STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10471
IN SENATE
May 15, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, the education
law and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation
to providing cost-of-living adjustments
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision g of section 78-a of the retirement and social
2 security law, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 g. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, effective the first day
5 of September, two thousand twenty-seven, the surviving spouse of a
6 deceased retired member who retired under an option which provides that
7 benefits are to be continued for life to the surviving spouse after the
8 death of the retired member, shall be entitled to receive benefits
9 pursuant to this section. Said benefits shall be [fifty] one hundred
10 percent of the monthly benefits which the pensioner would be receiving
11 pursuant to this section if living, and shall commence (i) with a
12 payment for the month of September, two thousand twenty-seven, or (ii)
13 the month following the death of the deceased retired member, whichever
14 is later.
15 § 2. Subdivision g of section 378-a of the retirement and social secu-
16 rity law, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to
17 read as follows:
18 g. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, effective the first day
19 of September, two thousand twenty-seven, the surviving spouse of a
20 deceased retired member who retired under an option which provides that
21 benefits are to be continued for life to the surviving spouse after the
22 death of the retired member, shall be entitled to receive benefits
23 pursuant to this section. Said benefits shall be [fifty] one hundred
24 percent of the monthly benefits which the pensioner would be receiving
25 pursuant to this section if living, and shall commence (i) with a
26 payment for the month of September, two thousand twenty-seven, or (ii)
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15258-02-6
S. 10471 2
1 the month following the death of the deceased retired member, whichever
2 is later.
3 § 3. Subdivision g of section 532-a of the education law, as added by
4 chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as follows:
5 g. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, effective the first day
6 of September, two thousand twenty-seven, the surviving spouse of a
7 deceased retired member who retired under an option which provides that
8 benefits are to be continued for life to the surviving spouse after the
9 death of the retired member, shall be entitled to receive benefits
10 pursuant to this section. Said benefits shall be [fifty] one hundred
11 percent of the monthly benefits which the pensioner would be receiving
12 pursuant to this section if living, and shall commence (i) with a
13 payment for the month of September, two thousand twenty-seven, or (ii)
14 the month following the death of the deceased retired member, whichever
15 is later.
16 § 4. Subdivision g of section 13-696 of the administrative code of the
17 city of New York, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is
18 amended to read as follows:
19 g. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, effective the first day
20 of September, two thousand twenty-seven, the surviving spouse of a
21 deceased retired member of the New York city employees' retirement
22 system, the New York city teachers' retirement system, the New York city
23 police pension fund, the New York city fire department pension fund or
24 the New York city board of education retirement system who retired under
25 an option which provides that benefits are to be continued for life to
26 the surviving spouse after the death of the member, shall be entitled to
27 receive a benefit pursuant to this section. Said benefit shall be
28 [fifty] one hundred percent of the monthly benefit which the pensioner
29 would be receiving if living, and shall commence (i) with a payment for
30 the month of September, two thousand twenty-seven, or (ii) the month
31 following the death of the deceased retired member, whichever is later.
32 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would amend the retirement and social security law (RSSL) to
increase the defined benefit cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for New
York public retirement systems. Beginning with pension payments in
September 2027, the cost-of-living benefit payable to a surviving spouse
who is eligible for COLA will be increased from fifty percent to one
hundred percent of the COLA payment that the retiree would have
received.
Pursuant to section 25 of the RSSL, retrospective costs in the New
York State and Local Employees' Retirement System (NYSLERS) arising from
prior service would be borne entirely by the state of New York and would
require an itemized appropriation sufficient to pay the cost of the
provision.
Insofar as this bill affects NYSLERS, the present value of benefits
would increase by approximately $1.8 billion.
In NYSLERS, this benefit improvement will be funded by (1) billing a
one-time charge to cover retrospective benefit increases and (2)
increasing the billing rates charged annually to cover prospective bene-
fit increases, as follows:
(1) To fund retrospective costs, the state of New York will be
required to pay $1.92 billion as of March 1, 2027.
(2) To fund prospective costs, annual billing rates charged to all
participating employers in NYSLERS would increase by 0.04% of billable
salary. Systemwide, annual contributions would increase by approximately
S. 10471 3
$5.3 million for the state of New York and $7.9 million for the local
participating employers. This permanent annual cost will vary in future
billing cycles with changes in the billing rate and salary of the
affected members.
Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local Police and
Fire Retirement System (NYSLPFRS), the present value of benefits would
increase by approximately $207 million.
NYSLPFRS Increase in present Increase in required
value of benefits contributions
Pensioners $182 mn $ 0 mn
Actives Tiers 1-5 (Closed) $ 15 mn $ 70 mn
Actives Tier 6 (Open) $ 10 mn $137 mn
Total $207 mn $207 mn
Benefit improvements will be funded by increasing the billing rates
charged annually. The annual billing rate required of all participating
employers in NYSLPFRS would increase 0.4% of billable salary. System-
wide, annual contributions would increase approximately $3.6 million to
the state of New York and $15.2 million to the local participating
employers. This permanent annual cost will vary in future billing
cycles with changes in the billing rate and salary of the affected
members.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2025 was used to measure the impact of
the bill, the same data used in the Actuarial Valuations dated April 1,
2025. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2025 Report
of the Actuary and the 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The
actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2025 Annual
Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules
and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and Control. The fair
value of assets and GASB disclosures can be found in the 2025 Financial
Statements and Supplementary Information.
Assumptions, demographics, and other considerations may have been
modified to better reflect specific provisions of any proposed benefit
change(s).
This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability
of the bill, nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the profes-
sional judgment of an attorney.
This estimate, dated April 23, 2026, and intended for use only during
the 2026 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note Number 2026-161. As Chief
Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS), I,
Aaron Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with
applicable 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. I am a member of NYSLRS but do not believe it
impairs my objectivity.
