1. Any spouse of a deceased member who retired prior to August 28, 1989, shall, upon application, be made, constituted, and appointed and employed by the board as a special consultant on the problems of retirement, aging, and other matters relating to spouses of deceased members of the system, and upon the request of the board shall give opinions, in writing or orally, in response to such requests of the board. As compensation for the services required by this section, spouses of deceased members of the system shall be compensated monthly in an amount subject to either the option that the member chose at the time of retirement or an amount equal to one-half of the member’s benefit, whichever is greater. The above benefits shall be based upon the benefit the member was receiving at the time of death.

2. The employment provided for by this section shall in no way affect any person‘s eligibility for retirement or survivor benefits under the provisions of this chapter, or in any way have the effect of reducing any retirement or survivor benefits, anything to the contrary notwithstanding.

3. Other provisions of law notwithstanding, any surviving spouse not receiving a continuing payment who would have been eligible for compensation under the provisions of subsection 1 or 2 of this section on or after September 1, 1989, shall be entitled to receive compensation in a sum equal to the amount the spouse would have received had subsections 1 and 2 been in effect on September 1, 1989. In order for a surviving spouse to be eligible for the benefits under this subsection, the retirement application of the deceased member must be filed prior to August 28, 2004.