Bill Text: NY A06771 | 2015-2016 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Relates to age and services eligibility requirements for ordinary retirement for members of the unified court system; restores 55/30 for all members and reduces the retirement age from 63 to 62.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2015-10-26 - tabled [A06771 Detail]

Download: New_York-2015-A06771-Amended.html
                           S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
                                        6771--A
                              2015-2016 Regular Sessions
                                 I N  A S S E M B L Y
                                     April 2, 2015
                                      ___________
       Introduced  by  M.  of A. ABBATE, GOLDFEDER -- read once and referred to
         the Committee on Governmental Employees -- reported  and  referred  to
         the Committee on Ways and Means -- committee discharged, bill amended,
         ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
       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.
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD07734-03-5
       A. 6771--A                          2
    1    S  2.  Subdivisions  a  and  a-1  of section 603 of the retirement and
    2  social security law, subdivision a as amended  and  subdivision  a-1  as
    3  added by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, are amended to read as follows:
    4    a.  The  service  retirement  benefit specified in section six hundred
    5  four of this article shall be payable to members who have met the  mini-
    6  mum  service  requirements  upon retirement and attainment of age sixty-
    7  two, other than members who are eligible for  early  service  retirement
    8  pursuant to subdivision c of section six hundred four-b of this article,
    9  subdivision c of section six hundred four-c of this article, subdivision
   10  d  of  section  six  hundred  four-d  of  this article, subdivision c of
   11  section six hundred four-e of this article, subdivision c of section six
   12  hundred four-f of this article, subdivision c  of  section  six  hundred
   13  four-g  of  this article, subdivision c of section six hundred four-h of
   14  this article or subdivision c of section  six  hundred  four-i  of  this
   15  article, provided, however, a member of a teachers' retirement system or
   16  the  New  York  state  and  local employees' retirement system who first
   17  joins such system before January first, two thousand ten or a member who
   18  is a uniformed court officer or peace officer employed  by  the  unified
   19  court system [who first becomes a member of the New York state and local
   20  employees'  retirement  system  before April first, two thousand twelve]
   21  may retire without reduction of  his  or  her  retirement  benefit  upon
   22  attainment  of at least fifty-five years of age and completion of thirty
   23  or more years of service, provided,  however,  that  a  uniformed  court
   24  officer  or peace officer employed by the unified court system who first
   25  becomes a member of the New York state and local  employees'  retirement
   26  system  on  or after January first, two thousand ten and retires without
   27  reduction of his or her retirement benefit upon attainment of  at  least
   28  fifty-five  years  of  age  and  completion  of  thirty or more years of
   29  service pursuant to this section shall be required to  make  the  member
   30  contributions  required by subdivision f of section six hundred thirteen
   31  of this article for  all  years  of  credited  and  creditable  service,
   32  provided further that the [the] preceding provisions of this subdivision
   33  shall not apply to a New York city revised plan member.
   34    a-1.  For  members  who  first  become a member of a public retirement
   35  system of the state on or after April first, two thousand twelve, EXCEPT
   36  FOR UNIFORMED COURT OFFICERS OR PEACE OFFICERS EMPLOYED BY  THE  UNIFIED
   37  COURT  SYSTEM,  the  service retirement benefit specified in section six
   38  hundred four of this article shall be payable to members  who  have  met
   39  the  minimum  service requirements upon retirement and have attained age
   40  sixty-three.
   41    S 3. Subdivisions a and b-1 of  section  604  of  the  retirement  and
   42  social  security  law,  subdivision  a as amended and subdivision b-1 as
   43  added by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, are amended to read as follows:
   44    a. The service retirement benefit  at  normal  retirement  age  for  a
   45  member  with  less  than  twenty years of credited service, or less than
   46  twenty-five years credited service for a member who joins the  New  York
   47  state  teachers'  retirement system on or after January first, two thou-
   48  sand ten, shall be a retirement allowance equal to one-sixtieth of final
   49  average salary times years of credited service.  Normal  retirement  age
   50  for  members  who  first become members of a public retirement system of
   51  the state on or after April first, two  thousand  twelve  shall  be  age
   52  sixty-three;  EXCEPT  THAT  THE NORMAL RETIREMENT AGE SHALL BE SIXTY-TWO
   53  FOR A MEMBER WHO IS A PEACE OFFICER OR UNIFORMED COURT OFFICER  EMPLOYED
   54  BY THE UNIFIED COURT SYSTEM.
   55    b-1.  Notwithstanding  any other provision of law to the contrary, the
   56  service retirement benefit for members with  twenty  or  more  years  of
       A. 6771--A                          3
    1  [credit]  CREDITED service who first become a member of a public retire-
    2  ment system of the state on or after April first, two thousand twelve at
    3  age sixty-three, OR AT AGE SIXTY-TWO FOR  UNIFORMED  COURT  OFFICERS  OR
    4  PEACE  OFFICERS EMPLOYED BY THE UNIFIED COURT SYSTEM, shall be a pension
    5  equal to the sum of thirty-five per centum  and  one-fiftieth  of  final
    6  average  salary for each year of service in excess of twenty times final
    7  average salary times years of credited service. In no  event  shall  any
    8  retirement  benefit  payable  without optional modification be less than
    9  the actuarially equivalent annuitized value  of  the  member's  contrib-
   10  utions  accumulated  with  interest at five percent per annum compounded
   11  annually to the date of retirement.
   12    S 4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,  none
   13  of  the  provisions  of  this  act shall be subject to the appropriation
   14  requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
   15    S 5. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the  amend-
   16  ments to subdivision a of section 603 of the retirement and social secu-
   17  rity law made by section two of this act shall not affect the expiration
   18  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  unified  court  system  to  retire
       without  early  age  reduction  upon  attaining  30  years 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 2015 legislative session, we
       anticipate that there will be an increase in the annual contributions of
       the state of New York of approximately 1.0% of the compensation  of  the
       affected  members.  For  the  fiscal year ending March 31, 2016, this is
       estimated to be approximately $88,000.
         In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
       an immediate past service cost of approximately $91,600 which  would  be
       borne  by  the  state of New York as a one-time payment. The estimate is
       based on the assumption that payment will be made on March 1, 2016.
         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, 2014 actuarial valu-
       ation.  Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the  2014
       Report  of  the  Actuary  and  the  2014  Comprehensive Annual Financial
       Report.
         The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2010,
       2011,  2012, 2013 and 2014 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, 2014
       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 estimate, dated February 10, 2015,  and  intended  for  use  only
       during  the  2015  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No. 2015-47,
       prepared by the Actuary for the New  York  State  and  Local  Employees'
       Retirement System.
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