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: A6950
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:
None.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
See the bill.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it
shall have become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6950
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 9, 2023
___________
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.
LBD03609-04-3
A. 6950 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 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
certified by the United States Veterans' Administration or a military
department as permanently disabled in connection with military service.
Insofar as this bill would affect the New York State and Local Employ-
ees' Retirement System (NYSLERS), if enacted during the 2023 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 Increased Cost: 1 times 1.5 times 2 times
salary salary salary
Insofar as this bill would affect the New York State and Local Police
and Fire Retirement System (NYSLPFRS), if enacted during the 2023 legis-
lative 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 Increased Cost: 1 times 2 times
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, 2022 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2022 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2022 Report of the Actuary and the 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2020,
2021, and 2022 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assump-
tions, and the Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York:
Audit and Control.
A. 6950 3
The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2022
New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and
Supplementary Information.
I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
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 April 27, 2023, and intended for use only during
the 2023 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2023-27, prepared by
the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.