STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8023
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 15, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. JACKSON -- 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 cost of living adjustments for certain retirees
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision a 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 a. A cost-of-living adjustment shall be payable on the basis provided
5 for in this section to: (i) all pensioners who have attained age sixty-
6 two and have been retired for [five] two years; (ii) all pensioners who
7 have attained age fifty-five and have been retired for [ten] five years;
8 (iii) all disability pensioners regardless of age who have been retired
9 for [five] two years; and (iv) all recipients of an accidental death
10 benefit regardless of age who have been receiving such benefit for
11 [five] two years.
12 § 2. Subdivision a of section 378-a of the retirement and social secu-
13 rity law, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to
14 read as follows:
15 a. A cost-of-living adjustment shall be payable on the basis provided
16 for in this section to: (i) all pensioners who have attained age sixty-
17 two and have been retired for [five] two years; (ii) all pensioners who
18 have attained age fifty-five and have been retired for [ten] five years;
19 and (iii) all disability pensioners regardless of age who have been
20 retired for [five] two years.
21 § 3. Subdivision a of section 532-a of the education law, as added by
22 chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as follows:
23 a. A cost-of-living adjustment shall be payable on the basis provided
24 for in this section to: (i) all pensioners who have attained age sixty-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11191-02-5
S. 8023 2
1 two and have been retired for [five] two years; (ii) all pensioners who
2 have attained age fifty-five and have been retired for [ten] five years;
3 (iii) all disability pensioners regardless of age who have been retired
4 for [five] two years; and (iv) all recipients of an accidental death
5 benefit regardless of age who have been receiving such benefit for
6 [five] two years.
7 § 4. Subdivision a of section 13-696 of the administrative code of the
8 city of New York, as amended by chapter 288 of the laws of 2001, is
9 amended to read as follows:
10 a. A cost-of-living adjustment shall be payable to retired members of
11 the New York city employees' retirement system, the New York city teach-
12 ers' retirement system, the New York city police pension fund, the New
13 York city fire department pension fund, the New York city board of
14 education retirement system or the relief and pension fund of the
15 department of street cleaning provided for in subchapter one of this
16 chapter on the basis provided for in this section to: (i) all retired
17 members who have attained age sixty-two and have been retired for [five]
18 two years; (ii) all retired members who have attained age fifty-five and
19 have been retired for [ten] five years; (iii) all members who retired
20 for disability regardless of age who have been retired for [five] two
21 years; and (iv) all recipients of an accidental death benefit regardless
22 of age who have been receiving such benefit for [five] two years.
23 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would expand eligibility for the defined benefit cost-of-
living adjustment (COLA) for the New York State and Local Retirement
System. Effective immediately, COLA will be payable to (1) service
pensioners aged sixty-two years and retired two years, (2) service
pensioners aged fifty-five years and retired five years, (3) disability
pensioners regardless of age once retired two years, and (4) accidental
death beneficiaries after receiving a benefit for two years.
Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local Employees'
Retirement System (NYSLERS), if this bill were enacted during the 2025
Legislative Session, the increase in the present value of benefits would
be approximately $1.67 billion.
In NYSLERS, this benefit improvement will be funded by (1) billing a
past service cost 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, pursuant to
Section 25 of the Retirement and Social Security Law, the increased
costs would be borne entirely by the State of New York and would require
an itemized appropriation sufficient to pay the cost of the provision,
of $1.47 billion as of March 1, 2026. (2) To fund prospective costs, the
increase in the annual contribution required of all participating
employers in NYSLERS is 0.12% of billable salary, or approximately $16
million to the State of New York and approximately $24 million to the
local participating employers. This permanent annual cost will vary in
subsequent billing cycles with changes in the billing rate and salary of
the affected members.
This proposal primarily benefits current and former members of Tiers 1
- 5. The cost of this benefit improvement will primarily be borne by
current and future members of Tier 6.
Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local Police and
Fire Retirement System (NYSLPFRS), the increased costs would be shared
by the State of New York and the local participating employers in
NYSLPFRS and spread over future billing cycles. If this bill were
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enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, the increase in the present
value of benefits would be approximately $154 million.
NYSLPFRS Increase in present Increase in required
value of benefits contributions
Pensioners $ 66 mn $ 0 mn
Actives Tiers 1-5 (Closed) $ 58 mn $ 62 mn
Actives Tier 6 (Open) $ 30 mn $ 92 mn
Total $154 mn $154 mn
In NYSLPFRS, this benefit improvement will be funded by increasing the
billing rates charged annually to cover both retrospective and prospec-
tive benefit increases. The increase in the annual contribution required
of all participating employers in NYSLPFRS is 0.3% of billable salary,
or approximately $2.62 million to the State of New York and approximate-
ly $11.3 million to the local participating employers. This permanentannual cost will vary in subsequent billing cycles with changes in the
billing rate and salary of the affected members.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2024 was used in measuring the impact
of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2024 actuari-
al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
2024 Report of the Actuary and the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial
Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the
2024 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the
Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and
Control. The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March
31, 2024 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements
and Supplementary Information.
This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability
of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for
the professional judgment of an attorney.
This estimate, dated May 14, 2025, and intended for use only during
the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-138. As Chief
Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, I, Aaron
Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with applica-
ble 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.
