Allows members of a public retirement system who retired prior to applying for credit for military service because such credit was not available at the time of their retirement to receive such credit if they apply prior to December 31, 2026.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8003
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 17, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BAILEY -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
allowing for certain members of a public retirement system of the
state to apply for credit for military service
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 1000 of the retirement and social security law is
2 amended by adding a new subdivision 5-a to read as follows:
3 5-a. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision five of this
4 section, a member, who is ineligible to receive the credit allowed
5 pursuant to this section solely because such member retired on or before
6 May thirty-first, two thousand sixteen, shall be eligible to receive the
7 credit allowed pursuant to this section if such member makes application
8 for such credit on or before December thirty-first, two thousand twen-
9 ty-six. The service credit available pursuant to this subdivision shall,
10 when calculated, apply only to benefits received by the member after the
11 date such member makes application for such credit and no retroactive
12 benefit payments shall be made to such applicant pursuant to this subdi-
13 vision. To obtain credit pursuant to this subdivision, a member shall
14 pay such retirement system, for deposit in the fund used to accumulate
15 employer contributions, a sum equal to the product of the number of
16 years of military service being claimed and three percent of such
17 member's compensation earned during the last twelve consecutive months
18 of credited service preceding the date that the member retired.
19 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would allow former members who retired on or before May 31,
2016 to apply to receive military service credit pursuant to §1000 of
the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL). If approved, the retire-
ment benefit will be recalculated as of the date of application and no
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09349-02-5
A. 8003 2
retroactive benefits will be paid. Retirees would be required to pay a
sum equal to the product of number of years of military service granted
multiplied by three percent (3%) of compensation earned during the last
twelve consecutive months of credited service preceding the date of
retirement. Such retirees may receive up to three (3) years of service
credit for their military service. Application must be made on or before
December 31, 2026.
Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local Employees'
Retirement System (NYSLERS), pursuant to Section 25 of the RSSL, the
increased costs would be borne entirely by the State of New York and
would require an itemized appropriation sufficient to pay the cost of
the provision. If this bill were enacted during the 2025 Legislative
Session, the increase in the present value of benefits would be approxi-
mately $72.2 million, which is estimated to average 10% of an affected
retiree's final average salary (FAS) per year of additional service
granted. After the application deadline, a precise cost will be deter-
mined (and billed to the State of New York) based on those benefiting
from this provision.
Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local Police and
Fire Retirement System (NYSLPFRS), the increased costs would be shared
by the State of New York and the local participating employers in
NYSLPFRS and would be spread over future billing cycles. If this bill
were enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, the increase in pres-
ent value of benefits would be approximately $63.8 million, which is
estimated to average 13% of an affected retiree's FAS per year of addi-
tional service granted.
NYSLPFRS Increase in present Increase in required
value of benefits contributions
Pensioners $ 63.8 mn $ 0.0 mn
Actives Tiers 1-5 (Closed) $ 0.0 mn $ 26.2 mn
Actives Tier 6 (Open) $ 0.0 mn $ 37.6 mn
Total $ 63.8 mn $ 63.8 mn
In NYSLPFRS, this benefit improvement will be funded by increasing the
billing rates charged annually to cover both retrospective and prospec-
tive benefit increases. The annual contribution required of all partic-
ipating employers in NYSLPFRS is 0.1% of billable salary, or approxi-
mately $872,000 to the State of New York and approximately $3.8 million
to the local participating employers. This is a permanent annual cost.
Further, we anticipate some administrative costs to implement the
provisions of this legislation.
The estimated NYSLERS cost above is based on approximately 4,600 reti-
rees, with average FAS of approximately $51,000, who may benefit from
this bill. The estimated NYSLPFRS cost above is based on approximately
1,900 retirees, with average FAS of approximately $88,000, who may bene-
fit from this bill. A precise cost cannot be calculated until each reti-
ree applies for the additional service credit.
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
A. 8003 3
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 April 9, 2025, and intended for use only during
the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-77. 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.
