Allows airport firefighters employed by division of military and naval affairs to retire upon completion of 25 years of creditable service; provides that the benefit upon retirement would be an allowance of one-half of final average salary; provides that there is no reduction for early service retirement.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7163
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 25, 2009
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE, DenDEKKER, TOWNSEND, CALHOUN, SALADINO --
Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. PHEFFER -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
the retirement of airport firefighters employed by the division of
military and naval affairs
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
2 a new section 89-x to read as follows:
3 § 89-x. Retirement of airport firefighters in the division of military
4 and naval affairs. a. Any member employed by the division of military
5 and naval affairs shall be eligible to retire pursuant to the provisions
6 of this section if he or she is an airport firefighter apprentice,
7 airport firefighter I, airport firefighter II, airport firefighter III,
8 or a training and safety officer. Such eligibility shall be an alterna-
9 tive to the eligibility provisions available under any other plan of
10 this article to which such member is subject.
11 b. Such member shall be entitled to retire upon the completion of
12 twenty-five years of total creditable service by filing an application
13 therefor in the manner provided for in section seventy of this article.
14 c. Upon completion of twenty-five years of such service and upon
15 retirement, each such member shall receive a pension which, together
16 with an annuity which shall be the actuarial equivalent of his or her
17 accumulated contributions at the time of his or her retirement and an
18 additional pension which is the actuarial equivalent of the reserved-
19 for-increased-take-home-pay to which he or she may then be entitled
20 shall be sufficient to provide him or her with a retirement allowance
21 equal to one-half of his or her final average salary.
22 d. As used in this section "creditable service" shall include any and
23 all services performed as an airport firefighter apprentice, airport
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10353-01-9
A. 7163 2
1 firefighter I, airport firefighter II, airport firefighter III, or a
2 training and safety officer in the division of military and naval
3 affairs.
4 e. Credit for service as a member or officer of the state police or as
5 a paid firefighter, police officer, or officer of any organized fire
6 department or police force or department of any county, city, village,
7 town, fire district, or police district, or as a criminal investigator
8 in the office of a district attorney, shall also be deemed to be credit-
9 able service and shall be included in computing years of total service
10 for retirement pursuant to this section.
11 f. A member contributing on the basis of this section at the time of
12 retirement may retire after the completion of twenty-five years of total
13 creditable service. Application therefor may be filed in a manner simi-
14 lar to that provided for in section seventy of this article. Upon
15 completion of twenty-five years of such service and upon retirement,
16 each such member shall receive a pension which, together with an annuity
17 which shall be the actuarial equivalent of his or her accumulated
18 contributions at the time of his or her retirement and an additional
19 pension which is the actuarial equivalent of the reserved-for-in-
20 creased-take-home-pay to which he or she may be entitled shall be suffi-
21 cient to provide him or her with a retirement allowance equal to one-
22 half of his or her final average salary.
23 g. In computing the twenty-five years of total service of a member
24 pursuant to this section, full credit shall be given and full allowance
25 shall be made for service of such member in time of war after World War
26 I as defined in section two of this chapter, provided such member at the
27 time of his or her entrance into the armed forces was in the service of
28 the division of military and naval affairs or an employer as defined in
29 subdivision e of this section.
30 h. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a member, who
31 does not retire pursuant to the provisions of this section, from utiliz-
32 ing service which is creditable service pursuant to the provisions of
33 this section for service credit pursuant to the provisions of any other
34 plan of this article to which such member is subject.
35 i. The provisions of this section shall be controlling notwithstanding
36 any other provisions in this article to the contrary.
37 § 2. Subdivision a of section 445 of the retirement and social securi-
38 ty law, as amended by chapter 295 of the laws of 2007, is amended to
39 read as follows:
40 a. No member of a retirement system who is subject to the provisions
41 of this article shall retire without regard to age, exclusive of retire-
42 ment for disability, unless he is a [policeman] police officer, an
43 investigator member of the New York city employees' retirement system,
44 [fireman] firefighter, correction officer, a qualifying member as
45 defined in section eighty-nine-t, as added by chapter six hundred
46 fifty-seven of the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-eight, of this chap-
47 ter, sanitation [man] worker, a special officer (including persons
48 employed by the city of New York in the title urban park ranger or asso-
49 ciate urban park ranger), school safety agent, campus peace officer or a
50 taxi and limousine commission inspector member of the New York city
51 employees' retirement system or the New York city board of education
52 retirement system, a dispatcher member of the New York city employees'
53 retirement system, a police communications member of the New York city
54 employees' retirement system, an EMT member of the New York city employ-
55 ees' retirement system, a deputy sheriff member of the New York city
56 employees' retirement system, a correction officer of the Westchester
A. 7163 3
1 county correction department as defined in section eighty-nine-e of this
2 chapter or employed in Suffolk county as a peace officer, as defined in
3 section eighty-nine-s, as added by chapter five hundred eighty-eight of
4 the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-seven, of this chapter, employed in
5 Suffolk county as a correction officer, as defined in section eighty-
6 nine-f of this chapter, or employed in Nassau county as a correction
7 officer, uniformed correction division personnel, sheriff, undersheriff
8 or deputy sheriff, as defined in section eighty-nine-g of this chapter,
9 or employed in Nassau county as an ambulance medical technician, an
10 ambulance medical technician/supervisor or a member who performs ambu-
11 lance medical technician related services, as defined in section eight-
12 y-nine-s, as amended by chapter five hundred seventy-eight of the laws
13 of nineteen hundred ninety-eight, of this chapter, or employed in Nassau
14 county as a peace officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-s, as added
15 by chapter five hundred ninety-five of the laws of nineteen hundred
16 ninety-seven, of this chapter, or is employed as an airport firefighter
17 apprentice, airport firefighter I, airport firefighter II, airport fire-
18 fighter III, or a training and safety officer in the division of mili-
19 tary and naval affairs, as defined in section eighty-nine-x of this
20 chapter, or employed in Albany county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy
21 sheriff, correction officer or identification officer, as defined in
22 section eighty-nine-h of this chapter or is employed in St. Lawrence
23 county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer,
24 as defined in section eighty-nine-i of this chapter or is employed in
25 Orleans county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction
26 officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-l of this chapter or is
27 employed in Jefferson county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff
28 or correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-j of this chap-
29 ter or is employed in Onondaga county as a deputy sheriff-jail division
30 competitively appointed or as a correction officer, as defined in
31 section eighty-nine-k of this chapter or is employed in a county which
32 makes an election under subdivision j of section eighty-nine-p of this
33 chapter as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer
34 as defined in such section eighty-nine-p or is employed in Broome County
35 as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as
36 defined in section eighty-nine-m of this chapter or is a Monroe county
37 deputy sheriff-court security, or deputy sheriff-jailor as defined in
38 section eighty-nine-n, as added by chapter five hundred ninety-seven of
39 the laws of nineteen hundred ninety-one, of this chapter or is employed
40 in Greene county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff or
41 correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-o of this chapter
42 or is a traffic officer with the town of Elmira as defined in section
43 eighty-nine-q of this chapter or is employed by Suffolk county as a park
44 police officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-r of this chapter or
45 is a peace officer employed by a county probation department as defined
46 in section eighty-nine-t, as added by chapter six hundred three of the
47 laws of nineteen hundred ninety-eight, of this chapter or is employed in
48 Rockland county as a deputy sheriff-civil as defined in section eighty-
49 nine-v of this chapter as added by chapter four hundred forty-one of the
50 laws of two thousand one, or is employed in Rockland county as a superi-
51 or correction officer as defined in section eighty-nine-v of this chap-
52 ter as added by chapter five hundred fifty-six of the laws of two thou-
53 sand one or is a paramedic employed by the police department in the town
54 of Tonawanda and retires under the provisions of section eighty-nine-v
55 of this chapter, as added by chapter four hundred seventy-two of the
56 laws of two thousand one, or is a county fire marshal, supervising fire
A. 7163 4
1 marshal, fire marshal, assistant fire marshal, assistant chief fire
2 marshal or chief fire marshal employed by the county of Nassau as
3 defined in section eighty-nine-w of this chapter and is in a plan which
4 permits immediate retirement upon completion of a specified period of
5 service without regard to age. Except as provided in subdivision c of
6 section four hundred forty-five-a of this article, subdivision c of
7 section four hundred forty-five-b of this article, subdivision c of
8 section four hundred forty-five-c of this article, subdivision c of
9 section four hundred forty-five-d of this article, subdivision c of
10 section four hundred forty-five-e of this article, subdivision c of
11 section four hundred forty-five-f of this article and subdivision c of
12 section four hundred forty-five-h of this article, a member in such a
13 plan and such an occupation, other than a [policeman] police officer or
14 investigator member of the New York city employees' retirement system or
15 a [fireman] firefighter, shall not be permitted to retire prior to the
16 completion of twenty-five years of credited service; provided, however,
17 if such a member in such an occupation is in a plan which permits
18 retirement upon completion of twenty years of service regardless of age,
19 he may retire upon completion of twenty years of credited service and
20 prior to the completion of twenty-five years of service, but in such
21 event the benefit provided from funds other than those based on such a
22 member's own contributions shall not exceed two per centum of final
23 average salary per each year of credited service.
24 § 3. Section 603 of the retirement and social security law is amended
25 by adding a new subdivision t to read as follows:
26 t. The service retirement benefit specified in section six hundred
27 four of this article shall be payable to members with twenty-five or
28 more years of creditable service, without regard to age, who are
29 employed as airport firefighters employed by the division of military
30 and naval affairs, as defined in section eighty-nine-x of this chapter
31 if: (i) such members have met the minimum service requirements upon
32 retirement, and (ii) in the case of a member subject to the provisions
33 of article fourteen of this chapter, such member files an election
34 therefor which provides that he or she will be subject to the provisions
35 of this article and to none of the provisions of such article fourteen.
36 Such election, which is irrevocable, shall be in writing, duly executed,
37 and shall be filed with the comptroller within one year of the effective
38 date of this subdivision or within one year after entering the employ-
39 ment with the division of military and naval affairs, whichever comes
40 later. For the purposes of this subdivision, the term "creditable
41 service" shall have the meaning as so defined in section eighty-nine-x
42 of this chapter.
43 § 4. Section 604 of the retirement and social security law is amended
44 by adding a new subdivision u to read as follows:
45 u. The early service retirement for a member who makes the election
46 provided for in subdivision f of section eighty-nine-x of this chapter
47 shall be a pension equal to one-fiftieth of final average salary times
48 years of credited service at the completion of twenty-five years of
49 service, but not exceeding one-half of his or her final average salary.
50 § 5. Any past service costs attributable pursuant to this act shall be
51 borne by the employer.
52 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amend-
53 ments to sections 603 and 604 of the retirement and social security law
54 made by sections three and four of this act shall expire on the same
55 date as such sections expire pursuant to section 615 of such law.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
A. 7163 5
This bill would allow airport firefighters employed by the division of
military and naval affairs to retire upon completion of twenty-five (25)
years of creditable service. The benefit upon retirement would be an
allowance of one-half of final average salary. There would be no
reduction for early service retirement.
If this bill is enacted, we anticipate that there will be an increase
of approximately $65,600 in the annual contributions of the State of New
York, for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010.
In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of approximately $813,000 which would be
borne by the State of New York as a one-time payment. This estimate is
based on the assumption that payment will be made on March 1, 2010.
