§ 360-A — Guaranteed ordinary death benefit payable upon death of state employees

§ 360-a. Guaranteed ordinary death benefit payable upon death of state\nemployees. a. Upon the death in service of a member who was in the\nemploy of the state on March thirty-first, nineteen hundred sixty-nine,\nand whose beneficiary was eligible for the ordinary death benefit\npursuant to section three hundred sixty of this chapter, or would have\nbeen eligible had the state employee had one year or more of service,\nsuch beneficiary shall receive an ordinary death benefit payable\npursuant to section three hundred sixty, or, in lieu of such ordinary\ndeath benefit, the benefit payable pursuant to this section, whichever\nis greater.\n aa. Upon the death in service of a member on or after April first,\nnineteen hundred seventy, who (1) entered or reentered the employ of the\nstate after March thirty-first, nineteen hundred sixty-nine and prior to\nApril first, nineteen hundred eighty-five, and was in such employ on\nMarch thirty-first, nineteen hundred eighty-five, (2) had not attained\nage sixty at the date of such entrance into such service, (3) had\nrendered ninety or more days of continuous state service during the\nfifteen month period immediately preceding death, (4) last joined or\nrejoined a public retirement system thereof before July first, nineteen\nhundred seventy-three, and (5) whose beneficiary was eligible for the\nordinary death benefit pursuant to section three hundred sixty of this\nchapter, or would have been eligible had the employee had one year or\nmore of state service, such beneficiary shall receive an ordinary death\nbenefit payable pursuant to section three hundred sixty of this chapter,\nor, in lieu of such ordinary death benefit, the benefit payable pursuant\nto this section, whichever is greater.\n aaa. Provided further, notwithstanding any other provision of this\narticle to the contrary, where the member is an officer or member of the\nstate police and would have been entitled to a service retirement\nbenefit at the time of his or her death and where his or her death\noccurs on or after July first, two thousand, the beneficiary or\nbeneficiaries may elect to receive, in a lump sum, an amount payable\nwhich shall be equal to the pension reserve that would have been\nestablished had the member retired on the date of his or her death, or\nthe value of the death benefit and the\nreserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, if any, whichever is greater.\nProvided further, that for the purpose of determining entitlement to the\nbenefit provided by this subdivision, and notwithstanding the provisions\nof subdivision j of section three hundred forty-one of this article, the\ntotal number of days of unused sick leave and accumulated vacation\ncredit accrued by the member at the time of his or her death shall be\nconsidered in meeting the total creditable service required to qualify\nfor a service retirement benefit provided without regard to age where\nhis or her death occurs on or after July second, two thousand nine.\n b. The guaranteed ordinary death benefit provided under this section\nto such a beneficiary shall be three times the compensation earnable by\nthe state employee during his last twelve months of service as a member,\nraised to the next higher multiple of one thousand dollars, but in no\nevent, greater than twenty thousand dollars.\n c. For the purposes of this section an employee who dies while off the\npayroll shall be considered to be in service provided he or she (1) was\non the payroll in such service and paid within a period of twelve months\nprior to his or her death, or was on the payroll in the service upon\nwhich membership is based at the time he or she was ordered to active\nduty pursuant to Title 10 of the United States Code, with the armed\nforces of the United States or to service in the uniformed services\npursuant to Chapter 43 of Title 38 of the United States Code and died\nwhile on such active duty or service in the uniformed services on or\nafter June fourteenth, two thousand five, (2) had not been otherwise\ngainfully employed since he or she ceased to be on such payroll and (3)\nhad credit for at least one year of continuous service since he or she\nlast entered or reentered the service of his or her employer. Provided,\nfurther, that any such member ordered to active duty pursuant to Title\n10 of the United States Code, with the armed forces of the United States\nor to service in the uniformed services pursuant to Chapter 43 of Title\n38 of the United States Code who died prior to rendering the minimum\namount of service necessary to be eligible for this benefit shall be\nconsidered to have satisfied the minimum service requirement.\n d. The provisions of this section shall apply in any case where death\noccurs on or after the date this section becomes law and prior to July\nfirst, nineteen hundred seventy-four.\n