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A07420 Summary:

A07420 Actions:

A07420 Committee Votes:

Committee:GOVERNMENTAL EMPLOYEES   Chair:Pheffer Amato      
DATE:05/31/2023AYE/NAY:13/0  Action: Favorable refer to committee Ways and Means        
Pheffer Amato
Aye
DeStefano
Aye
Aubry
Aye
Reilly
Aye
Colton
Aye
Giglio
Aye
Zebrowski
Aye
Tannousis
Aye
Santabarbara
Aye
Eichenstein
Aye
Fall
Excused
Jones
Aye
Burke
Aye
Sillitti
Aye

Committee:WAYS AND MEANS   Chair:Weinstein      
DATE:06/01/2023AYE/NAY:34/1  Action: Favorable refer to committee Rules        
Weinstein
Aye
Ra
Aye
Glick
Aye
Fitzpatrick
Nay
Pretlow
Aye
Hawley
Aye
Colton
Aye
Blankenbush
Aye
Cook
Aye
Norris
Aye
Aubry
Aye
Brabenec
Aye
Benedetto
Aye
Palmesano
Aye
Weprin
Aye
Walsh
Aye
Ramos
Aye
DeStefano
Aye
Braunstein
Aye
Manktelow
Aye
McDonald
Aye
Smullen
Aye
Rozic
Aye
Dinowitz
Aye
Joyner
Aye
Magnarelli
Aye
Zebrowski
Aye
Bronson
Aye
Dilan
Aye
Seawright
Aye
Hyndman
Aye
Walker
Aye
Bichotte Hermel
Aye
Simon
Aye
Cruz
Aye

Committee:RULES   Chair:Pretlow      
DATE:06/05/2023AYE/NAY:28/0  Action: Favorable         
Heastie
Excused
Barclay
Aye
Weinstein
Aye
Hawley
Aye
Pretlow
Aye
Giglio
Aye
Cook
Aye
Blankenbush
Excused
Glick
Aye
Norris
Aye
Aubry
Aye
Ra
Aye
Dinowitz
Aye
Brabenec
Aye
Colton
Aye
Palmesano
Aye
Magnarelli
Aye
Reilly
Aye
Paulin
Aye
Peoples-Stokes
Aye
Benedetto
Aye
Lavine
Aye
Lupardo
Aye
Zebrowski
Aye
Thiele
Aye
Braunstein
Aye
Dickens
Aye
Davila
Aye
Hyndman
Excused
Rozic
Aye
Bronson
Aye

A07420 Floor Votes:

A07420 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          7420
 
                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                      May 19, 2023
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M.  of A. PHEFFER AMATO -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Governmental Employees
 
        AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
          the  eligibility  of certain participants in the New York city employ-
          ees' retirement system to opt into  the  twenty-five  year  retirement
          program for EMT members

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. Paragraph 3 of  subdivision  b  of  section  604-e  of  the
     2  retirement  and social security law, as added by chapter 577 of the laws
     3  of 2000, is amended to read as follows:
     4    3. Each EMT member, other than an EMT member subject to paragraph  one
     5  or  two  of  this  subdivision, who becomes subject to the provisions of
     6  this article on or after the  starting  date  of  the  twenty-five  year
     7  retirement  program  shall  become a participant in the twenty-five year
     8  retirement program on the date [he or she] such person becomes  such  an
     9  EMT  member.  Provided, however, a person subject to this paragraph, and
    10  who has exceeded age twenty-five upon employment as an EMT member, shall
    11  be exempt from participation in the improved twenty-five year retirement
    12  program if such person elects  not  to  participate  by  filing  a  duly
    13  executed  form with the retirement system within one hundred eighty days
    14  of becoming an EMT member. Provided further, however, that a person  who
    15  has  opted  to be exempt pursuant to this paragraph may become a partic-
    16  ipant in the twenty-five year retirement program if such person files  a
    17  duly  executed  election  form  with  the  retirement  system within one
    18  hundred eighty days after the effective date of the chapter of the  laws
    19  of  two thousand twenty-three that amended this paragraph, provided such
    20  person is an EMT member on the date such election  is  filed,  and  such
    21  person  shall  pay all additional member contributions required pursuant
    22  to subdivision e of this section from the date that such  person  became
    23  an  EMT member to the date such person elects to become a participant in
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10284-03-3
        A. 7420                             2
 
     1  the program together with interest computed in accordance with paragraph
     2  four of subdivision e of this section.
     3    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          SUMMARY  OF  BILL: This proposed legislation would amend provisions of
        the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL) to allow eligible  Tier  4
        and Tier 6 EMT Members who opted out of the EMT 25-Year Plan pursuant to
        RSSL  section 604-e another opportunity to rejoin such Plan by filing an
        application with the New York City Employee's Retirement System (NYCERS)
        within 180 days of the effective date.
          Effective Date: Upon enactment.
          BACKGROUND: Eligible EMT Members who were employed in such position on
        December 8, 2000 could elect to join the EMT 25-Year Plan  by  filing  a
        timely  application  with NYCERS or could remain in their existing plan.
        New EMT Members were generally  mandated  into  the  EMT  25-Year  Plan,
        however,  members  who  exceeded  age  25 upon employment as an EMT were
        eligible to opt out of participation in the Plan. Members  who  did  not
        initially  join,  or  opted  out  of,  EMT  25-Year  Plan  participation
        remained, or became, applicable underlying basic plan  members  and  are
        currently ineligible to join the EMT 25-Year Plan.
          IMPACT  ON  PAYABILITY:  The  anticipated group of members expected to
        benefit from, and therefore expected to elect to join  the  EMT  25-Year
        Plan  if  the  proposed  legislation  is  enacted,  are Tier 4 57/5 Plan
        members in employed in a physically taxing position.  These members  can
        begin collecting an unreduced pension at age 57 with at least five years
        of service, or as early as age 50 with 25 years of service. Electing the
        EMT  25-Year  Plan would allow such members to begin collecting an unre-
        duced pension with 25 years of service. Members in other plans  are  not
        expected to benefit from joining the EMT 25-Year Plan.
          MEMBER  CONTRIBUTIONS: Members of the EMT 25-Year Plan are required to
        make, in addition to the basic member contributions,  additional  member
        contributions (AMC) of 6.25% until the attainment of 30 years of credit-
        ed  service.  Active  members  who  join  the  EMT  25-Year Plan will be
        required to contribute any AMC, with interest, from the date  that  such
        person  became  an EMT member to the date such person elects to become a
        participant in the EMT 25-Year Plan.  For purposes of this fiscal  note,
        AMC balances, including physically taxing AMC, are assumed to offset the
        AMC payment required to join the EMT 25-Year Plan.
          FINANCIAL  IMPACT  - PRESENT VALUES: Based on the anticipated group of
        members electing to join the EMT 25-Year Plan and the actuarial  assump-
        tions  and  methods  described  herein,  the  enactment of this proposed
        legislation would result in an increase in the present value  of  future
        employer contributions of approximately $343,000.
          This  net  increase is a result of an increase in the Present Value of
        Future Benefits (PVFB) of approximately $937,000 and an increase in  the
        present  value  of  member contributions of approximately $594,000 which
        includes the required retroactive AMCs.
          Under the Entry Age Normal cost method used to determine the  employer
        contributions  to  NYCERS,  there  would  be an increase in the Unfunded
        Accrued Liability (UAL) of approximately $754,000 offset by  a  decrease
        in  the  present  value  of future employer Normal Cost of approximately
        $411,000.
          FINANCIAL IMPACT - ANNUAL EMPLOYER  CONTRIBUTIONS:  The  enactment  of
        this  proposed legislation would result in an initial increase in annual
        employer contributions of approximately $284,000.
        A. 7420                             3

          New UAL attributable to benefit changes are generally  amortized  over
        the remaining working lifetime of those impacted by the benefit changes.
        The  remaining  working  lifetime  for  this group is approximately five
        years and the increase in UAL was therefore amortized over  a  five-year
        period  (four  payments  under the One-Year Lag Methodology) using level
        dollar payments.
          CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based  on  the  census
        data  used  in the June 30, 2022 actuarial valuation of NYCERS to deter-
        mine the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2024 employer contributions.
          There are 22 EMT members assumed to elect the EMT 25-Year Plan  as  of
        June  30,  2022.  All  22 are members of the Tier 4 57/5 Plan in a phys-
        ically taxing position. The active members had an average age of approx-
        imately 49.4 years, average service of approximately 24.7 years, and  an
        average salary of approximately $94,200.
          ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The estimates presented herein have
        been  calculated based on the actuarial assumptions and methods used for
        the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2024 employer contributions of NYCERS.
          To determine the impact of the elective nature of the proposed  legis-
        lation,  a subgroup of EMT members was developed based on who is assumed
        to benefit actuarially by comparing the  net  present  value  of  future
        employer  costs  of  each  member's benefit under their current plan and
        under the applicable EMT 25-Year Plan.
          For the purposes of this Fiscal Note, it is assumed that  the  changes
        would  be  reflected  for  the first time in the June 30, 2022 actuarial
        valuation of NYCERS used to determine employer contributions for  Fiscal
        Year 2024.
          RISK  AND  UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend
        highly on the realization of the actuarial assumptions used,  demograph-
        ics  of  the  impacted  population and other factors such as investment,
        contribution, and other risks. If actual experience deviates from  actu-
        arial  assumptions,  the  actual costs could differ from those presented
        herein.
          Costs are also dependent on the actuarial methods used, and  therefore
        different actuarial methods could produce different results. Quantifying
        these risks is beyond the scope of this Fiscal Note.
          Not measured in this Fiscal Note are the following:
          *  The  initial  additional  administrative  costs  to  implement  the
        proposed legislation.
          * The impact of this  proposed  legislation  on  Other  Postemployment
        Benefit costs.
          STATEMENT  OF  ACTUARIAL  OPINION:  I, Marek Tyszkiewicz, am the Chief
        Actuary for, and independent of, the New York  City  Retirement  Systems
        and  Pension  Funds. I am an Associate of the Society of Actuaries and a
        Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. I am a member of NYCERS but
        do not believe it impairs my objectivity and I  meet  the  Qualification
        Standards  of  the American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial
        opinion contained herein. To the  best  of  my  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 2023-48 dated May 12,
        2023 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City  Employees'
        Retirement  System.    This estimate is intended for use only during the
        2023 Legislative Session.