STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6452
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 7, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BARRETT, DenDEKKER, COLTON, ZEBROWSKI, MALLIOTAK-
IS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employ-
ees
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 supplemental military retirement allowances for members of public
retirement systems of the state
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 1000 of the retirement and social security law is
2 amended by adding a new subdivision 8-a to read as follows:
3 8-a. A person who retired prior to May thirty-first, two thousand
4 eighteen and who would have been entitled to the provisions of this
5 section, may make application to such retirement system no later than
6 December thirty-first, two thousand twenty-one for a supplemental mili-
7 tary retirement allowance pursuant to this subdivision. The supple-
8 mental retirement allowance provided by this subdivision shall be in
9 lieu of any benefit otherwise provided pursuant to this section and any
10 credit granted for military service with any retirement system of this
11 state pursuant to any other section of law. Upon receipt of an applica-
12 tion, the retirement system shall determine the amount of service credit
13 such person would have been entitled to receive pursuant to subdivisions
14 one and two of this section, subject to the limitations contained in
15 this section. The supplemental military retirement allowance shall equal
16 the retirement allowance of such person, computed without optional
17 modification and not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars, multiplied by
18 twenty-five one-hundredths of one percent per month of the service cred-
19 it as determined pursuant to this subdivision. One-twelfth of the
20 supplemental military retirement allowance shall be added to the retire-
21 ment allowance of such person each month. The benefit payable pursuant
22 to this section shall commence on the next retirement allowance payable
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08018-04-9
A. 6452 2
1 at least thirty days after the receipt of an application from such
2 person. For the purposes of this subdivision, retirement allowance shall
3 exclude any annuity derived from voluntary contributions made by the
4 individual, except those made pursuant to elections under subdivision
5 one of section five hundred eleven-a or paragraph c of subdivision three
6 of section five hundred sixteen of the education law, but shall include
7 any cost of living adjustment derived from sections seventy-eight-a and
8 three hundred seventy-eight-a of this chapter or section five hundred
9 thirty-two-a of the education law, as applicable. The benefit payable
10 pursuant to this subdivision shall be payable for the life of the
11 retired member only, except that the surviving spouse of a deceased
12 member who retired under an option providing a benefit to be continued
13 for life to the surviving spouse after the death of the member shall be
14 entitled to receive fifty percent of the monthly benefit that the
15 retired member would be receiving pursuant to this subdivision, if
16 living, commencing with the next retirement allowance payable at least
17 thirty days after receipt of an application from the retired member for
18 the benefit or payable after the death of the retired member.
19 § 2. Subdivision b of section 78-a of the retirement and social secu-
20 rity law, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to
21 read as follows:
22 b. Said cost-of-living adjustment shall be a percentage of the annual
23 retirement allowance otherwise payable, computed without optional
24 modification, but including any benefit derived from subdivision f of
25 this section [and], any prior year's cost-of-living adjustment derived
26 from this section and the amount of any supplemental military retirement
27 allowance derived from subdivision eight-a of section one thousand of
28 this chapter. Said percentage is set forth in subdivision d of this
29 section.
30 § 3. Subdivision b of section 378-a of the retirement and social secu-
31 rity law, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to
32 read as follows:
33 b. Said cost-of-living adjustment shall be a percentage of the annual
34 retirement allowance otherwise payable, computed without optional
35 modification, but including any benefit derived from subdivision f of
36 this section [and], any prior year's cost-of-living adjustment derived
37 from this section and the amount of any supplemental military retirement
38 allowance derived from subdivision eight-a of section one thousand of
39 this chapter. Said percentage is set forth in subdivision d of this
40 section.
41 § 4. Subdivision b of section 532-a of the education law, as added by
42 chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as follows:
43 b. Said cost-of-living adjustment shall be a percentage of the annual
44 retirement allowance otherwise payable, computed without optional
45 modification, excluding any annuity derived from voluntary contributions
46 made by members, except those made pursuant to elections under subdivi-
47 sion one of section five hundred eleven-a or paragraph c of subdivision
48 three of section five hundred sixteen of this article, but including any
49 benefit derived from subdivision f of this section [and], any prior
50 year's cost-of-living adjustment derived from this section and the
51 amount of any supplemental military retirement allowance derived from
52 subdivision eight-a of section one thousand of the retirement and social
53 security law. Said percentage is set forth in subdivision d of this
54 section.
A. 6452 3
1 § 5. Subdivision b of section 13-696 of the administrative code of the
2 city of New York, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 b. Said cost-of-living adjustment shall be a percentage of the annual
5 fixed retirement allowance otherwise payable, computed without optional
6 modification, but including any benefit derived from subdivision f of
7 this section [and], any prior year's cost-of-living adjustment derived
8 from this section and the amount of any supplemental military allowance
9 derived from subdivision eight-a of section one thousand of the retire-
10 ment and social security law. Said percentage is set forth in subdivi-
11 sion d of this section.
12 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would amend Section 1000 of the Retirement and Social Secu-
rity Law to give veterans who retired prior to May 31, 2018, a supple-
mental pension equal to their first $15,000 of single life allowance
together with any cost of living adjustment, multiplied by 3% per year
for up to three (3) years of such service credit for military service
that would have been eligible if the member retired on or after such
date. The surviving spouse of such a retired veteran who chose a contin-
ued life benefit to the spouse shall receive half of what the deceased
member would have received. There would not be any payment required by
an effected retiree or surviving spouse for this supplemental pension.
Such retiree may make application for the supplemental pension no later
than December 31, 2021 and the payment of the benefit will begin with
the next monthly pension payment payable at least 30 days after receipt
of the application.
The exact number of retirees that could be affected by this legis-
lation cannot be readily determined.
ERS Costs: Pursuant to Section 25 of the Retirement and Social Securi-
ty Law, the increased cost to the New York State and Local Employees'
Retirement System would be borne entirely by the State of New York and
would require an itemized appropriation sufficient to pay the cost of
the provision. Once a retiree applies for this benefit a cost will be
generated, which will be billed to the State.
PFRS Costs: These costs would be shared by the State of New York and
the participating employers in the PFRS.
Summary of relevant resources:
The membership data used in measuring the impact of the proposed
change was the same as that used in the March 31, 2018 actuarial valu-
ation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2018
Report of the Actuary and the 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report.
The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015,
2016, 2017 and 2018 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, 2018
New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and
Supplementary information.
I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
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.
A. 6452 4
This estimate, dated February 22, 2019, and intended for use only
during the 2019 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2019-83,
prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement
System.
