S 6641: Increases certain special accidental death benefits for state and local retirement system members.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6641 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE March 19, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions AN ACT to amend the general municipal law and the retirement and social security law, in relation to increasing the special accidental death benefit of certain deceased members The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision c of section 208-f of the general municipal 2 law, as amended by chapter 162 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read 3 as follows: 4 c. Commencing July first, two thousand [twenty-four] twenty-five the 5 special accidental death benefit paid to a widow or widower or the 6 deceased member's children under the age of eighteen or, if a student, 7 under the age of twenty-three, if the widow or widower has died, or to 8 the deceased member's parents if the member has no widow, widower, chil- 9 dren under the age of eighteen, or a student under the age of twenty- 10 three, shall be escalated by adding thereto an additional percentage of 11 the salary of the deceased member (as increased pursuant to subdivision 12 b of this section) in accordance with the following schedule: 13 calendar year of death 14 of the deceased member per centum 15 1977 or prior [301.2%] 313.2% 16 1978 [289.5%] 301.2% 17 1979 [278.2%] 289.5% 18 1980 [267.1%] 278.2% 19 1981 [256.5%] 267.1% 20 1982 [246.1%] 256.5% 21 1983 [236.0%] 246.1% 22 1984 [226.2%] 236.0% 23 1985 [216.7%] 226.2% EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10050-02-5 
 S. 6641 2 1 1986 [207.5%] 216.7% 2 1987 [198.5%] 207.5% 3 1988 [189.8%] 198.5% 4 1989 [181.4%] 189.8% 5 1990 [173.2%] 181.4% 6 1991 [165.2%] 173.2% 7 1992 [157.5%] 165.2% 8 1993 [150.0%] 157.5% 9 1994 [142.7%] 150.0% 10 1995 [135.7%] 142.7% 11 1996 [128.8%] 135.7% 12 1997 [122.1%] 128.8% 13 1998 [115.7%] 122.1% 14 1999 [109.4%] 115.7% 15 2000 [103.3%] 109.4% 16 2001 [97.4%] 103.3% 17 2002 [91.6%] 97.4% 18 2003 [86.0%] 91.6% 19 2004 [80.6%] 86.0% 20 2005 [75.4%] 80.6% 21 2006 [70.2%] 75.4% 22 2007 [65.3%] 70.2% 23 2008 [60.5%] 65.3% 24 2009 [55.8%] 60.5% 25 2010 [51.3%] 55.8% 26 2011 [46.9%] 51.3% 27 2012 [42.6%] 46.9% 28 2013 [38.4%] 42.6% 29 2014 [34.4%] 38.4% 30 2015 [30.5%] 34.4% 31 2016 [26.7%] 30.5% 32 2017 [23.0%] 26.7% 33 2018 [19.4%] 23.0% 34 2019 [15.9%] 19.4% 35 2020 [12.6%] 15.9% 36 2021 [9.3%] 12.6% 37 2022 [6.1%] 9.3% 38 2023 [3.0%] 6.1% 39 2024 [0.0%] 3.0% 40 2025 0.0% 41 § 2. Subdivision c of section 361-a of the retirement and social secu- 42 rity law, as amended by chapter 162 of the laws of 2024, is amended to 43 read as follows: 44 c. Commencing July first, two thousand [twenty-four] twenty-five the 45 special accidental death benefit paid to a widow or widower or the 46 deceased member's children under the age of eighteen or, if a student, 47 under the age of twenty-three, if the widow or widower has died, shall 48 be escalated by adding thereto an additional percentage of the salary of 49 the deceased member, as increased pursuant to subdivision b of this 50 section, in accordance with the following schedule: 51 calendar year of death 52 of the deceased member per centum 53 1977 or prior [301.2%] 313.2% 54 1978 [289.5%] 301.2% 55 1979 [278.2%] 289.5% 
 S. 6641 3 1 1980 [267.1%] 278.2% 2 1981 [256.5%] 267.1% 3 1982 [246.1%] 256.5% 4 1983 [236.0%] 246.1% 5 1984 [226.2%] 236.0% 6 1985 [216.7%] 226.2% 7 1986 [207.5%] 216.7% 8 1987 [198.5%] 207.5% 9 1988 [189.8%] 198.5% 10 1989 [181.4%] 189.8% 11 1990 [173.2%] 181.4% 12 1991 [165.2%] 173.2% 13 1992 [157.5%] 165.2% 14 1993 [150.0%] 157.5% 15 1994 [142.7%] 150.0% 16 1995 [135.7%] 142.7% 17 1996 [128.8%] 135.7% 18 1997 [122.1%] 128.8% 19 1998 [115.7%] 122.1% 20 1999 [109.4%] 115.7% 21 2000 [103.3%] 109.4% 22 2001 [97.4%] 103.3% 23 2002 [91.6%] 97.4% 24 2003 [86.0%] 91.6% 25 2004 [80.6%] 86.0% 26 2005 [75.4%] 80.6% 27 2006 [70.2%] 75.4% 28 2007 [65.3%] 70.2% 29 2008 [60.5%] 65.3% 30 2009 [55.8%] 60.5% 31 2010 [51.3%] 55.8% 32 2011 [46.9%] 51.3% 33 2012 [42.6%] 46.9% 34 2013 [38.4%] 42.6% 35 2014 [34.4%] 38.4% 36 2015 [30.5%] 34.4% 37 2016 [26.7%] 30.5% 38 2017 [23.0%] 26.7% 39 2018 [19.4%] 23.0% 40 2019 [15.9%] 19.4% 41 2020 [12.6%] 15.9% 42 2021 [9.3%] 12.6% 43 2022 [6.1%] 9.3% 44 2023 [3.0%] 6.1% 45 2024 [0.0%] 3.0% 46 2025 0.0% 47 § 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would amend both the General Municipal Law and the Retire- ment and Social Security Law to increase the salary used in the computa- tion of the special accidental death benefit by three percent in cases where the date of death was before calendar year 2025. Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System (NYSLPFRS), the increased costs would be shared by the State of New York and the local participating employers in NYSLPFRS. If this bill were enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, 
 S. 6641 4 the increase in the present value of benefits would be approximately $9.11 million. NYSLPFRS Increase in present Increase in required value of benefits contributions Pensioners $ 9.1 mn $ 0.0 mn Actives Tiers 1-5 (Closed) $ 0.0 mn $ 3.7 mn Actives Tier 6 (Open) $ 0.0 mn $ 5.4 mn Total $ 9.1 mn $ 9.1 mn In NYSLPFRS, this benefit improvement will be funded by increasing the billing rates charged annually to cover both retrospective and prospec- tive benefit increases. The annual contribution required of all partic- ipating employers in NYSLPFRS is 0.02% of billable salary, or approxi- mately $170,000 to the State of New York and $750,000 to local participating employers. This permanent annual cost will vary in subse- quent billing cycles with changes in the billing rate and salary of the members in NYSLPFRS. Summary of relevant resources: Membership data as of March 31, 2024 was used in measuring the impact of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2024 actuari- al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2024 Report of the Actuary and the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2024 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, 2024 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and Supplementary Information. 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 March 12, 2025, and intended for use only during the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-82. As Chief Actu- ary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, I, Aaron Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with applicable Actu- arial Standards of Practice as well as the Code of Professional Conduct and Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuari- al Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of which I am a member.