Authorizes Michael Hall to file a request for change of benefit coverage with the New York state teachers' retirement system

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why George Borrello says this is needed

This bill is intended to provide equitable relief to Michael Hall, a retired member of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System, who failed to change his retirement option election within the statutory thirty-day period following retirement. At the time of his retirement from the Oakfield-Alabama Combined School District on January 1, 2004, Mr. Hall elected a reduced retirement allowance under a survivor option naming his wife, Bonnie L. Hall, as his irrevocable beneficiary. Although NYSTRS provided notice of this election, Mr. Hall did not submit a timely change to the maximum retire- ment benefit option within the period allowed under Article 11 of the Education Law. The bill expressly recognizes that this failure was for reasons not ascribable to his own negligence. Private relief legislation of this type is appropriate where a retiree has lost the opportunity to make a benefit election through circum- stances beyond his or her control and where strict application of statu- tory deadlines would produce an inequitable result. This measure restores to Mr. Hall the ability to make the election he otherwise would have made, while ensuring that any actuarial or administrative costs associated with the change are not shifted to the retirement system as a whole. Accordingly, this bill provides a narrowly tailored remedy for a specif- ic individual and preserves the fiscal integrity of NYSTRS by assigning any implementation costs to the employers of members of the system. PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: New bill FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: Any costs attributable to implementation of the retirement election option change, authorized by section one of this act, shall be borne by the employers of members of the New York state teachers' retirement system.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.