BILL NUMBER: S6640
SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
death benefits for active New York city transit authority members
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To increase the in-service death benefit for New York City Transit
Authority employees in the 25-Year/Age 55 Retirement Plan in Tiers 4 and
6 to be the value of the pension reserve (assuming single life allow-
ance) as if the member had retired on the date of their death.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of this bill amends section 604-b of the Retirement and
Social Security Law, which is the section of law creating the Transit
Operating Force 25-Year/Age 55 Retirement Plan, to add a new subdivision
f to provide that the beneficiary of a member who dies before filing for
retirement may elect a payable amount equal to the value of the member's
pension reserve that would have been established had the member retired
on the date of their death.
Section two provides that this act shall not be subject to the appropri-
ations requirements of section 25 of the Retirement and Social Security
Law.
Section three sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Once MTA employees such as the New York City Transit Authority (NYC TA)
members in the 25-Year/Age 55 Retirement Plan become eligible to retire,
they face a conundrum: they can retire, start drawing a pension, and
complete an option election form, which allows the retiree to choose
between a maximum retirement allowance, paying the full amount of the
member's pension but ceasing upon their death, or a reduced payout,
which allows for a continuing benefit to the member's beneficiaries upon
the member's death; or stay on the job and continue earning a full sala-
ry - but then risk leaving only an ordinary death benefit, worth at most
three times the member's salary, to their families should they pass away
before they have the opportunity to file for retirement.
This bill would provide parity between NYC TA employees and other types
of public servants like earlier tier members of the New York State
Teachers Retirement System (TRS), the New York State and Local Employees
Retirement System (NYSLRS), and the New York State and Local Police and
Fire Retirement System (PFRS) (Ch. 554 of 2000), Nassau County
correction officers (Ch. 534 of 2021), Suffolk County correction offi-
cers (Ch. 535 of 2021), and other uniformed services who all enjoy a
death gamble benefit, in which an employee's family is able to receive
the full value of the employee's pension benefit, as if they had retired
on the date of their death, in the event that the employee decides to
continue working past retirement age. Extending the death gamble bene-
fit to the dedicated civil servants who run New York City's trains and
buses will remove a disincentive to continuing service for seasoned
public employees who may otherwise wish to keep working but for the
reduced benefits their families would receive upon their in-service
death.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024: S7224B - Vetoed, Veto Memo No. 79
2023: S7224A - Referred to Civil Service and Pensions
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
See bill
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate

Statutes affected:
S6640: 604-b retirement and social security law