Permits accidental death benefits and/or special accidental death benefits to be awarded to the beneficiary of Patricia Espinosa

S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          9596

                                    I N  S E N A T E

                                     March 26, 2026
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen. MATTERA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions

        AN ACT to permit accidental death  benefits  and/or  special  accidental
          death benefits to be awarded to the beneficiary of Patricia Espinosa

          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 law,  rule  or  regu-
     2  lation  to  the contrary, Patricia Espinosa, who was a member of the New
     3  York state and local police and fire retirement  system  employed  as  a
     4  police officer by the county of Nassau, and who died on January 31, 2026
     5  as  the result of an accident which occurred while she was travelling to
     6  work, shall be deemed to have died as the natural and  proximate  result
     7  of an accident sustained in the performance of duty. The statutory bene-
     8  ficiary  or  beneficiaries  of  Patricia  Espinosa  shall be eligible to
     9  receive the accidental death benefit  and/or  special  accidental  death
    10  benefit  if  an  application  therefor  is  filed within one year of the
    11  effective date of this act. Any amounts paid by the New York  state  and
    12  local  police  and  fire retirement system as the result of the death of
    13  Patricia Espinosa prior to the receipt of the accidental  death  benefit
    14  and/or  special  accidental death benefit pursuant to this section shall
    15  be deducted from the benefit payable on an actuarially equivalent  basis
    16  over  the expected future lifetime of the statutory beneficiary or bene-
    17  ficiaries.
    18    § 2. All costs associated with this act shall be borne by  the  county
    19  of Nassau.
    20    §  3.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to
    21  have been in full force and effect on and after January 31, 2026.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          This bill would make the statutory beneficiaries  of  deceased  police
        officer  Patricia Espinosa eligible to receive an accidental death bene-
        fit pursuant to sections 361 and 361-a  of  the  retirement  and  social
        security law (RSSL). The current death benefit will be recalculated, and
        payment will be made to the statutory beneficiaries retroactive to Janu-
        ary 31, 2026, the date of Patricia Espinosa's death.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD14921-04-6
        S. 9596                             2

          There will be an immediate past service cost of $3.18 million borne by
        the  county  of  Nassau  as  a  one-time payment. This cost assumes that
        payment will be made on February 1, 2027.
          This  bill  will  not  increase the county of Nassau's annual contrib-
        utions.
          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 March 26, 2026, and intended for use only  during
        the  2026  Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note Number 2026-143. 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 Actuaries, of
        which I am a member. I am a member of  NYSLRS  but  do  not  believe  it
        impairs my objectivity.