Increases the amount of years of military service credit a member may purchase from three years to four years; provides that the provisions of such act shall not be subject to the requirement that the state shall make an equal payment to the retirement system.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6840--A
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 25, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. SCARCELLA-SPANTON, ASHBY, COONEY, GRIFFO, HINCHEY,
JACKSON, MARTINEZ, MATTERA, PALUMBO, SANDERS, SKOUFIS, TEDISCO, WEBER
-- 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 committee
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
increasing the amount of years of military service credit a member may
purchase
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 1000 of the retirement and social
2 security law, as amended by chapter 41 of the laws of 2016, is amended
3 to read as follows:
4 4. In no event shall the credit granted pursuant to this section, when
5 added to credit granted for military service with any retirement system
6 of this state pursuant to this or any other provision of law, exceed a
7 total of [three] four years.
8 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 1000 of the retirement and social secu-
9 rity law, as amended by chapter 585 of the laws of 2022, is amended to
10 read as follows:
11 1. A member, upon application to such retirement system, may obtain a
12 total not to exceed [three] four years of service credit for up to
13 [three] four years of military duty, as defined in section two hundred
14 forty-three of the military law, if the member (a) was honorably
15 discharged from the military, or (b) has a qualifying condition, as
16 defined in section [three hundred fifty of the executive law] one of the
17 veterans' services law, and has received a discharge other than bad
18 conduct or dishonorable from such service, or (c) is a discharged LGBT
19 veteran, as defined in section [three hundred fifty of the executive
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09124-04-6
S. 6840--A 2
1 law] one of the veterans' services law, and has received a discharge
2 other than bad conduct or dishonorable from such service.
3 § 3. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, none of the
4 provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation requirement
5 of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
6 § 4. 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
allow for a member to obtain up to four years of service credit for up
to four years of military duty if the member was honorably discharged.
The current maximum is three years of service credit. Members must have
at least five years of credited service (not including military
service). For each year of additional service credit granted by this
bill, Tier 1-5 members would be required to pay 3% member contributions
and Tier 6 would pay 6% member contributions.
The provisions of section 25 of the RSSL shall not apply.
Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local Employees'
Retirement System (NYSLERS), the increased costs would be shared by all
participating employers in NYSLERS. We estimate the past service cost as
a percentage of an affected member's compensation for each year of
service credit that is purchased will be:
Tiers 1-4 Tier 5 Tier 6
Age-Based Plans: 23% 17% 14%
Service-Based Plans: 23% 23% 20%
Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local Police and
Fire Retirement System (NYSLPFRS), the increased costs would be shared
by all participating employers in NYSLPFRS. We estimate that the past
service cost will be 28% (25% for Tier 6) of an affected member's
compensation for each year of service credit that is purchased.
Further, we anticipate additional administrative costs to implement
the provisions of this legislation.
The exact number of current members as well as future members who
could be affected by this legislation cannot be readily determined.
Through December 31, 2025, approximately 12,900 members purchased mili-
tary service credit pursuant to Chapter 41 of the Laws of 2016, with a
total cost of approximately $469 million. It is estimated that, had this
proposal been law since 2016, approximately 8,600 of these members could
have purchased a fourth year of military service credit for an addi-
tional cost of approximately $132 million.
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.
S. 6840--A 3
This estimate, dated February 4, 2026, and intended for use only
during the 2026 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note Number 2026-39. 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 Actu-
aries, of which I am a member. I am a member of NYSLRS but do not
believe it impairs my objectivity.
