Section 60-B. Guaranteed ordinary death benefit for participating employers

(a)  Pursuant to the provisions of section thirty-three of this article,
  a participating employer may elect  to  provide  a  guaranteed  ordinary
  death  benefit  upon  the death in service of its employees who (i) meet
  all the requirements of  section  sixty  of  this  article  except  that
  contained  in  paragraph three of subdivision (a) thereof, and (ii) last
  entered or reentered the employ of a  participating  employer  prior  to
  April  first,  nineteen  hundred eighty-five, and were in such employ on
  March thirty-first, nineteen hundred eighty-five, and (iii) last  joined
  or  rejoined  a  public retirement system of the state or a municipality
  thereof before July first, nineteen hundred seventy-three, and (iv)  had
  not  attained  age sixty at the date of such entrance into such service,
  and (v) had rendered ninety or more days of continuous  service  in  the
  service  of  such participating employer during the fifteen month period
  immediately preceding  death.  For  the  purposes  of  this  section  an
  employee  who  dies  while  off the payroll shall be considered to be in
  service provided he or she (1) was on the payroll in  such  service  and
  paid  within a period of twelve months prior to his or her death, or was
  on the payroll in the service upon which membership is based at the time
  he or she was ordered to active duty, other than for training  purposes,
  pursuant to Title 10 of the United States Code, with the armed forces of
  the  United  States  and  died while on such active duty on or after the
  effective date of the chapter of the laws of  two  thousand  five  which
  amended  this subdivision, (2) had not been otherwise gainfully employed
  since he or she ceased to be on such payroll and (3) had credit for  one
  or  more  years  of  continuous  service since he or she last entered or
  reentered the service of his or her employer.  Provided,  further,  that
  any  such  member  ordered  to  active  duty,  other  than  for training
  purposes, pursuant to Title 10 of the United States Code, with the armed
  forces of the United States who died  prior  to  rendering  the  minimum
  amount  of  service  necessary  to be eligible for this benefit shall be
  considered to have satisfied the minimum service requirement.
    (b) The guaranteed ordinary death benefit provided under this  section
  to   the   beneficiary  of  such  employee  shall  be  three  times  the
  compensation earnable by him during his last twelve months of service as
  a member, raised to the next higher multiple of  one  thousand  dollars,
  but  in  no  event  greater  than  twenty  thousand  dollars. Where such
  employee dies before rendering one year of service,  the  death  benefit
  pursuant  to this section shall be three times the compensation that the
  member would have earned had he worked for twelve months  prior  to  the
  date  of  his  death, raised to the next higher multiple of one thousand
  dollars, but in no event greater than twenty thousand dollars.
    (c) The beneficiary  shall  receive  the  benefits  provided  by  this
  section  or  those  provided by section sixty of this article, whichever
  are greater.
    (d) The provisions of this section shall apply in the  case  of  death
  occurring  on or after this section becomes law and prior to July first,
  nineteen hundred seventy-four.