STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4490--A
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 5, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. HELMING -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
-- recommitted to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions in
accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT in relation to authorizing Christine Hasseler to apply for a
recalculation of her retirement benefits
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary,
2 Christine Hasseler, who joined the New York state teachers' retirement
3 system as a Tier 1 member on September 1, 1970, who retired from such
4 system on August 12, 2004, and who for reasons not ascribable to her own
5 negligence, did not receive her retirement incentive payments from her
6 employer by the deadline, shall have her final average salary and
7 pension benefit recalculated to include such payments, without regard to
8 the actual date of the receipt of such payments. The increase in bene-
9 fit will be payable retroactive to her date of retirement.
10 § 2. All costs of implementing the provisions of this act shall be
11 borne by the employers of members of the New York state teachers'
12 retirement system.
13 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
Bill Description:
This fiscal note is prepared for legislative bill draft #01080-02-5.
This bill would allow Christine Hasseler, a retired Tier 1 member of the
New York State Teachers' Retirement System (NYSTRS), to have her pension
benefit recalculated to include retirement incentive payments she
received regardless of when those retirement incentive payments were
made. Ms. Hasseler's pension would be recalculated with retroactive
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01080-03-6
S. 4490--A 2
adjustment to payments made since her date of retirement of August 12,
2004.
Cost:
The cost of this benefit is equal to the increase in the present value
of liabilities, which is estimated to be $68,000. This cost would be
borne by the employers of members of the New York State Teachers'
Retirement System.
Data:
Member data as of June 30, 2025, prepared for the most recent actuari-
al valuation was used in determining this cost. The most recent data
distributions and statistics can be found in the System's Annual Report
for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025. System assets are as reported
in the System's financial statements which can be found in the System's
Annual Report. This data will also be provided in the System's Actuarial
Valuation Report as of June 30, 2025.
Methods and Assumptions:
A summary of actuarial assumptions and methods will be provided in the
System's Actuarial Valuation Report as of June 30, 2025. Further details
can be found in the most recent Recommended Actuarial Assumptions 2025
Report.
Actuarial Certification:
We, the undersigned actuaries for the New York State Teachers' Retire-
ment System, certify the following:
1. The actuarial assumptions, methods, and data used are reasonable
for the purposes of this fiscal note, internally consistent and are in
accordance with standards of practice prescribed by the Actuarial Stand-
ards Board and generally accepted actuarial principles and procedures.
2. We relied on member data supplied by the participating employers of
the New York State Teachers' Retirement System and assets as supplied in
the annual Financial Statements by NYSTRS' Finance Department.
3. Results were prepared based on our current understanding of the
proposal as of the date of this fiscal note. If the language or our
understanding of the proposal changes, the results could change and
require the issuance of a new fiscal note. The next annual update of the
actuarial valuation could also produce different results. Results should
not be relied upon for any other purpose.
4. This fiscal note was prepared in accordance with New York State
Retirement and Social Security Law, New York State Education Law, appli-
cable Internal Revenue Code, and accepted actuarial standards of prac-
tice as of the date of this fiscal note. This fiscal note does not
constitute a legal opinion on the viability of this legislative
proposal.
5. We are members of the American Academy of Actuaries and the Society
of Actuaries, and we meet the Qualification Standards of the American
Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
We are currently compliant with the Continuing Professional Development
Requirement of the Society of Actuaries.
Fiscal Note Identification:
This Fiscal Note, 2026-14, dated January 29, 2026, was prepared by the
Office of the Actuary of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System
and is intended for use only during the 2026 Legislative Session.
