STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7670--A
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 28, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. JACKSON, RAMOS -- 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 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
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11208-05-6
S. 7670--A 2
1 the consumer price index in the one year period ending on the September
2 thirtieth prior to the overtime ceiling adjustment effective on the
3 ensuing January first.
4 (iii) Commencing January first, two thousand twenty-seven, and each
5 year thereafter, for members who first become members of the New York
6 state and local employees' retirement system on or after April first,
7 two thousand twelve, the overtime ceiling percentage increase shall be
8 equal to the greater of: (A) three percent, or (B) the annual inflation
9 as determined from the increase in the consumer price index in the one
10 year period ending on the September thirtieth prior to the overtime
11 ceiling adjustment effective on the ensuing January first.
12 § 2. Paragraph (c) of subdivision l of section 601 of the retirement
13 and social security law, as amended by chapter 368 of the laws of 2017,
14 is amended to read as follows:
15 (c) The "overtime ceiling" shall mean fifteen thousand dollars per
16 annum on January first, two thousand ten, and shall be increased by
17 three [per cent] percent each year thereafter, provided, however, that:
18 (i) [for] For members who first become members of a public retirement
19 system of the state on or after April first, two thousand twelve, "over-
20 time ceiling" shall mean fifteen thousand dollars per annum on April
21 first, two thousand twelve, and shall be increased each year thereafter
22 by a percentage to be determined annually by reference to the consumer
23 price index (all urban consumers, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items,
24 1982-84=100), published by the United States bureau of labor statistics,
25 for each applicable calendar year. Said percentage shall equal the annu-
26 al inflation as determined from the increase in the consumer price index
27 in the one year period ending on the December thirty-first preceding the
28 overtime ceiling adjustment effective on the ensuing April first.
29 (ii) Commencing January first, two thousand eighteen, and each year
30 thereafter, the overtime ceiling percentage shall be increased by an
31 amount equal to the annual inflation as determined from the increase in
32 the consumer price index in the one year period ending on the September
33 thirtieth prior to the overtime ceiling adjustment effective on the
34 ensuing January first.
35 (iii) Commencing January first, two thousand twenty-seven, and each
36 year thereafter, for members who first become members of the New York
37 state and local employees' retirement system on or after April first,
38 two thousand twelve, the overtime ceiling percentage increase shall be
39 equal to the greater of: (A) three percent, or (B) the annual inflation
40 as determined from the increase in the consumer price index in the one
41 year period ending on the September thirtieth prior to the overtime
42 ceiling adjustment effective on the ensuing January first.
43 § 3. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, none of the
44 provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation requirement
45 of section twenty-five of the retirement and social security law.
46 § 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 and the rate of annual
inflation, beginning January 1, 2027. 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.
Insofar as this bill affects NYSLERS, the present value of benefits
would increase by approximately $400 million.
S. 7670--A 3
NYSLERS Increase in present Increase in required
value of benefits contributions
Actives Tiers 1-5 (Closed) $ 0 mn $ 60 mn
Actives Tier 6 (Open) $ 400 mn $ 340 mn
Total $ 400 mn $ 400 mn
Benefit improvements will be funded by increasing the billing rates
charged annually. The annual contribution required of all participating
employers in NYSLERS would increase 0.1% of billable salary, or approxi-
mately $14 million to the state of New York and approximately $21
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.
These estimated costs are based on 313,124 affected Tier 6 members,
with annual salary of approximately $17 billion as of March 31, 2025.
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 70% of the 150,000 trial
years.
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 January 5, 2026, and intended for use only during
the 2026 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note Number 2026-22. 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.
