BILL NUMBER: S6048 Revised 05/01/25
SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to authorize Susan Gillinder, the widow of Robert C. Ritchie, to
file a new service retirement application and option election form with
the New York state and local employees' retirement system on behalf of
such deceased member
 
PURPOSE:
This bill allows Susan Gillinder, the widow of Robert C. Ritchie, to
file a new service retirement application and option election form on
behalf of her deceased husband, with a complete joint allowance option.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: This bill authorizes Susan Gillinder, the widow of Robert
C. Ritchie, to file a new service retirement application and option
election form with the New York State and Local Employees Retirement
System on behalf of her late husband with a joint allowance full option.
Section 2: Provides that the State of New York shall bear any addi-
tional costs associated with this act.
Section 3: Sets Effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
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.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
Senate
2017: S5413A, Passed Senate
2018: S5413A, Amend and Recommit to Civil Service and Pensions
2019: S5210A, Passed Senate
2020: S5210A, Passed Senate
2021: S1607, Passed Senate
2022: S1607, Referred to Civil Service and Pensions
2023: S6553A, Passed Senate
2024: S6553A, Passed Senate
Assembly
2017: A7847A, Reported and Referred to Ways and Means
2018: A7847A, Amended and Recommitted to Governmental Employees
2019: No Assembly Same-As
2020: No Assembly Same-As
2021: A6497, Referred to Governmental Employees
2022: A6497, Referred to Governmental Employees
2023: A6534A, Referred to Governmental Employees
2024: A6534A, Amend and Recommitted to Governmental Employees
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
See Fiscal Note.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately