STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8352
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 13, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PHEFFER AMATO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
setting the increase to the overtime ceiling as a fixed percentage
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 24 of section 501 of the
2 retirement and social security law, as amended by chapter 368 of the
3 laws of 2017, is amended to read as follows:
4 (c) [(i)] The "overtime ceiling" shall mean fifteen thousand dollars
5 per annum on January first, two thousand ten, and shall be increased by
6 three percent each year thereafter, provided, however, that [for]:
7 (i) For members who first become members of the New York state and
8 local employees' retirement system on or after April first, two thousand
9 twelve, "overtime ceiling" shall mean fifteen thousand dollars per annum
10 on April first, two thousand twelve, and shall be increased each year
11 thereafter by a percentage to be determined annually by reference to the
12 consumer price index (all urban consumers, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all
13 items, 1982-84=100), published by the United States bureau of labor
14 statistics, for each applicable calendar year. Said percentage shall
15 equal the annual inflation as determined from the increase in the
16 consumer price index in the one year period ending on the December thir-
17 ty-first preceding the overtime ceiling adjustment effective on the
18 ensuing April first.
19 (ii) Commencing January first, two thousand eighteen, and each year
20 thereafter, the overtime ceiling percentage shall be increased by an
21 amount equal to the annual inflation as determined from the increase in
22 the consumer price index in the one year period ending on the September
23 thirtieth prior to the overtime ceiling adjustment effective on the
24 ensuing January first.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11208-02-5
A. 8352 2
1 (iii) Commencing January first, two thousand twenty-six, and each year
2 thereafter, for members who first become members of the New York state
3 and local employees' retirement system on or after April first, two
4 thousand twelve, the overtime ceiling percentage increase shall be equal
5 to the greater of: (A) three percent, or (B) the annual inflation as
6 determined from the increase in the consumer price index in the one year
7 period ending on the September thirtieth prior to the overtime ceiling
8 adjustment effective on the ensuing January first.
9 § 2. Paragraph (c) of subdivision l of section 601 of the retirement
10 and social security law, as amended by chapter 368 of the laws of 2017,
11 is amended to read as follows:
12 (c) The "overtime ceiling" shall mean fifteen thousand dollars per
13 annum on January first, two thousand ten, and shall be increased by
14 three [per cent] percent each year thereafter, provided, however, that:
15 (i) [for] For members who first become members of a public retirement
16 system of the state on or after April first, two thousand twelve, "over-
17 time ceiling" shall mean fifteen thousand dollars per annum on April
18 first, two thousand twelve, and shall be increased each year thereafter
19 by a percentage to be determined annually by reference to the consumer
20 price index (all urban consumers, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items,
21 1982-84=100), published by the United States bureau of labor statistics,
22 for each applicable calendar year. Said percentage shall equal the annu-
23 al inflation as determined from the increase in the consumer price index
24 in the one year period ending on the December thirty-first preceding the
25 overtime ceiling adjustment effective on the ensuing April first.
26 (ii) Commencing January first, two thousand eighteen, and each year
27 thereafter, the overtime ceiling percentage shall be increased by an
28 amount equal to the annual inflation as determined from the increase in
29 the consumer price index in the one year period ending on the September
30 thirtieth prior to the overtime ceiling adjustment effective on the
31 ensuing January first.
32 (iii) Commencing January first, two thousand twenty-six, and each year
33 thereafter, for members who first become members of the New York state
34 and local employees' retirement system on or after April first, two
35 thousand twelve, the overtime ceiling percentage increase shall be equal
36 to the greater of: (A) three percent, or (B) the annual inflation as
37 determined from the increase in the consumer price index in the one year
38 period ending on the September thirtieth prior to the overtime ceiling
39 adjustment effective on the ensuing January first.
40 § 3. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, none of the
41 provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation requirement
42 of section twenty-five of the retirement and social security law.
43 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would change the overtime ceiling percentage increase for
Tier 6 members in the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement
System (NYSLERS) to the greater of three percent or the rate of annual
inflation, beginning January 1, 2026. Under current law, the ceiling was
set at $15,000 at the inception of Tier 6 and is increased annually by
the rate of inflation.
The provisions of Section 25 of the Retirement and Social Security Law
shall not apply.
Insofar as this bill affects NYSLERS, the increased costs would be
shared by the State of New York and the local participating employers in
NYSLERS. If this bill were enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session,
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the increase in the present value of benefits would be approximately
$290 million.
NYSLERS Increase in present Increase in required
value of benefits contributions
Actives Tiers 1-5 (Closed) $ 0 mn $ 53 mn
Actives Tier 6 (Open) $ 290 mn $ 237 mn
Total $ 290 mn $ 290 mn
In the NYSLERS, this benefit improvement will be funded by increasing
the billing rates charged annually to cover both retrospective and
prospective benefit increases. The annual contribution required of all
participating employers in NYSLERS is 0.1% of billable salary, or
approximately $13 million to the State of New York and approximately $20
million to the local participating employers. This permanent annual cost
will increase as Tier 6 salary grows and will vary by employer based
upon the plan coverage and salary reported in Tier 6.
These estimated costs are based on 295,617 affected Tier 6 members,
with annual salary of approximately $14 billion as of March 31, 2024.
To develop the above costs, our models included a Monte Carlo analysis
consisting of 5,000 simulations, each consisting of thirty years of
annual CPI-U projections. In all 5,000 simulations, for at least one
year in the thirty-year period, the 3% floor provided by the proposed
legislation resulted in a higher overtime ceiling. The 3% floor exceeded
annual inflation projections in approximately 60% of the 150,000 trial
years.
Summary of relevant resources:
The inflation measurement used in this analysis was based on the
February 2025 Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: U.S. City
average, published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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
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 28, 2025, and intended for use only during
the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-142. As Chief
Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, I, Aaron
Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with applica-
ble Actuarial Standards of Practice as well as the Code of Professional
Conduct and Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of
Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of which I am a
member.
