STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9476--A
IN SENATE
March 16, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sens. JACKSON, CANZONERI-FITZPATRICK, CLEARE, HARCKHAM,
HELMING, HINCHEY, MARTINEZ, MAYER, OBERACKER, PALUMBO, SCARCELLA-SPAN-
TON, SERRANO, STAVISKY -- 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, in relation to
service rendered by police officers in the agency police services unit
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 381-b of the retirement and social
2 security law, as amended by section 6 of part L of chapter 58 of the
3 laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows:
4 a. Membership. (1) Every member or officer of the division of state
5 police in the executive department who enters or re-enters service in
6 the division on or after April first, nineteen hundred sixty-nine, and
7 every member or officer of the division of state police in the executive
8 department in such service on such date may elect to be covered by the
9 provisions of this section by filing an election therefor with the comp-
10 troller on or before March thirty-first, nineteen hundred seventy-two.
11 To be effective, such election shall be duly executed and acknowledged
12 on a form prepared by the comptroller for that purpose.
13 (2) Every investigator or sworn officer employed by the commission
14 created by section six of chapter eight hundred eighty-two of the laws
15 of nineteen hundred fifty-three, constituting the waterfront commission
16 act, as amended, on or after July first, two thousand twenty-three, and
17 every investigator or sworn officer employed by the New York Waterfront
18 Commission in the executive department shall be covered by the
19 provisions of this section[, and every member or officer of the division
20 of state police in the executive department in such service on such date
21 may elect to be covered by the provisions of this section by filing an
22 election therefor with the comptroller on or before March thirty-first,
23 nineteen hundred seventy-two. To be effective, such election must be
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14774-04-6
S. 9476--A 2
1 duly executed and acknowledged on a form prepared by the comptroller for
2 that purpose].
3 (3) Every non-seasonally appointed sworn member or officer of the
4 division of law enforcement in the department of environmental conserva-
5 tion, a forest ranger in the service of the department of environmental
6 conservation, which shall mean a person who serves on a full-time basis
7 in the title of forest ranger I, forest ranger II, forest ranger III,
8 assistant superintendent of forest fire control, superintendent of
9 forest fire control or any successor titles or new titles in the forest
10 ranger title series in the department of environmental conservation, a
11 police officer in the department of environmental conservation, the
12 regional state park police, and university police officers shall be
13 covered by the provisions of this section.
14 § 2. Subdivision c of section 381-b of the retirement and social secu-
15 rity law, as amended by chapter 581 of the laws of 2001, paragraph 1 as
16 amended by chapter 187 of the laws of 2023, subparagraph (ii) of para-
17 graph 1 as amended by section 6 of part L of chapter 58 of the laws of
18 2024 and paragraph 2 as amended by chapter 440 of the laws of 2017, is
19 amended and a new subdivision h is added to read as follows:
20 c. Credit for previous police service. (1) Police service. In comput-
21 ing the years of total creditable service in such division, full credit
22 shall be given and full allowance shall be made:
23 (i) for service rendered as a police officer or member of a police
24 force or department of a state park authority or commission or an organ-
25 ized police force or department of a county, city, town, village, police
26 district, authority or other participating employer or member of the
27 capital police force in the office of general services while a member of
28 the New York state and local police and fire retirement system, of the
29 New York state and local employees' retirement system or of the New York
30 city police pension fund;
31 (ii) for service rendered as an investigator or sworn officer of the
32 waterfront commission of New York harbor, for service rendered as an
33 investigator or sworn officer of the New York Waterfront Commission, for
34 service rendered as an investigator-trainee of the waterfront commission
35 of New York harbor, and for service rendered as an investigator-trainee
36 of the New York Waterfront Commission, that was creditable under subdi-
37 vision w of section three hundred eighty-four-d of this article; [and]
38 (iii) for all service for which full credit has been given and full
39 allowance made pursuant to the provisions of section three hundred
40 seventy-five-h of this chapter provided, however, that full credit
41 pursuant to the provisions of such section shall mean only such service
42 as would be creditable service pursuant to the provisions of section
43 three hundred eighty-three or section three hundred eighty-three-a or
44 three hundred eighty-three-b enacted by chapter six hundred seventy-sev-
45 en of the laws of nineteen hundred eighty-six of this chapter or pursu-
46 ant to the provisions of title thirteen of the administrative code of
47 the city of New York for any member contributing pursuant to this
48 section who transferred to the division of state police[.
49 (2) State university police officer service. Upon completion of more
50 than twenty years of service, and upon retirement, each such member who
51 was previously credited with service credit in the New York state and
52 local employees' retirement system or the New York state and local
53 police and fire retirement system as an officer appointed by the state
54 university pursuant to paragraph l of subdivision two of section three
55 hundred fifty-five of the education law and who has successfully
56 completed a course of law enforcement training as provided in such
S. 9476--A 3
1 section of the education law or for any such officer who retires on and
2 after January first, two thousand eighteen who has successfully
3 completed such course of law enforcement training within two years of
4 his or her date of appointment shall receive for each such year of
5 previous service, up to a total of no greater than five years of previ-
6 ous service, additional service credit equal to one-sixtieth of his or
7 her final average salary.]; and
8 (iv) for service rendered as a non-seasonally appointed sworn member
9 or officer of the division of law enforcement in the department of envi-
10 ronmental conservation, a forest ranger in the service of the department
11 of environmental conservation, which shall mean a person who serves on a
12 full-time basis in the title of forest ranger I, forest ranger II,
13 forest ranger III, assistant superintendent of forest fire control,
14 superintendent of forest fire control or any successor titles or new
15 titles in the forest ranger title series in the department of environ-
16 mental conservation, a police officer in the department of environmental
17 conservation, the regional state park police, university police offi-
18 cers, and university peace officers.
19 (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any
20 creditable service provided under this subdivision shall be creditable
21 service under any other section of this chapter.
22 h. The provisions of this section shall be controlling, notwithstand-
23 ing any provision of this article to the contrary.
24 § 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would amend the retirement and social security law (RSSL) to
require members or officers of the division of law enforcement in the
department of environmental conservation, forest rangers in the service
of the department of environmental conservation, police officers in the
department of environmental conservation, the regional state park
police, and university police officers to be covered under § 381-b.
Currently, these members are covered under the RSSL § 383-series.
There are 10 members in affected titles who are covered under the
provisions of Article 14. These members could lose the ability to retire
with superior benefits under the provisions of Article 11, to which they
are currently entitled. Additionally, these members would be required to
pay 3% member contributions.
We estimate that the state of New York's annual contributions will
increase $10 million beginning FYE 2027, with near-term costs increasing
6.7% of salary for Tier 6 participants, from 25.6% to 32.3%. Subsequent
costs will vary annually but are expected to average 4.9% of salary
long-term.
In addition, there will be an immediate past service cost of $90
million borne by the state of New York as a one-time payment. This cost
assumes that payment will be made on March 1, 2027.
These estimated costs are based on 1,233 affected members employed by
the state of New York, with annual salary of approximately $134 million
as of March 31, 2025.
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
S. 9476--A 4
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 March 20, 2026, and intended for use only during
the 2026 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note Number 2026-139 REVISED. 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.
