NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A10398
SPONSOR: Kay TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
providing certain death benefits to deputy sheriffs employed by Orange
county
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to provide certain death benefits for deputy
sheriffs employed by Orange County.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Amends the retirement and social security law by adding a new
section 606-d that defines death benefits for deputy sheriffs employed
by Orange County.
Section 2: States that Orange County shall bear all past service costs
associated with implementing this bill, with the option to spread
payments over 10 years.
Section 3: States that none of the provisions of this bill shall be
subject to the appropriation requirement of Section 25 of the Retirement
and Social Security Law.
Section 4: Sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
This bill extends death gamble benefits to deputy sheriffs in Orange
County. Initially established for New York law enforcement officers,
firefighters, and teachers under Chapter 554 of the Laws of 2000, the
death gamble benefit incentivizes public employees to continue working
beyond the standard retirement age. Under this provision, if an employee
passes away before retiring, their family is entitled to receive the
full value of the employee's pension benefit. By extending this benefit
to Orange County deputy sheriffs, the legislation provides valuable
financial security for officers' families while enabling the County to
retain experienced personnel who might otherwise choose to retire.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT:
See fiscal note.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10398
IN ASSEMBLY
March 3, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. KAY -- read once and referred to the Committee on
Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
providing certain death benefits to deputy sheriffs employed by Orange
county
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
2 a new section 606-d to read as follows:
3 § 606-d. Death benefits for deputy sheriffs employed by Orange county.
4 a. As used in this section, the term "deputy sheriff" shall mean a
5 person employed by Orange county with a title of deputy sheriff.
6 b. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, where a depu-
7 ty sheriff would have been entitled to a service retirement benefit at
8 the time of their death and where their death occurs on or after the
9 effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand twenty-six
10 that added this section, the beneficiary or beneficiaries may elect to
11 receive, in a lump sum, an amount payable which shall be equal to the
12 pension reserve that would have been established had the member retired
13 on the date of such member's death, or the value of the death benefit
14 and the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if any, whichever is great-
15 er.
16 § 2. All past service costs associated with implementing the
17 provisions of this act shall be borne by the county of Orange and may be
18 amortized over a period of ten years.
19 § 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none
20 of the provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation
21 requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
22 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would modify the in-service death benefit for retirement
eligible members of the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement
System (NYSLERS) employed by Orange county as deputy sheriffs. The
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14445-02-6
A. 10398 2
in-service death benefit will be the value of the pension reserve as if
the member had retired on their date of death.
We estimate that Orange county's annual contributions will increase
$15,000 beginning FYE 2027. Annual costs will vary but are expected to
average 0.1% of salary.
In addition, there will be an immediate past service cost of $197,000
borne by Orange county as a one-time payment. This cost assumes that
payment will be made on February 1, 2027. If Orange county elects to
amortize this cost over 10 years, the cost for each year will be
$25,100.
These estimated costs are based on 91 affected members employed by
Orange county, with annual salary of approximately $12 million as of
March 31, 2025.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2025 was used to measure the impact of
the bill, the same data used in the Actuarial Valuations dated April 1,
2025. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2025 Report
of the Actuary and the 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The
actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2025 Annual
Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules
and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and Control. The fair
value of assets and GASB disclosures can be found in the 2025 Financial
Statements and Supplementary Information.
Assumptions, demographics, and other considerations may have been
modified to better reflect specific provisions of any proposed benefit
change(s).
This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability
of the bill, nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the profes-
sional judgment of an attorney.
This estimate, dated February 11, 2026, and intended for use only
during the 2026 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note Number 2026-88. As
Chief Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System
(NYSLRS), I, Aaron Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis
complies with applicable Actuarial Standards of Practice as well as the
Code of Professional Conduct and Qualification Standards for Actuaries
Issuing Statements of Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actu-
aries, of which I am a member. I am a member of NYSLRS but do not
believe it impairs my objectivity.
