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A09440 Summary:

A09440 Actions:

A09440 Floor Votes:

A09440 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          9440
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                      March 3, 2016
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M.  of A. ABBATE, GOLDFEDER -- read once and referred to
          the Committee on Governmental Employees
 
        AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
          eligibility for retirement benefits for certain members of the unified
          court system
 
          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 503 of the retirement  and  social
     2  security  law,  as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended
     3  to read as follows:
     4    a. The normal service retirement benefit  specified  in  section  five
     5  hundred  four of this article shall be payable to general members, other
     6  than elective members, who have met  the  minimum  service  requirements
     7  upon  retirement  and  attainment of age sixty-two, provided, however, a
     8  general member who is a peace officer  employed  by  the  unified  court
     9  system  or  a member of a teachers' retirement system may retire without
    10  reduction of his or her retirement benefit upon attainment of  at  least
    11  fifty-five  years  of  age  and  completion  of  thirty or more years of
    12  service. For members who become members of the New York state and  local
    13  employees'  retirement  system  on  or  after  April first, two thousand
    14  twelve, the normal service retirement benefits specified in section five
    15  hundred four of this article shall be payable to general members,  other
    16  than  elective  members,  who  have met the minimum service requirements
    17  upon retirement and attainment of  age  sixty-three;  provided  that,  a
    18  member  who  is a peace officer employed by the unified court system may
    19  retire without reduction of his or her retirement benefit  upon  attain-
    20  ment  of  at  least  fifty-five years of age and completion of thirty or
    21  more years of service.
    22    § 2. Subdivisions a and a-1 of  section  603  of  the  retirement  and
    23  social  security  law,  subdivision  a as amended and subdivision a-1 as
    24  added by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, are amended to read as follows:
    25    a. The service retirement benefit specified  in  section  six  hundred
    26  four  of this article shall be payable to members who have met the mini-
    27  mum service requirements upon retirement and attainment  of  age  sixty-
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13801-02-6
        A. 9440                             2
 
     1  two,  other  than  members who are eligible for early service retirement
     2  pursuant to subdivision c of section six hundred four-b of this article,
     3  subdivision c of section six hundred four-c of this article, subdivision
     4  d  of  section  six  hundred  four-d  of  this article, subdivision c of
     5  section six hundred four-e of this article, subdivision c of section six
     6  hundred four-f of this article, subdivision c  of  section  six  hundred
     7  four-g  of  this article, subdivision c of section six hundred four-h of
     8  this article or subdivision c of section  six  hundred  four-i  of  this
     9  article, provided, however, a member of a teachers' retirement system or
    10  the  New  York  state  and  local employees' retirement system who first
    11  joins such system before January first, two thousand ten or a member who
    12  is a uniformed court officer or peace officer employed  by  the  unified
    13  court system [who first becomes a member of the New York state and local
    14  employees'  retirement  system  before April first, two thousand twelve]
    15  may retire without reduction of  his  or  her  retirement  benefit  upon
    16  attainment  of at least fifty-five years of age and completion of thirty
    17  or more years of service, provided,  however,  that  a  uniformed  court
    18  officer  or peace officer employed by the unified court system who first
    19  becomes a member of the New York state and local  employees'  retirement
    20  system  on  or after January first, two thousand ten and retires without
    21  reduction of his or her retirement benefit upon attainment of  at  least
    22  fifty-five  years  of  age  and  completion  of  thirty or more years of
    23  service pursuant to this section shall be required to  make  the  member
    24  contributions  required by subdivision f of section six hundred thirteen
    25  of this article for  all  years  of  credited  and  creditable  service,
    26  provided further that the [the] preceding provisions of this subdivision
    27  shall not apply to a New York city revised plan member.
    28    a-1.  For  members  who  first  become a member of a public retirement
    29  system of the state on or after April first, two thousand twelve, except
    30  for uniformed court officers or peace officers employed by  the  unified
    31  court  system,  the  service retirement benefit specified in section six
    32  hundred four of this article shall be payable to members  who  have  met
    33  the  minimum  service requirements upon retirement and have attained age
    34  sixty-three.
    35    § 3. Subdivisions a and b-1 of  section  604  of  the  retirement  and
    36  social  security  law,  subdivision  a as amended and subdivision b-1 as
    37  added by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, are amended to read as follows:
    38    a. The service retirement benefit  at  normal  retirement  age  for  a
    39  member  with  less  than  twenty years of credited service, or less than
    40  twenty-five years credited service for a member who joins the  New  York
    41  state  teachers'  retirement system on or after January first, two thou-
    42  sand ten, shall be a retirement allowance equal to one-sixtieth of final
    43  average salary times years of credited service.  Normal  retirement  age
    44  for  members  who  first become members of a public retirement system of
    45  the state on or after April first, two  thousand  twelve  shall  be  age
    46  sixty-three;  except  that  the normal retirement age shall be sixty-two
    47  for a member who is a peace officer or uniformed court officer  employed
    48  by the unified court system.
    49    b-1.  Notwithstanding  any other provision of law to the contrary, the
    50  service retirement benefit for members with  twenty  or  more  years  of
    51  [credit]  credited service who first become a member of a public retire-
    52  ment system of the state on or after April first, two thousand twelve at
    53  age sixty-three, or at age sixty-two for  uniformed  court  officers  or
    54  peace  officers employed by the unified court system, shall be a pension
    55  equal to the sum of thirty-five per centum  and  one-fiftieth  of  final
    56  average  salary for each year of service in excess of twenty times final
        A. 9440                             3
 
     1  average salary times years of credited service. In no  event  shall  any
     2  retirement  benefit  payable  without optional modification be less than
     3  the actuarially equivalent annuitized value  of  the  member's  contrib-
     4  utions  accumulated  with  interest at five percent per annum compounded
     5  annually to the date of retirement.
     6    § 4. Paragraph 3 of subdivision i of section 603 of the retirement and
     7  social security law, as added by chapter 18 of  the  laws  of  2012,  is
     8  amended to read as follows:
     9    3. A member of a public retirement system of the state who has met the
    10  minimum  service  requirement,  but  who  is not a New York city transit
    11  authority member, as defined  in  paragraph  one  of  subdivision  a  of
    12  section  six  hundred four-b of this article, may retire prior to normal
    13  retirement age, but no earlier than attainment  of  age  fifty-five,  in
    14  which  event, the amount of his or her retirement benefit computed with-
    15  out optional modification shall be  reduced  by  six  and  one-half  per
    16  centum for each year by which early retirement precedes age sixty-three;
    17  provided, however, that for a member who is a uniformed court officer or
    18  peace officer employed by the unified court system, the retirement bene-
    19  fit  computed  without optional modification shall be reduced in accord-
    20  ance with paragraph one of this subdivision.
    21    § 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,  none
    22  of  the  provisions  of  this  act shall be subject to the appropriation
    23  requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
    24    § 6. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the  amend-
    25  ments to subdivision a of section 603 of the retirement and social secu-
    26  rity law made by section two of this act shall not affect the expiration
    27  of such subdivision and shall be deemed to expire therewith.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          This  bill will allow any Tier 6 member who is a uniformed court offi-
        cer or peace officer employed by the unitized  court  system  to  retire
        without early age reduction upon attaining 30 year of creditable service
        and  age  55.  It would also reduce the normal retirement age from 63 to
        62, and lessen the reductions in benefits for those who retire prior  to
        normal retirement age.
          If this legislation is enacted during the 2016 legislative session, we
        anticipate that there will be an increase in the annual contributions of
        the  state  of New York of approximately 0.9% of the compensation of the
        affected members. For the fiscal year ending March  31,  2017,  this  is
        estimated to be approximately $40,000.
          In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
        an  immediate  past service cost of approximately $63,600 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, 2017.
          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, 2015  actuarial  valu-
        ation.    Distributions  and  other  statistics can be found in the 2015
        Report of the  Actuary  and  the  2015  Comprehensive  Annual  Financial
        Report.
          The  actuarial  assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015
        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, 2015
        New York State and Local  Retirement  System  Financial  Statements  and
        Supplementary Information.
        A. 9440                             4
 
          I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
        fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
          This  estimate,  dated  January  28,  2016,  and intended for use only
        during the  2016  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2016-36,
        prepared  by  the  Actuary  for  the New York State and Local Retirement
        System.