Authorizes the widow of Gerald J. Sullivan to file an application with the New York state and local police and fire retirement system on behalf of such deceased member and deem such application as timely filed.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6914
SPONSOR: Burke TITLE OF BILL:
An act to authorize the widow of Gerald J. Sullivan to file an applica-
tion with the New York state and local police and fire retirement system
on behalf of such deceased member and deem such application as timely
filed
PURPOSE:
This legislation would allow the widow of Gerald J. Sullivan to file an
application with the New York state and local police and fire retirement
system on behalf of Mr. Sullivan.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 allows the widow of Gerald J. Sullivan, Bonnie E. Sullivan, to
file an application for accidental disability retirement with a fire-
fighters' cancer disability presumption pursuant to section 363-d of the
retirement and social security law with the New York state and local
police and fire retirement system on behalf of her deceased husband.
Section 2 states any additional costs for this act shall be paid for by
the state of New York. Section 3 establishes an immediate effective
date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Gerald J. Sullivan was previously employed by the Buffalo Fire Depart-
ment and was a performance of duty disability retiree of the New York
State and local police and fire retirement system since June 1, 2015
pursuant to section 363-c of the retirement and social security law. Mr.
Sullivan passed away from cancer on December 17, 2020. Mr. Sullivan's
widow was required to apply for accidental-disability retirement with a
firefighters' cancer disability presumption pursuant to section 363-d
within five years of his retirement. This legislation would allow Mr.
Sullivan's widow to file this application and have it treated by the
Office of the State Comptroller as filed timely. She would have one year
after the effective date to file this application.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-2022: A09630 referred to governmental employees
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6914
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 9, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BURKE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to authorize the widow of Gerald J. Sullivan to file an applica-
tion with the New York state and local police and fire retirement
system on behalf of such deceased member and deem such application as
timely filed
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special
2 law, rule or regulation to the contrary, Bonnie E. Sullivan is author-
3 ized to file an application for accidental disability retirement with a
4 firefighters' cancer disability presumption pursuant to section 363-d of
5 the retirement and social security law on behalf of her deceased husband
6 Gerald J. Sullivan who was previously employed by the Buffalo Fire
7 Department and was a performance of duty disability retiree of the New
8 York state and local police and fire retirement system since June 1,
9 2015 pursuant to section 363-c of the retirement and social security law
10 and passed away from cancer on December 17, 2020. Such application if
11 filed with the state comptroller within one year of the effective date
12 of this act shall be deemed as timely filed.
13 § 2. Any additional costs for this act shall be paid by the state of
14 New York.
15 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would authorize Bonnie Sullivan, the widow of Gerald Sulli-
van, to file an application for accidental disability retirement on
behalf of their deceased husband pursuant to section 363-d of the RSSL
and deem such application as timely filed. Gerald Sullivan passed away
from cancer on December 17, 2020. The retirement benefit will be recal-
culated and payment will be made retroactive to their date of retirement
of June 1, 2015.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03035-02-3
A. 6914 2
If this bill is enacted during the 2023 legislative session, we there
will be an immediate past service cost of approximately $226,000 which
will be borne by the State of New York as a one-time payment. This esti-
mate assumes that payment will be made on March 1, 2024.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2022 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2022 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2022 Report of the Actuary and the 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2020,
2021, and 2022 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assump-
tions, 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, 2022
New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and
Supplementary Information.
I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
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 23, 2023, and intended for use only during
the 2023 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2023-115, prepared by
the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
