NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4865
SPONSOR: Fitzpatrick (MS) 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. Creates a defined contribution plan for non-civil service
employees and elected officials of the state who would otherwise be a
member of the state and local employees' retirement system.
Section 11. 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. Finally, a new
defined contribution plan is established or all elected officials and
non-civil service employees that they can take with them when their
tenure or appointment is concluded.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2014 - A8603 - Held in Governmental Employees Committee
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4865
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 9, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. FITZPATRICK, TENNEY, DiPIETRO, BORELLI, HAWLEY,
FINCH, CORWIN, GOODELL, McLAUGHLIN -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Employees
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.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08173-02-5
A. 4865 2
1 (b) In the case of any electing employee initially hired on or after
2 January first, two thousand sixteen, the state and the electing employer
3 shall, during the continuance of his or her employment, make contrib-
4 utions at the rate of eight per centum of his or her salary.
5 § 3. Subdivision 3-a of section 390 of the education law, as added by
6 chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows:
7 3-a. (a) Beginning July first, two thousand thirteen, the term "eligi-
8 ble employees" shall also mean any person excluded from or not encom-
9 passed within a negotiating unit within the meaning of article fourteen
10 of the civil service law who would otherwise be entitled to receive a
11 benefit under the retirement and social security law or the education
12 law initially hired on or after July first, two thousand thirteen with
13 estimated annual wages of seventy-five thousand per annum or greater.
14 Such estimate of annual wages to determine eligibility for the purposes
15 of this subdivision shall be provided by the employer. For the purposes
16 of this subdivision, a newly hired state employee whose immediate
17 preceding employment was with another department, division, or agency of
18 the state shall not be deemed to be an eligible employee.
19 (b) Beginning January first, two thousand sixteen, the term "eligible
20 employees" shall also mean any person who would otherwise be a member of
21 the New York state employees' retirement system or the New York state
22 teachers' retirement system initially hired on or after January first,
23 two thousand sixteen or current members of the New York state employees'
24 retirement system or the New York state teachers' retirement system who
25 are not yet vested.
26 (c) Beginning January first, two thousand sixteen, the term "eligible
27 employees" shall also mean all non-civil service appointed employees and
28 elected officials employed by the state or any other public employer,
29 except for those non-civil service employees and elected officials who
30 had prior membership in a state or local retirement plan.
31 § 4. Section 209 of the civil service law is amended by adding a new
32 subdivision 7 to read as follows:
33 7. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, for
34 any dispute that is subject to the provisions of this section, the
35 determination of the public arbitration panel on a disputed agreement
36 shall not contain an increase in all compensation items subject to nego-
37 tiation which is greater than two percent more than all compensation
38 items subject to negotiation received by the employee organization in
39 the agreement between the public employer and the employee organization
40 immediately preceding the agreement being arbitrated.
41 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately. Effective immediately,
42 the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces-
43 sary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are
44 authorized and directed to be made and completed on or before such
45 effective date.
FISCAL NOTE. -- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would:
1) amend section 209-a of the civil service law (Triborough act) to no
longer continue the terms of certain expired agreements.
2) amend the Education law to allow any person who would have become a
member of either the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement
System (NYS&LERS) or the New York State Teachers Retirement System
(NYSTRS) as well as current members who are not yet vested employees of
either NYS&LERS or the NYSTRS to join the SUNY optional retirement
system on or after January 1, 2016. In addition this bill will allow
non-civil service employees and elected officials who have no prior
A. 4865 3
membership in a state or local retirement plan join the SUNY optional
retirement system on or after January 1, 2016.
Pursuant to Chapter 18 of the Laws of 2012, participation currently is
optional in a defined contribution plan for non-union employees hired on
or after July 1, 2013 whose salary is $75,000 or higher.
3) limit binding arbitration awards to a maximum of 2% for all compen-
sation items subject to negotiation.
There would be additional NYSLRS administrative expenses to inform
employers and new members of joining the SUNY optional retirement
system. These expenses are expected to be small.
Summary of relevant resources:
The membership data used in measuring the impact of the proposed
change was the same as that used in the March 31, 2014 Actuarial Valu-
ation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2014
Report of the Actuary and the 2014 Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2010,
2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 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, 2014
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 estimate, dated January 28, 2015, and intended for use only
during the 2015 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2015-44 prepared
by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement
System and the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement
System.
