Text of NY S 712 (2004)

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Bill No.: Summary Actions Floor Votes Memo Text S00712 Summary: BILL NOS00712 SAME ASSAME AS A03425 SPONSORANDREWS COSPNSRBROWN, KRUGER, LACHMAN MLTSPNSR Amd SS167 & 165-a, Civ Serv L Provides that the surviving spouse or domestic partner of a state employee or employee of a participating employer who has died prior to retirement shall be eligible to use such deceased spouse or domestic partner's earned but unused sick leave to continue health care coverage under the health insurance plan; defines "domestic partner" for such purpose.Go to top S00712 Text: STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 712 2003-2004 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 21, 2003 ___________ Introduced by Sens. ANDREWS, BROWN, KRUGER, LACHMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions AN ACT to amend the civil service law, in relation to state health insurance The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 167 of the civil service law, as 2 amended by chapter 407 of the laws of 1970, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 4. Upon the retirement, on or after July first, nineteen hundred 5 sixty-five, or death prior to retirement, of a state employee whose 6 salary or compensation at the time of death or retirement is paid 7 directly by the state, who is subject to a plan established by law, 8 rule, regulation, written order or written policy which provides for the 9 regular earning and accumulation of sick leave, and who is eligible to 10 continue coverage under the health insurance plan after retirement or, 11 in the case of an employee who has died prior to retirement, the surviv- 12 ing spouse of such employee who, pursuant to section one hundred sixty- 13 five-a of this article, is eligible to continue coverage under the 14 health insurance plan after such employee's death, the department [of 15 civil service] shall determine, based on the employee's age at the time 16 of retirement or, in the case of an employee who has died prior to 17 retirement, the surviving spouse's age at the time of the employee's 18 death, the actuarial equivalent in monthly installments for the remain- 19 ing life expectancy of such retired employee or surviving spouse of such 20 deceased employee, of the dollar value of the earned and accumulated but 21 unused sick leave standing to his or her credit at the time of retire- 22 ment or in the case of an employee who has died prior to retirement at 23 the time of the employee's death, without interest. Such dollar value 24 shall be based on the employee's salary at the time of retirement or in EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD05468-01-3 S. 712 2 1 the case of an employee who has died prior to retirement, at the time of 2 his or her death. In addition to regular employer contributions, 3 contributions in the amount of such monthly installments shall be paid 4 from the state's appropriation to the health insurance fund and applied 5 towards the charges for health insurance on account of such retired 6 employee or spouse of an employee who has died prior to retirement and 7 his or her dependents, to the extent necessary to pay such charges. The 8 remaining amount, if any, necessary to pay such charges shall be 9 contributed by such retired employee or the spouse of an employee who 10 has died prior to retirement. On or after October first, nineteen 11 hundred seventy when such dollar value of such sick leave amounts to 12 less than one hundred dollars for a particular retired employee or the 13 spouse of an employee who has died prior to retirement, in lieu of 14 contributions which would otherwise be required from such retired 15 employee or the spouse of an employee who has died prior to retirement, 16 additional contributions shall be paid for the state's appropriation to 17 the health insurance fund and applied towards the charges for health 18 insurance on account of such retired employee or spouse and his or her 19 dependents until the sum of such additional contributions equals such 20 dollar value of such sick leave. The remaining amount, if any, necessary 21 to pay such charges shall be contributed by such retired employee or the 22 spouse of an employee who has died prior to retirement. For the purposes 23 of this subdivision, employees of the state colleges of agriculture, 24 home economics, industrial labor relations, and veterinary medicine, the 25 state agricultural experiment station at Geneva, and any other institu- 26 tion or agency under the management and control of Cornell university as 27 the representative of the board of trustees of the state university of 28 New York, and employees of the state college of ceramics under the 29 management and control of Alfred university as the representative of the 30 board of trustees of the state university of New York, shall be deemed 31 to be state employees whose salaries or compensation is paid directly by 32 the state. For the purposes of this subdivision, the term "spouse" 33 shall also include the "domestic partner", as defined in section one 34 hundred sixty-five-a of this article, of an employee who has died prior 35 to retirement. 36 § 2. Subdivision 5 of section 167 of the civil service law, as amended 37 by chapter 617 of the laws of 1967, is amended to read as follows: 38 5. Subject to such regulations as the president may prescribe, any 39 participating employer may elect to make additional contributions 40 towards charges for health insurance coverage on account of its retired 41 employees or spouses of employees who have died prior to retirement and 42 their dependents, based on the dollar value of their sick leave accumu- 43 lated but unused at the time of retirement or death prior to retirement, 44 respectively. Such election shall apply to employees in the service of 45 the participating employer who retire or, in the case of an employee who 46 has died prior to retirement, his or her spouse on or after the effec- 47 tive date of such election, who are or were subject to a plan estab- 48 lished by law, rule, regulation, written order or written policy which 49 provides for the regular earning and accumulation of sick leave, and who 50 are eligible to continue coverage under the health insurance plan after 51 retirement or, in the case of an employee who has died prior to retire- 52 ment, a spouse who, pursuant to section one hundred sixty-five-a of this 53 article, is eligible to continue coverage under the health insurance 54 plan after such employee's death. The participating employer shall 55 certify to the department [of civil service] the dollar value of earned 56 and accumulated but unused sick leave standing to the credit of an S. 712 3 1 employee at the time of his or her retirement or death prior to retire- 2 ment. Additional contributions shall be paid by such participating 3 employer and applied towards charges for health insurance on account of 4 its retired employees or, in the case of an employee who has died prior 5 to retirement, his or her spouse and their dependents in the same manner 6 as provided in subdivision four of this section with respect to retired 7 state employees and spouses of employees who have died prior to retire- 8 ment and their dependents. For the purposes of this subdivision, the 9 term "spouse" or "spouses" shall also include a "domestic partner", as 10 defined in section one hundred sixty-five-a of this article, of an 11 employee who has died prior to retirement. 12 § 3. The first and second undesignated paragraphs of section 165-a of 13 the civil service law are designated subdivisions 1 and 3 and a new 14 subdivision 2 is added to read as follows: 15 2. (a) For the purposes of this section, the term "unremarried spouse" 16 shall also include the "domestic partner" of a deceased employee of the 17 state or of a participating employer where such employee died prior to 18 retirement. 19 (b) The term "domestic partner" means a person who resided with such 20 an employee and who can prove emotional and financial commitment, and 21 interdependence between such person and such former employee. Although 22 no single factor shall be solely determinative, evidence which is to be 23 considered by the president or his or her designee in determining wheth- 24 er such emotional and financial commitment and interdependence existed, 25 may include, without limitation, such factors as are listed hereinbelow. 26 In no event would evidence of a sexual relationship between such persons 27 be required or considered. The factors are: 28 (i) longevity of the relationship; 29 (ii) sharing of or relying upon each other for payment of household or 30 family expenses, and/or other common necessities of life; 31 (iii) intermingling of finances as evidenced by, among other things, 32 joint ownership of bank accounts, personal and real property, credit 33 cards, loan obligations, sharing a household budget for purposes of 34 receiving government benefits, et cetera; 35 (iv) engaging in family-type activities by jointly attending family 36 functions, holidays and celebrations, social and recreational activ- 37 ities, et cetera; 38 (v) formalizing of legal obligations, intentions, and responsibilities 39 to each other by such means as executing wills naming each other as 40 executor and/or beneficiary, conferring upon each other a power of 41 attorney and/or authority to make health care decisions each for the 42 other, entering into a personal relationship contract, making a domestic 43 partnership declaration, or serving as a representative payee for 44 purposes of public benefits, et cetera; 45 (vi) holding themselves out as family members to other family members, 46 friends, members of the community or religious institutions, or society 47 in general, through their words or actions; 48 (vii) regularly performing family functions, such as caring for each 49 other or each other's extended family members, and/or relying upon each 50 other for daily family services; 51 (viii) engaging in any other pattern of behavior, agreement, or other 52 action which evidences the intention of maintaining a long-term, 53 emotionally-committed relationship. 54 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply only to 55 spouses and domestic partners of employees who die on or after the 56 effective date of this act. Go to top Sitemap Request Information Directions and Maps