Relates to the retirement of certain members employed as an emergency medical technician, critical care technician, advanced emergency medical technician, paramedic or supervisor of such titles in a participating Suffolk county fire district.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9959
IN ASSEMBLY
April 26, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. STERN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
the retirement of members employed as an emergency medical technician,
critical care technician, advanced emergency medical technician,
paramedic or supervisor of such titles in a participating Suffolk
county fire district
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions a and j of section 89-ss of the retirement and
2 social security law, as added by chapter 714 of the laws of 2023, are
3 amended to read as follows:
4 a. Any member employed on or after December eighth, two thousand twen-
5 ty-three as an emergency medical technician, critical care technician,
6 advanced emergency medical technician, paramedic or supervisor of such
7 titles upon an election by a participating Suffolk county fire district
8 shall be eligible to retire pursuant to the provisions of this section.
9 Such eligibility shall be an alternative to the eligibility provisions
10 available under any other plan of this article to which such member is
11 subject.
12 j. [Any member who, on or before the effective date of this section,
13 is employed as an emergency medical technician, critical care techni-
14 cian, advanced emergency medical technician, paramedic or supervisor of
15 such titles in a participating Suffolk county fire district may, by
16 filing an election within one year after the effective date of this
17 section, elect to be subject to the provisions of this section. Such
18 election shall be in writing, shall be duly executed and filed with the
19 comptroller and shall be irrevocable.] (1) Each Suffolk county fire
20 district that elects pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision
21 shall pay the cost attributable therefor.
22 (2) The benefits of this section shall be available only to those
23 members defined in subdivisions a and d of this section whose employer
24 elects to provide such benefits by adopting a resolution to such effect
25 and filing a certified copy thereof with the comptroller. Such resol-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14934-02-4
A. 9959 2
1 ution shall be accompanied by the affidavit of the chief executive offi-
2 cer of the fire district that the fire district has received an estimate
3 from the retirement system of the cost of the benefit provided by this
4 section.
5 (3) Such resolution shall apply to all members defined in subdivisions
6 a and d of this section.
7 § 2. Subdivision v of section 603 of the retirement and social securi-
8 ty law, as added by chapter 714 of the laws of 2023, is amended to read
9 as follows:
10 v. The service retirement benefit specified in section six hundred
11 four of this article shall be payable to members with twenty-five years
12 of creditable service, without regard to age, who are employed by a
13 participating fire district that makes the election provided for in
14 subdivision j of section eighty-nine-ss of this chapter as an emergency
15 medical technician, critical care technician, advanced emergency medical
16 technician, paramedic or supervisor of such titles in a participating
17 Suffolk county fire district as defined in section eighty-nine-ss of
18 this chapter if: (i) such members have met the minimum service require-
19 ments upon retirement; and (ii) in the case of a member subject to the
20 provisions of article fourteen of this chapter, such member files an
21 election therefor which provides that [he or she] such member will be
22 subject to the provisions of this article and to none of the provisions
23 of such article fourteen. Such election, which shall be irrevocable,
24 shall be in writing, duly executed and shall be filed with the comp-
25 troller within one year of [the effective date of this subdivision] the
26 election such member's employer makes pursuant to subdivision j of
27 section eighty-nine-ss or within one year after entering the employment
28 with the participating Suffolk county fire district upon which eligibil-
29 ity is based, whichever comes later. For the purposes of this subdivi-
30 sion, the term "creditable service" shall have the meaning as so defined
31 in both sections eighty-nine-ss and six hundred one of this chapter.
32 § 3. All past service costs associated with implementing the
33 provisions of this act shall be borne by the participating Suffolk coun-
34 ty fire district.
35 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to
36 have been in full force and effect on December 8, 2023.
FISCAL NOTE.-- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill is a technical correction to Chapter 714 of the Laws of
2023. It would allow fire districts in Suffolk County that participate
in the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System to elect to
provide individuals employed in the title of emergency medical techni-
cian, advanced emergency medical technician, critical care technician,
or paramedic, and supervisors of these titles, the option to retire upon
completion of twenty-five years of creditable service with a benefit of
one-half of final average salary (FAS) and an additional benefit of
one-sixtieth of FAS for each year of creditable service in excess of
twenty-five years. Members in Tiers 3 - 6 would be limited to 15 years
of additional one-sixtieths.
As a technical amendment to Chapter 714 of the Laws of 2023, the
fiscal costs quoted for that bill still apply. There is no additional
cost associated with this bill.
The exact number of current members as well as future members who
could be affected by this legislation cannot be readily determined.
Prior to electing to provide these benefits, an eligible fire district
would be required to submit a roster of individuals in covered titles to
the New York State and Local Retirement System. This roster would be
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used to develop an exact cost for the individual fire district electing
to provide these benefits.
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 March 29, 2024, and intended for use only during
the 2024 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2024-154, prepared by
the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
