Authorizes retired firefighters to be employed as fire science instructors by career and technical education centers without a reduction of their retirement benefits.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7455A
SPONSOR: Gunther TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
authorizing retired firefighters to be employed as instructors of fire
sciences by a career and technical education center without diminution
of his or her retirement benefits
PURPOSE:
To allow retired firefighters with knowledge and expertise in the
profession to train the future generation of young firefighters without
diminution of his or her retirement benefits.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 - Amends the retirement and social security law to say the
following: Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter or the
provisions of any state or local law or charter to the contrary, no
retired person who retired from fire service as a member of the New York
state and local police and fire retirement system or the New York fire
department pension fund and who is employed by a career and technical
education center as an instructor in a fire science program approved by
the education department, shall have his or her retirement allowance or
benefits suspended or reduced because of compensation earned by such
retired person from service as a fire science instructor.
Section 2 - This act shall take effect immediately.
JUSTIFICATION:
This bill would permit retired firefighters to receive their pension
payments while earning compensation for employment by a career and tech-
nical education center as an instructor in a fire science program
approved by the education department. Retired firefighters possess the
training, skills, and experience which make them an excellent resource
of knowledge for New York's future generation of firefighters. Permit-
ting such highly qualified retired public employees to receive pension
payments while being employed as fire science instructors would provide
an incentive for those retirees to pass on the knowledge that was
acquired throughout their years of service to a new generation of fire-
fighters.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023 A.7455 Referred to Governmental Employees/S.6155 Skoufis
2021-22: A6452 Referred to Governmental. Employees
2019-20: A6378 Referred to Governmental Employees
2017-18: A6029 Referred to Governmental Employees / S4479 Referred to
Rules
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
See fiscal note.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7455--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 23, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GUNTHER, COLTON, STECK, FRIEND -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees -- recommitted to
the Committee on Governmental Employees in accordance with Assembly
Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
authorizing retired firefighters to be employed as instructors of fire
sciences by a career and technical education center without diminution
of his or her retirement benefits
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 section 214-c to read as follows:
3 § 214-c. Employment of certain retired persons who retired from fire
4 service. Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter or the
5 provisions of any state or local law or charter to the contrary, no
6 retired person who retired from fire service as a member of the New York
7 state and local police and fire retirement system or the New York fire
8 department pension fund, and who is employed by a career and technical
9 education center as an instructor in a fire science program approved by
10 the education department, shall have his or her retirement allowance or
11 benefits suspended or reduced because of compensation earned by such
12 retired person from service as a fire science instructor.
13 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
Insofar as it would affect the New York State and Local Retirement
System (NYSLRS), this bill would allow retired firefighters employed as
fire science instructors in a program approved by the New York State
Department of Education to continue to receive their full retirement
benefit. Currently, the post-retirement earnings limit is $35,000.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06509-04-4
A. 7455--A 2
If this bill were enacted during the 2024 Legislative Session, the
direct cost incurred would be the retiree's post-retirement earnings
more than $35,000 each calendar year, not to exceed the full pension
benefit paid by the NYSLRS during that period.
The number of members and retirees who could be affected by this
legislation cannot be readily determined. For each retiree hired pursu-
ant to this proposal, an annual cost of $95,000 is expected. If large
numbers of retirees are hired into such positions, significant annual
costs would result.
All costs will be shared by the State of New York and all participat-
ing employers in the NYSLRS and spread over future billing cycles. Since
this proposal exclusively benefits retirees, the increased costs are
primarily attributable to retirees from Tiers 1 - 4. Approximately half
of all contributions required to fund this proposal will be collected on
salary reported for current members of Tier 6.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2023 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2023 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2023 Report of the Actuary and the 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2023
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, 2023
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 January 22, 2024, and intended for use only
during the 2024 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2024-69,
prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement
System.
