STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8023--A
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
-- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended
and recommitted to said committee
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:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11191-03-5
S. 8023--A 2
1 a. A cost-of-living adjustment shall be payable on the basis provided
2 for in this section to: (i) all pensioners who have attained age sixty-
3 two and have been retired for [five] two years; (ii) all pensioners who
4 have attained age fifty-five and have been retired for [ten] five years;
5 (iii) all disability pensioners regardless of age who have been retired
6 for [five] two years; and (iv) all recipients of an accidental death
7 benefit regardless of age who have been receiving such benefit for
8 [five] two years.
9 § 4. Subdivision a of section 13-696 of the administrative code of the
10 city of New York, as amended by chapter 288 of the laws of 2001, is
11 amended to read as follows:
12 a. A cost-of-living adjustment shall be payable to retired members of
13 the New York city employees' retirement system, the New York city teach-
14 ers' retirement system, the New York city police pension fund, the New
15 York city fire department pension fund, the New York city board of
16 education retirement system or the relief and pension fund of the
17 department of street cleaning provided for in subchapter one of this
18 chapter on the basis provided for in this section to: (i) all retired
19 members who have attained age sixty-two and have been retired for [five]
20 two years; (ii) all retired members who have attained age fifty-five and
21 have been retired for [ten] five years; (iii) all members who retired
22 for disability regardless of age who have been retired for [five] two
23 years; and (iv) all recipients of an accidental death benefit regardless
24 of age who have been receiving such benefit for [five] two years.
25 § 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
S. 8023--A 3
by the State of New York and the local participating employers in
NYSLPFRS and spread over future billing cycles. If this bill were
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.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
As it relates to the New York State Teachers' Retirement System, this
bill would amend subdivision a of Section 532-a of the Education Law to
change the eligibility for the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for all
current and future retirees. Retirees retired for service would be
eligible for the COLA upon attainment of age sixty-two with two years of
retirement or age fifty-five with five years of retirement. The current
COLA eligibility requirement is attainment of age sixty-two with five
years of retirement or age fifty-five with ten years of retirement.
Disability retirees would be eligible for the COLA regardless of age
with two years of retirement instead of the five years currently
required. Recipients of an accidental death benefit would be eligible
for the COLA regardless of age after receiving such benefit for two
years instead of the five years currently required.
S. 8023--A 4
The annual cost to the employers of members of the New York State
Teachers' Retirement System for this benefit is estimated to be $71.3
million or 0.35% of payroll if this bill is enacted.
Member data is from the System's most recent actuarial valuation files
as of June 30, 2024, consisting of data provided by the employers to the
Retirement System. The most recent data distributions and statistics can
be found in the System's Annual Report for fiscal year ended June 30,
2024. System assets are as reported in the System's financial statements
and can also be found in the System's Annual Report. Actuarial assump-
tions and methods will be provided in the System's Actuarial Valuation
Report as of June 30, 2024.
The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2025-22 dated May 27, 2025
prepared by the Office of the Actuary of the New York State Teachers'
Retirement System and is intended for use only during the 2025 Legisla-
tive Session. I, Richard A. Young, am the Chief Actuary for the New York
State Teachers' Retirement System. I am a member of the American Academy
of Actuaries and I meet the Qualification Standards of the American
Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
SUMMARY: This proposed legislation, as it relates to the New York City
Retirement Systems and Pension Funds (NYCRS), would accelerate eligibil-
ity for Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) for service, vested, and disa-
bled retirees, and for accidental death benefit recipients of NYCRS.
EXPECTED INCREASE (DECREASE) IN EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
by Fiscal Year for the first 25 years ($ in Millions)
Year NYCERS TRS BERS POLICE FIRE TOTAL
2026 324.5 159.8 33.8 69.1 21.9 609.1
2027 50.5 28.2 6.2 6.6 3.6 95.1
2028 50.4 28.1 6.2 6.5 3.6 94.8
2029 50.3 28.1 6.2 6.4 3.6 94.6
2030 50.2 28.0 6.3 6.3 3.5 94.3
2031 50.2 28.0 6.3 6.2 3.5 94.2
2032 50.2 28.0 6.3 6.2 3.5 94.2
2033 50.2 28.0 6.3 6.2 3.5 94.2
2034 50.2 28.0 6.4 6.2 3.5 94.3
2035 50.3 28.0 6.4 6.2 3.5 94.4
2036 50.5 28.1 6.4 6.2 3.5 94.7
2037 50.6 28.2 2.7 6.2 3.5 91.2
2038 19.9 28.2 2.8 3.4 3.5 57.8
2039 20.1 28.4 2.8 3.4 1.8 56.5
2040 20.4 11.5 2.8 3.4 1.8 39.9
2041 20.7 11.7 2.9 3.4 1.8 40.5
2042 21.0 11.9 2.9 3.4 1.8 41.0
2043 21.4 12.0 3.0 3.4 1.9 41.7
2044 21.8 12.3 3.1 3.5 1.9 42.6
2045 22.2 12.5 3.1 3.5 1.9 43.2
2046 22.6 12.7 3.2 3.5 1.9 43.9
2047 23.1 13.0 3.3 3.5 1.9 44.8
2048 23.5 13.3 3.3 3.5 1.9 45.5
2049 24.0 13.5 3.4 3.6 1.9 46.4
2050 24.5 13.8 3.5 3.6 1.9 47.3
Projected contributions include future new hires that may be impacted.
For Fiscal Year 2051 and beyond, the expected increase in normal cost as
S. 8023--A 5
a level percent of pay for impacted new entrants is approximately 0.05%
for NYCERS, 0.04% for TRS, 0.10% for BERS, 0.02% for POLICE, and 0.04 %
for FIRE.
The initial increase in employer contributions of $609.1 million is
estimated to be $455.1 million for New York City and $154.0 million for
the other obligors of NYCRS.
PRESENT VALUE OF BENEFITS: The Present Value of Benefits is the
discounted expected value of benefits paid to current members if all
assumptions are met, including future service accrual and pay increases.
Future new hires are not included in this present value.
INITIAL INCREASE (DECREASE) IN ACTUARIAL PRESENT VALUES
as of June 30, 2024 ($ in Millions)
Present Value (PV) NYCERS TRS BERS POLICE FIRE
(1) PV of Employer Contributions: 633.1 360.4 70.8 109.3 47.0
(2) PV of Employee Contributions: 0.00.00.00.00.0
Total PV of Benefits (1) + (2): 633.1 360.4 70.8 109.3 47.0
UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY (UAL): Actuarial Accrued Liabilities are
the portion of the Present Value of Benefits allocated to past service.
Changes in UAL for active members were amortized over the expected
remaining working lifetime of those impacted using level dollar
payments. UAL attributable to inactive members was recognized in the
first year.
AMORTIZATION OF UNFUNDED ACCRUED LIABILITY
NYCERS TRS BERS POLICE FIRE
Increase (Decrease) in UAL: 485.0 M 262.6 M 52.0 M 78.1 M 30.1 M
Number of Payments: 12 14 11 12 13
Amortization Payment: 30.9 M 17.0 M 3.7 M 2.8 M 1.7 M
Additional One-time Payment: 273.9 M 131.6 M 27.6 M 62.4 M 18.3 M
CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based on preliminary
census data collected as of June 30, 2024. The census data for the
impacted population is summarized below.
NYCERS TRS BERS POLICE FIRE
Active Members
- Number Count: 184,126 126,251 24,120 33,803 10,691
- Average Age: 47.7 44.5 51.5 37.5 40.7
- Average Service: 11.6 12.4 9.8 11.1 13.7
- Average Salary: 92,300 103,500 60,800 134,900 143,400
Term. Vested Members
- Number Count: 18,559 21,980 2,222 676 36
- Average Age: 54.3 47.0 53.5 42.1 44.5
Receiving Members
- Number Count: 36,080 15,182 5,043 9,699 2,402
- Average Age: 64.2 64.6 67.1 54.1 54.4
IMPACT ON MEMBER BENEFITS: Under this proposed legislation, the time
periods for COLA eligibility would be reduced as follows:
* For service and vested retirees: From age 62 and retired for five
years to age 62 and retired for two years.
* For service and vested retirees if better than above: From age 55
and retired for 10 years to age 55 and retired for five years.
S. 8023--A 6
* For disabled retirees: from retired for five years to retired for
two years.
* For accidental death benefit recipients: from benefit in receipt for
five years to benefit in receipt for two years.
ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have been
calculated based on the Revised 2021 Actuarial Assumptions and Methods
of the impacted retirement systems. In addition:
* New entrants were assumed to replace exiting members so that total
payroll increases by 3% each year for impacted groups. New entrant demo-
graphics were developed based on data for recent new hires and actuarial
judgement.
RISK AND UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend
highly on the actuarial assumptions, methods, and models used, demo-
graphics of the impacted population, and other factors such as invest-
ment, contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates from
actuarial assumptions, the actual costs could differ from those
presented herein. Quantifying these risks is beyond the scope of this
Fiscal Note.
This Fiscal Note is intended to measure pension-related impacts and
does not include other potential costs (e.g., administrative and Other
Postemployment Benefits). This Fiscal Note does not reflect any chapter
laws that may have been enacted during the current legislative session.
STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: Marek Tyszkiewicz and Gregory Zelikov-
sky are members of the Society of Actuaries and the American Academy of
Actuaries. We are members of NYCERS, but do not believe it impairs our
objectivity, and we meet the Qualification Standards of the American
Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
To the best of our knowledge, the results contained herein have been
prepared in accordance with generally accepted actuarial principles and
procedures and with the Actuarial Standards of Practice issued by the
Actuarial Standards Board.
FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2025-48 dated April 25,
2025 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Retirement
Systems and Pension Funds and is intended for use only during the 2025
Legislative Session.
