Death Benefit within either 60 days of a member's death or within
two years of a member's death, depending on the deceased member's tier
and system. On occasion, the grieving process may prevent beneficiaries
from becoming aware of this benefit until after the filing period has
passed. Extending the filing period to five years from the date of the
member's death, allows a family sufficient time after the death of their
loved one in which to apply for an Accidental Death Benefit. Specif-
ically, these death benefits apply to the eligible beneficiaries of
vested members who die as a result of a qualifying World Trade Center
condition.
It is of utmost importance to the Comptroller to ensure that these bene-
ficiaries be given ample opportunity to take advantage of every benefit
available to them pursuant to the Retirement and Social Security Law.
Additionally, it standardizes the period in which to file for an Acci-
dental Death Benefit to 5 years from the member's date of death, across
the membership of NYSLRS.
Finally, the bill provides that notwithstanding any other provision of
law to the contrary, the provisions of this bill shall not be subject to
the provisions of section twenty-five of the retirement and social secu-
rity law requiring an appropriation in an amount equal to the value of
the benefits associated with prior service when enacted on a statewide
basis. This bill extends the filing deadline for accidental death bene-
fits from two to five years following the death of an active member
occurring on or after January 1, 2020. Since it is impossible to deter-
mine the number of members who could be affected specifically, and the
number of members who participated in World Trade Center rescue, recov-
ery or cleanup operations and who will qualify for an accidental death
benefit, it cannot be readily determined the amount, if any, of an
appropriation.
Accordingly, the Comptroller urges passage of this legislation.
BUDGET IMPLICATIONS:
This bill would have costs to the State; however, the number of members
and retirees who could be affected by this legislation cannot be readily
determined and, therefore, the actual cost to the State is undetermina-
ble as well.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill would take effect January 1, 2020 and apply to the death of a
member occurring on or after such date.
