Provides that a member of a public retirement system of the state who is a disabled veteran may retire without reduction of their retirement benefit upon their attainment of at least fifty-five years of age and completion of at least thirteen years of credited service in such retirement system.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8987
SPONSOR: Woerner TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
providing for early retirement without a pension reduction for certain
disabled veterans
PURPOSE:
To permit early retirement without a pension reduction for disabled
veterans with a service-connected disability rated at sixty percentum or
more.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 adds a new article 20-A and section one thousand five of the
retirement and social security law to define the term "disabled veteran"
and to permit a disabled veteran with at least a sixty percent service-
connected disability, when such veteran has at least thirteen years of
credited service in the retirement system, to retire at age fifty-five
without a reduction of their retirement benefit. The section also
provides an appropriation to cover the costs for such an early retire-
ment. Section 2 establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Veterans with service-connected disabilities often work well beyond
their physical abilities, facing increasing levels of pain to support
their families. Currently, many disabled veterans face an impossible
choice. Although the veteran's deteriorating physical/medical condition
may qualify them for a higher level of disability compensation from the
federal government, the veteran may not apply for,the increased benefits
until they are unemployed. Nonetheless, because the Veterans Adminis-
tration (VA) may take several years to approve a request for the
increased disability compensation, many veterans cannot afford to live
solely on their state pension and existing federal disability benefits
while awaiting the VA's determination. This conundrum often arises
because NYS systematically reduces the amount of most employees' pension
benefits whenever an employee who has worked for less than thirty years
retires before the age of 62. Since many disabled veterans served in the
military for multiple tours before taking a state job, many under the
age of 62 do not yet have thirty years of credited state service when
their physical condition becomes unbearable. As a result, a disabled
veteran who retires from their state job at the age of 55 might receive
retirement benefits reduced by more than 50%. This bill addresses the
conundrum by permitting disabled veterans with a current VA disability
rating of 60% or more to draw a non-reduced pension from the state, even
if they retire between the ages of 55 and 61.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.6950 of 2023-24: Referred to Government Employees.
S.7570 of 2023-24: Referred to Civil Service and Pensions.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth,day after it
shall have become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8987
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
August 13, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WOERNER -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
providing for early retirement without a pension reduction for certain
disabled veterans
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
2 a new article 20-A to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 20-A
4 DISABLED VETERAN EARLY RETIREMENT
5 Section 1005. Disabled veteran early retirement.
6 § 1005. Disabled veteran early retirement. 1. Notwithstanding any law
7 to the contrary, a member of a public retirement system of the state, as
8 defined in subdivision twenty-three of section five hundred one of this
9 chapter, who is a disabled veteran may retire without reduction of their
10 retirement benefit upon their attainment of at least fifty-five years of
11 age and completion of at least thirteen years of credited service in
12 such retirement system. As used in this section, the term "disabled
13 veteran" means a veteran who is certified by the United States veterans'
14 administration or a military department as entitled to receive disabili-
15 ty payments upon the certification of such veterans' administration or a
16 military department for a service-connected disability incurred or
17 aggravated by the veteran in the line of duty in the active military
18 service of the United States, as defined in section one of the military
19 law, and whose disability is in existence at the time of retirement. To
20 be eligible under this section, a member must make application before
21 the effective date of retirement. Such disability shall be deemed in
22 existence at such time of retirement if the certificate shall state
23 affirmatively that such veteran has been identified by such veterans'
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07976-02-5
A. 8987 2
1 administration as having one or more service-connected disabilities on a
2 date prior to the date of retirement, the effective date of when such
3 veteran became permanently disabled due to their service-connected disa-
4 bilities, and that such service-connected disability is rated at sixty
5 percentum or more.
6 2. All costs for the early retirement of a member who is a disabled
7 veteran pursuant to this section shall be paid by the state and all
8 employers which participate in the retirement system from which such
9 member retires.
10 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
11 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
12 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
13 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
14 completed on or before such effective date.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would add a new Article 20-A to the Retirement and Social
Security Law to allow an active member of the New York State Teachers'
Retirement System who is a disabled veteran to retire upon the attain-
ment of at least age 55 and completion of thirteen or more years of
service credit without reduction to their benefit for early retirement
provided such member was certified by the United States Veterans' Admin-
istration or a military department as being permanently disabled in
connection with military service. Such certificate should state that the
veteran has been identified by the United States Veterans' Adminis-
tration as having one or more service-connected disabilities on a date
prior to their date of retirement from the New York State Teachers'
Retirement System, the effective date of when such veteran became perma-
nently disabled due to their military service-connected disabilities,
and that such military service-connected disability is rated at sixty
percent or more.
It is not possible to accurately determine the total cost to the New
York State Teachers' Retirement System because the number of eligible
active members, their ages and the amount of service credited cannot be
readily estimated. However, the cost per eligible member measured as the
increase in the present value of benefit will range from 15% to over 3.5
times final average salary, depending on the member's age, years of
service, and tier at retirement.
Member data is from the System's most recent actuarial valuation files
as of June 30, 2024, consisting of data provided by the employers to the
Retirement System. The most recent data distributions and statistics can
be found in the System's Annual Report for fiscal year ended June 30,
2024. System assets are as reported in the System's financial statements
and can also be found in the System's Annual Report. Actuarial assump-
tions and methods will be provided in the System's Actuarial Valuation
Report as of June 30, 2024.
The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2025-7 dated March 7, 2025
prepared by the Office of the Actuary of the New York State Teachers'
Retirement System and is intended for use only during the 2025 Legisla-
tive Session. I, Richard A. Young, am the Chief Actuary for the New York
State Teachers' Retirement System. I am a member of the American Academy
of Actuaries and I meet the Qualification Standards of the American
Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would allow members of the New York State and Local Retire-
ment System (NYSLRS) to retire without early age reduction provided that
the member is at least age 55 with 13 years of service credit and was
A. 8987 3
certified by the United States Veterans' Administration or a military
department as permanently disabled in connection with military service.
Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local Employees'
Retirement System (NYSLERS), if enacted during the 2025 Legislative
Session, the cost will depend upon the applicant's age, service, salary,
plan, and any benefit type otherwise payable.
NYSLERS membership: Tiers 2-4 Tier 5 Tier 6
Average Cost 1 times 1.5 times 2 times
Increase: salary salary salary
Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local Police and
Fire Retirement System (NYSLPFRS), if enacted during the 2025 Legisla-
tive Session, the cost will depend upon the applicant's age, service,
salary, plan, and any benefit type otherwise payable.
NYSLPFRS membership: Tiers 2-5 Tier 6
Average Cost 1 times 2 times
Increase: salary salary
Further, we anticipate some administrative costs to implement the
provisions of this legislation.
The exact number of current members as well as future members who
could be affected by this legislation cannot be readily determined. All
costs will be shared by the State of New York and all participating
employers in the NYSLRS and spread over future billing cycles.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2024 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2024 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2024 Report of the Actuary and the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial
Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the
2024 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the
Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and
Control. The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March
31, 2024 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements
and Supplementary Information.
This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability
of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for
the professional judgment of an attorney.
This estimate, dated March 19, 2025, and intended for use only during
the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-54. As Chief Actu-
ary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, I, Aaron Schottin
Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with applicable Actu-
arial Standards of Practice as well as the Code of Professional Conduct
and Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuari-
al Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of which I am a member.
