Authorizes Susan Gillinder, the widow of Robert C. Ritchie, to file a new service retirement application and election form with the New York state and local…

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why James Skoufis says this is needed

Members of the NYS pension system eligible to retire can provide for their beneficiaries in a number of ways, including electing a service retirement benefit to be paid to their named beneficiary or benefici- aries following their death. However, receipt of such a pension-type benefit to a named beneficiary requires an eligible member to be offi- cially retired before their death. In situations where such an eligible member files a retirement application with the comptroller, dies before their effective retirement date, a beneficiary would not receive a service retirement benefit and would instead be eligible for only an ordinary death benefit. Chapter 593 of 2024 was enacted to amend provisions of the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL) to address this very issue and protect beneficiaries of retirement system members. This statutory amendment allows beneficiaries of members who died less than 90 days before filing a retirement application to choose a service retirement benefit. Pursu- ant to this amended law, an eligible member who has applied for retire- ment but died prior to the effective date thereof is deemed to have officially retired a day before their date of death. Beneficiaries in such situations can choose to receive the service retirement benefit that was intended and planned for them instead of a one-time death bene- fit. The effectiveness of this chapter was not retroactive. While the recent changes to the RSSL seem to provide adequate protections for both pension members and their beneficiaries moving forward in the unfortunate event that an individual passes away shortly before their official retirement date, situations in the past still linger. An unexpected or untimely death resulted in a beneficiary of a retirement system member not being able to receive the service retire- ment benefits that were intended for them, and which an eligible member worked to provide. In July of 2016, Robert C. Ritchie filed his retirement paperwork with a joint allowance full option to ensure his wife, Susan Gillinder, would receive his pension should he predecease her. The paperwork was filed with the retirement date of September 30, 2016. Unfortunately, Robert Ritchie passed away from cancer on August 16, 2016. Even though Robert Ritchie submitted his retirement paperwork and clearly designated his desire for his wife to receive his pension, Susan Gillinder was only eligible to receive the in-service death benefit. This bill addresses this unfortunate situation and allows Susan Gillin- der to file a new service retirement application and option election form on behalf of Robert Ritchie with a retirement date of August 15, 2016, for a joint allowance full option. Such an authorization as provided by this bill would allow the beneficiary of Robert Ritchie to receive the benefits intended for her in the same manner as those future beneficiaries would under similar circumstances pursuant to the provisions of the RSSL amended in 2024.

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.