NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8603A
SPONSOR: Fitzpatrick TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the civil service law, in relation to
improper employer practices relating to the continuation of pay, vaca-
tion and health care benefits; to amend the education law, in relation
to employer contributions to certain retirement plans; and to amend the
civil service law, in relation to disputed agreements
PURPOSE:
To provide state and local government fiscal relief by providing for the
codification of the Triborough Doctrine, offer the SUNY optional retire-
ment plan to all state and local employees and teachers, and place a
limitation on binding arbitration agreements.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
section 1. Amends the Triborough law by limiting the items which may not
be altered by an employer to the terms of an expired agreement that
relate to salaries, but not step increases, leaves of absences, active
employees health insurance, holidays and all other mandatory subjects of
bargaining as defined by the Public Employee Relation Board case law
prior to its conversion.
Section 2&3. Amends the Education Law to allow state and local employees
and teachers the option of joining the SUNY optional retirement system.
section 4. Limits binding arbitration awards to a maximum of 2% for all
compensation items subject to negotiation.
Section 5. Effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently, localities are being strangled fiscally by the high costs of
retirement benefits that continue to grow even when limits are placed on
pay increases. Binding arbitration also adds to localities' cost of
doing business because arbitrators typically do not take into consider-
ation the employers' ability to pay increases to all the items subject
to binding arbitration. Amending the Triborough Amendment to codify the
Triborough law will protect workers' salaries and benefits but also
provide motivation to unions who represent state and local workers to
negotiate new contracts in good faith. Allowing state and local employ-
ees and teachers to have the option of joining the SUNY optional retire-
ment system will provide employers with a known cost for their contrib-
ution to the employees retirement as well as giving the employee a
portable retirement account that can be moved from one employer to
another should the employee decide to change jobs.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Employers who have employees participating in a defined contribution
plan may see some increase in administrative cost due to the pay period
contributions rather than costs associated with processing an annual
bill for defined benefit plans. Employees will incur management fees
associated with defined contribution plans which are estimated to aver-
age 0.5% of the account balance annually.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8603--A
IN ASSEMBLY
January 27, 2014
___________
Introduced by M. of A. FITZPATRICK, TENNEY, DiPIETRO, BORELLI, HAWLEY,
FINCH, CORWIN, GOODELL, McLAUGHLIN -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Employees -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the civil service law, in relation to improper employer
practices relating to the continuation of pay, vacation and health
care benefits; to amend the education law, in relation to employer
contributions to certain retirement plans; and to amend the civil
service law, in relation to disputed agreements
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 1 of section 209-a of the
2 civil service law, as amended by chapter 244 of the laws of 2007, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 (e) to refuse to continue [all the] terms of an expired agreement that
5 relate to leaves of absence, active employees health insurance, holi-
6 days, salaries excluding step increases, and all other mandatory
7 subjects of a bargaining agreement as defined by the public employment
8 relations board case law prior to its conversion doctrine until a new
9 agreement is negotiated, unless the employee organization which is a
10 party to such agreement has, during such negotiations or prior to such
11 resolution of such negotiations, engaged in conduct violative of subdi-
12 vision one of section two hundred ten of this article;
13 § 2. Subdivision 1-a of section 392 of the education law, as added by
14 chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows:
15 1-a. Employer contributions. (a) In the case of any electing employee
16 excluded from or not encompassed within a negotiating unit within the
17 meaning of article fourteen of the civil service law initially hired on
18 or after July first, two thousand thirteen, the state and the electing
19 employer shall, during the continuance of his or her employment, make
20 contributions at the rate of eight per centum of his or her salary.
21 (b) In the case of any electing employee initially hired on or after
22 January first, two thousand fifteen, the state and the electing employer
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13290-08-4
A. 8603--A 2
1 shall, during the continuance of his or her employment, make contrib-
2 utions at the rate of eight per centum of his or her salary.
3 § 3. Subdivision 3-a of section 390 of the education law, as added by
4 chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows:
5 3-a. (a) Beginning July first, two thousand thirteen, the term "eligi-
6 ble employees" shall also mean any person excluded from or not encom-
7 passed within a negotiating unit within the meaning of article fourteen
8 of the civil service law who would otherwise be entitled to receive a
9 benefit under the retirement and social security law or the education
10 law initially hired on or after July first, two thousand thirteen with
11 estimated annual wages of seventy-five thousand per annum or greater.
12 Such estimate of annual wages to determine eligibility for the purposes
13 of this subdivision shall be provided by the employer. For the purposes
14 of this subdivision, a newly hired state employee whose immediate
15 preceding employment was with another department, division, or agency of
16 the state shall not be deemed to be an eligible employee.
17 (b) Beginning January first, two thousand fifteen, the term "eligible
18 employees" shall also mean any person who would otherwise be a member of
19 the New York state employees' retirement system or the New York state
20 teachers' retirement system initially hired on or after January first,
21 two thousand fifteen or current members of the New York state employees'
22 retirement system or the New York state teachers' retirement system who
23 are not yet vested.
24 (c) Beginning January first, two thousand fifteen, the term "eligible
25 employees" shall also mean all non-civil service appointed employees and
26 elected officials employed by the state or any other public employer,
27 except for those non-civil service employees and elected officials who
28 had prior membership in a state or local retirement plan.
29 § 4. Section 209 of the civil service law is amended by adding a new
30 subdivision 7 to read as follows:
31 7. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, for
32 any dispute that is subject to the provisions of this section, the
33 determination of the public arbitration panel on a disputed agreement
34 shall not contain an increase in all compensation items subject to nego-
35 tiation which is greater than two percent more than all compensation
36 items subject to negotiation received by the employee organization in
37 the agreement between the public employer and the employee organization
38 immediately preceding the agreement being arbitrated.
39 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately. Effective immediately,
40 the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces-
41 sary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are
42 authorized and directed to be made and completed on or before such
43 effective date.
