STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8942
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
July 16, 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
providing retirement credit to emergency medical technicians and
advanced emergency medical technicians for a child care leave of
absence
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 609 of the retirement and social security law is
2 amended by adding a new subdivision i to read as follows:
3 i. Notwithstanding any other law or code provision that prohibits a
4 member from receiving retirement credit for any period during which the
5 member was absent on leave without pay, including but not limited to,
6 subdivision c of this section, any EMT member, as defined in paragraph
7 two of subdivision a of section four hundred forty-five-e of this chap-
8 ter and paragraph one of subdivision a of section six hundred four-e of
9 this article, as added by chapter five hundred seventy-seven of the laws
10 of two thousand, who is absent without pay for a child care leave of
11 absence pursuant to the terms of a collective bargaining agreement
12 covering the EMT member shall be eligible for credit for such period of
13 child care leave provided such member files a claim for such service
14 credit with the pension fund by December thirty-first, two thousand
15 twenty-five or within ninety days following termination of the child
16 care leave, whichever is later, and contributes to the pension fund an
17 amount which such member would have contributed during the period of
18 such child care leave, together with interest thereon. Service credit
19 provided pursuant to this subdivision shall not exceed one year of cred-
20 it for each period of authorized child care leave.
21 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11193-04-5
A. 8942 2
SUMMARY: This proposed legislation would permit Emergency Medical
Technicians of the New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS)
to apply for and purchase up to one year of service credit for each
period of authorized unpaid childcare leave.
ILLUSTRATION - INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($)
Year One Year of One Year of Service
Service Purchased Purchased Per Year
2026 600 600
2027 600 1,200
2028 600 1,900
2029 600 2,500
2030 600 3,200
2031 600 3,900
2032 600 4,600
2033 600 5,300
2034 600 6,100
2035 600 6,900
2036 600 7,700
2037 600 8,500
2038 600 9,300
2039 600 10,200
2040 0 10,500
2041 0 10,900
2042 0 11,200
2043 0 11,500
2044 0 11,900
2045 0 12,200
2046 0 12,600
2047 0 13,000
2048 0 13,300
2049 0 13,700
2050 0 14,200
Employer contribution impact beyond Fiscal Year 2050 is not shown.
The potential increases in employer contributions will be allocated to
New York City.
PRESENT VALUE OF BENEFITS: The Present Value of Benefits is the
discounted expected value of benefits paid to current members if all
assumptions are met, including future service accrual and pay increases.
Future new hires are not included in this present value.
INITIAL INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES
as of June 30, 2024 ($)
Present Value (PV) Per Year of Service
(1) PV of Employer Contributions: 5,100
(2) PV of Employee Contributions: 5,200
Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2): 10,300
UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY (UAL): Actuarial Accrued Liabilities are
the portion of the Present Value of Benefits allocated to past service.
Changes in UAL per incident would be recognized as ongoing gain/loss.
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AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY
Recognized as Ongoing Gain/Loss Per Year of Service
Increase (Decrease) in UAL: 5,100
Number of Payments: 14
Amortization Payment: 600
CENSUS DATA: The number of members who will benefit in the future from
this proposed legislation is unknown. The estimates presented herein are
based on preliminary census data collected as of June 30, 2024. The
census data for the potentially impacted population used to develop the
average costs is summarized below.
NYCERS
Active Members
- Number Count: 4,236
- Average Age: 36.5
- Average Service (before purchase): 9.3
- Average Salary: 74,000
IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Currently, Emergency Medical Technician
(EMT) members of NYCERS are not able to purchase service credit for
periods while on authorized unpaid childcare leave.
Under the proposed legislation, EMT members would be eligible to
purchase up to one year of service credit for each period of authorized
unpaid childcare leave, provided that they file a claim within 90 days
of the termination of such leave (or by December 31, 2025, if later) and
pay the amount that would have been contributed during such leave, with
interest.
ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have been
calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions and Methods
of the impacted retirement systems.
The number of members who will benefit from this proposed legislation
is unknown. The cost of this proposed legislation could vary greatly
depending on the number of future members who benefit and on their
length of service, age, and salary history.
RISK AND UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend
highly on the actuarial assumptions, methods, and models used, demo-
graphics of the impacted population, and other factors such as invest-
ment, contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates from
actuarial assumptions, the actual costs could differ from those
presented herein. Quantifying these risks is beyond the scope of this
Fiscal Note.
This Fiscal Note is intended to measure pension-related impacts and
does not include other potential costs (e.g., administrative and Other
Postemployment Benefits). This Fiscal Note does not reflect any chapter
laws that may have been enacted during the current legislative session.
STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: Marek Tyszkiewicz and Gregory Zelikov-
sky are members of the Society of Actuaries and the American Academy of
Actuaries. We are members of NYCERS, but do not believe it impairs our
objectivity, and we meet the Qualification Standards of the American
Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
To the best of our knowledge, the results contained herein have been
prepared in accordance with generally accepted actuarial principles and
A. 8942 4
procedures and with the Actuarial Standards of Practice issued by the
Actuarial Standards Board.
FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2025-81 dated June 11,
2025 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retirement
Systems and Pension Funds and is intended for use only during the 2025
Legislative Session.
