New York Senate Bill S07740

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 5/2/25
• Refer: 5/2/25
• Refer: 1/7/26

Caption

Authorizes Olivia Rae Salta, the daughter of Dawn Jimenez-Salta, 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 deceased mother.

Summary

This bill is a private pension relief measure for the family of Dawn Jimenez-Salta, a deceased member of the New York State and Local Employees’ Retirement System and the unified court system. It authorizes her daughter, Olivia Rae Salta, to file a new service retirement application and option election form on her mother’s behalf, despite the fact that Ms. Jimenez-Salta died before filing for retirement. The bill deems the retirement date to have been October 19, 2024, one day before her death, and allows the election of a joint allowance full option. The measure also provides that, once the new application is accepted, any pre-retirement ordinary death benefit otherwise payable under Retirement and Social Security Law section 448 will be waived. Any amounts already paid by the retirement system because of the death will be offset against the retirement benefit on an actuarially equivalent basis over the expected lifetime of Olivia Rae Salta. The act takes effect immediately and is named the “Dawn Jimenez-Salta act.”

Impact

The bill creates a narrow exception to existing retirement filing rules by allowing a deceased member’s beneficiary to submit a retirement application and option election after death, effectively converting a death-benefit scenario into a service retirement benefit for this one case. It affects the New York State and Local Employees’ Retirement System, the State Comptroller’s administration of retirement filings, and the application of Retirement and Social Security Law provisions governing ordinary death benefits and retirement options. The fiscal note estimates an immediate past service cost of about $1 million, which would be borne by the State of New York.

Sentiment

No committee transcript or vote record is provided, so there is no documented debate or recorded legislative sentiment in the materials supplied. Based on the bill text and fiscal note, the measure appears to be a compassionate, case-specific relief bill intended to address an unusual hardship involving the death of a public employee shortly before retirement paperwork was filed. The fiscal impact is significant but limited to a one-time state cost, suggesting the bill is tailored rather than broad in scope.

Contention

The main potential point of contention is the bill’s departure from ordinary retirement-system deadlines and its creation of a special exception for a single individual, which may raise fairness or precedent concerns for similarly situated members. Another likely issue is cost, since the fiscal note estimates a $1 million immediate past service cost to the state. Support would likely come from those favoring equitable relief for the family of a deceased public employee, while any opposition would likely focus on administrative precedent, actuarial impact, and the propriety of retroactively changing retirement status after death.