Bill Text: NY A04313 | 2015-2016 | General Assembly | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Provides up to three years of service credit to members of public retirement systems of the state for military service rendered during times of peace; removes requirement that such military service occur during specified periods of hostilities; requires such members have at least five years of credited service, not including military service.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 70-36)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-01-06 - referred to governmental employees [A04313 Detail]
Download: New_York-2015-A04313-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Provides up to three years of service credit to members of public retirement systems of the state for military service rendered during times of peace; removes requirement that such military service occur during specified periods of hostilities; requires such members have at least five years of credited service, not including military service.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 70-36)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-01-06 - referred to governmental employees [A04313 Detail]
Download: New_York-2015-A04313-Introduced.html
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
4313
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
January 30, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, ABBATE, COLTON, BROOK-KRASNY, ZEBROWSKI,
GOLDFEDER, SANTABARBARA, ABINANTI, BARRETT, BENEDETTO, CAHILL, CAMARA,
CLARK, DINOWITZ, FAHY, GANTT, GUNTHER, HEVESI, JAFFEE, MAGNARELLI,
MARKEY, MAYER, ORTIZ, OTIS, PICHARDO, QUART, RAMOS, ROBERTS, ROSEN-
THAL, RUSSELL, RYAN, SCHIMEL, SCHIMMINGER, SEPULVEDA, SIMANOWITZ,
SIMOTAS, SKOUFIS, STECK, STIRPE, THIELE, TITUS, WEPRIN, BORELLI,
CURRAN, GRAF, KATZ, LUPINACCI, MALLIOTAKIS, NOJAY, SALADINO, STEC,
TEDISCO, TENNEY -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. ARROYO, BARCLAY,
BLANKENBUSH, BRINDISI, BUCHWALD, BUTLER, CERETTO, CUSICK, DAVILA,
DenDEKKER, DiPIETRO, DUPREY, FARRELL, FITZPATRICK, GARBARINO, GIGLIO,
GOTTFRIED, HAWLEY, HEASTIE, HOOPER, KEARNS, LALOR, LENTOL, LIFTON,
LUPARDO, MAGEE, McDONOUGH, McLAUGHLIN, MILLER, MONTESANO, OAKS,
PALMESANO, PERRY, RA, RAIA, RIVERA, RODRIGUEZ, SKARTADOS, SOLAGES,
TITONE, WRIGHT -- read once and referred to the Committee on Govern-
mental Employees
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
providing credit to members of public retirement systems of the state
for military service
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "Veterans' Equality Act".
3 S 2. Section 1000 of the retirement and social security law, as added
4 by chapter 548 of the laws of 2000, subdivision 9 as added by chapter
5 547 of the laws of 2002 and subdivision 10 as added by chapter 18 of the
6 laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows:
7 S 1000. Military service credit. Notwithstanding any law to the
8 contrary, a member of a public retirement system of the state, as
9 defined in subdivision twenty-three of section five hundred one of this
10 chapter, shall be eligible for credit for military service as hereinaft-
11 er provided:
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07824-03-5
A. 4313 2
1 1. A member, upon application to such retirement system, may obtain a
2 total not to exceed three years of service credit for up to three years
3 of military duty, as defined in section two hundred forty-three of the
4 military law, if the member was honorably discharged from the military
5 [and all or part of such military service was rendered during the
6 following periods: (a) commencing December seventh, nineteen hundred
7 forty-one and terminating December thirty-first, nineteen hundred
8 forty-six; (b) commencing June twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred fifty
9 and terminating January thirty-first, nineteen hundred fifty-five; or
10 (c) commencing February twenty-eighth, nineteen hundred sixty-one and
11 terminating May seventh, nineteen hundred seventy-five;
12 2. A member, upon application to such retirement system, may obtain a
13 total not to exceed three years of service credit for up to three years
14 of military duty, as defined in section two hundred forty-three of the
15 military law, if honorably discharged therefrom, if all or part of such
16 services was rendered in the military conflicts referenced below, as
17 follows:
18 (a) hostilities participated in by the military forces of the United
19 States in Lebanon, from the first day of June, nineteen hundred eighty-
20 three to the first day of December, nineteen hundred eighty-seven, as
21 established by receipt of the armed forces expeditionary medal, the navy
22 expeditionary medal, or the marine corps expeditionary medal;
23 (b) hostilities participated in by the military forces of the United
24 States in Grenada, from the twenty-third day of October, nineteen
25 hundred eighty-three to the twenty-first day of November, nineteen
26 hundred eighty-three, as established by receipt of the armed forces
27 expeditionary medal, the navy expeditionary medal, or the marine corps
28 expeditionary medal;
29 (c) hostilities participated in by the military forces of the United
30 States in Panama, from the twentieth day of December, nineteen hundred
31 eighty-nine to the thirty-first day of January, nineteen hundred ninety,
32 as established by receipt of the armed forces expeditionary medal, the
33 navy expeditionary medal, or the marine corps expeditionary medal; or
34 (d) hostilities participated in by the military forces of the United
35 States, from the second day of August, nineteen hundred ninety, to the
36 end of such hostilities in case of a veteran who served in the theater
37 of operations including Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the
38 United Arab Emirates, Oman, the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Oman, the
39 Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the airspace above these locations].
40 [3] 2. A member must have at least five years of credited service (not
41 including service granted hereunder) to be eligible to receive credit
42 under this section.
43 [4] 3. To obtain such credit, a member shall pay such retirement
44 system, for deposit in the fund used to accumulate employer contrib-
45 utions, a sum equal to the product of the number of years of military
46 service being claimed and three percent of such member's compensation
47 earned during the twelve months of credited service immediately preced-
48 ing the date that the member made application for credit pursuant to
49 this section. If permitted by rule or regulation of the applicable
50 retirement system, the member may pay such member costs by payroll
51 deduction for a period which shall not exceed the time period of mili-
52 tary service to be credited pursuant to this section. In the event the
53 member leaves the employer payroll prior to completion of payment, he or
54 she shall forward all remaining required payments to the appropriate
55 retirement system prior to the effective date of retirement. If the full
56 amount of such member costs is not paid to the appropriate retirement
A. 4313 3
1 system prior to the member's retirement, the amount of service credited
2 shall be proportional to the total amount of the payments made prior to
3 retirement.
4 [5] 4. In no event shall the credit granted pursuant to this section,
5 when added to credit granted for military service with any retirement
6 system of this state pursuant to this or any other provision of law,
7 exceed a total of three years.
8 [6] 5. To be eligible to receive credit for military service under
9 this section, a member must make application for such credit before the
10 effective date of retirement. [Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions
11 of this subdivision, an individual who retired on or after December
12 twenty-first, nineteen hundred ninety-eight and before the effective
13 date of this section may make application for credit pursuant to this
14 section within one year following the effective date of this section, in
15 which event, the cost to the retiree would be based on the twelve month
16 period immediately preceding retirement.]
17 [7] 6. All costs for service credited to a member pursuant to this
18 section, other than the member costs set forth in subdivision [three]
19 TWO of this section, shall be paid by the state and all employers which
20 participate in the retirement system in which such member is granted
21 credit.
22 [8] 7. A member who has purchased military service credit pursuant to
23 section two hundred forty-four-a of the military law shall be entitled
24 to a refund of the difference between the amount paid by the member for
25 such purchase and the amount that would be payable if service had been
26 purchased pursuant to this section.
27 [9] 8. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the event of
28 death prior to retirement, amounts paid by the member for the purchase
29 of military service credit pursuant to this section shall be refunded,
30 with interest, to the extent the military service purchased with such
31 amounts does not produce a greater death benefit than would have been
32 payable had the member not purchased such credit.
33 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the event of retire-
34 ment, amounts paid by the member for the purchase of military service
35 credit pursuant to this section shall be refunded, with interest, to the
36 extent the military service purchased with such amounts does not produce
37 a greater retirement allowance than would have been payable had the
38 member not purchased such credit.
39 [10.] 9. Anything to the contrary in subdivision [four] THREE of this
40 section notwithstanding, to obtain such credit, a member who first joins
41 a public retirement system of the state on or after April first, two
42 thousand twelve shall pay such retirement system, for deposit in the
43 fund used to accumulate employer contributions, a sum equal to the prod-
44 uct of the number of years of military service being claimed and six
45 percent of such member's compensation earned during the twelve months of
46 credited service immediately preceding the date that the member made
47 application for credit pursuant to this section.
48 S 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none
49 of the provisions of this act shall be subject to section 25 of the
50 retirement and social security law.
51 S 4. 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 allow active members of public retirement systems of New
York State to claim service credit for up to three years of military
service, regardless of when or where it was performed. Currently, active
A. 4313 4
members can receive service credit for military service performed, but
only during specified periods of war. A member must have at least five
years of credited service to be eligible and make application for such
credit before the effective date of retirement. To obtain such credit, a
member must make payments as required in Section 1000 of the Retirement
and Social Security Law. Tier 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 members are required to
pay three percent of salary earned during the twelve months of credited
service immediately preceding the year in which a claim is made for each
year of military service. Tier 6 members are required to pay six percent
of salary earned during the twelve months of credited service immediate-
ly preceding the year in which a claim is made for each year of military
service.
It is not possible to determine the total annual cost to the employers
of members of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System since the
total amount of service credit which would be claimed under this bill
cannot be estimated. However, the cost to the employers of members of
the New York State Teachers' Retirement System is estimated to be
$21,700 per year of service credited for Tier 1 and 2 members, $21,000
per year of service credited for Tier 3 and 4 members, $20,900 per year
of service credited for Tier 5 members and $15,800 per year of service
credited for Tier 6 members if this bill is enacted. These costs would
be offset by member payments required under Section 1000 of the Retire-
ment and Social Security Law.
The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2015-2 dated December 19,
2014 prepared by the Actuary of the New York State Teachers' Retirement
System and is intended for use only during the 2015 Legislative Session.
I, Richard A. Young, am the Actuary for the New York State Teachers'
Retirement System. I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries
and I meet the Qualification Standards of the American Academy of Actu-
aries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
