Bill Text: NY A06980 | 2015-2016 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Removes post-retirement earnings restrictions for New York city department of corrections uniformed personnel with respect to a retiree subsequent to his or her earliest eligibility date for service retirement.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-01-06 - referred to governmental employees [A06980 Detail]
Download: New_York-2015-A06980-Introduced.html
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 6980 2015-2016 Regular Sessions I N A S S E M B L Y April 16, 2015 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to eligibility of uniformed personnel of the New York city department of correction for ordinary disability benefits THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: 1 Section 1. Section 507-a of the retirement and social security law is 2 amended by adding a new subdivision f to read as follows: 3 F. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF LAW, THERE SHALL BE NO 4 RESTRICTIONS ON THE EARNINGS FROM EMPLOYMENT NOT IN PUBLIC SERVICE 5 PERMITTED TO A MEMBER OF THE UNIFORMED PERSONNEL OF THE NEW YORK CITY 6 DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION WHO: 7 1. HAS RETIRED PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION; AND 8 2. WAS SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS OF (I) SUBDIVISION D OF SECTION FIVE 9 HUNDRED FOUR OF THIS ARTICLE, (II) SUBDIVISION C OF SECTION FIVE HUNDRED 10 FOUR-A OF THIS ARTICLE, OR (III) SUBDIVISION C OF SECTION FIVE HUNDRED 11 FOUR-B OF THIS ARTICLE PRIOR TO HIS OR HER RETIREMENT, SUBSEQUENT TO THE 12 DATE AS OF WHICH HE OR SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN ELIGIBLE FOR SERVICE RETIRE- 13 MENT. 14 S 2. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE. -- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: PROVISIONS OF PROPOSED LEGISLATION: This proposed legislation would amend Retirement and Social Security Law ("RSSL") Section 507-a to add a new Subdivision f to remove restrictions on the earnings from employment in the private sector for periods subsequent to the former member's earliest eligibility date for Service Retirement for uniformed personnel of the New York City Department of Correction ("Correction Personnel") who were members of the New York City Employees' Retirement System ("NYCERS") and who have retired and are receiving Ordinary Disability benefits ("Correction ODR Retirees"). EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00931-02-5 A. 6980 2 The Effective Date of the proposed legislation would be the date of enactment. IMPACT ON BENEFITS: NYCERS restricts the total Personal Service Income ("PSI") of a Correction ODR Retiree, in a calendar year, resulting from all public and private employment. If a Correction ODR Retiree's PSI from all public and private employ- ment exceeds the NYCERS PSI limitation, then such retiree's disability pension is suspended for 12 months. The NYCERS PSI limitation for 2014 was $29,000 and increases each year with the Consumer Price Index. If the proposed legislation is enacted, earnings of a Correction ODR Retiree earned subsequent to the date as of which the retiree would have been eligible for Service Retirement would no longer be limited in this manner by the NYCERS. It is the understanding of the Actuary that in lieu of such NYCERS limitations, the limitation on PSI for ODR Correction Retirees would fall back to the restrictions imposed by New York City Charter ("NYCC") Section 1117. NYCC Section 1117 limits the sum of the retirement allowance and the PSI for any ODR Retiree of the New York City Retirement Systems to $1,800 per year from most public employment within New York State (including New York City). However, NYCC Section 1117 places no limits on the amounts of PSI and that may earned from employment from other sources. FINANCIAL IMPACT - EMPLOYER COSTS: The ultimate cost of a pension plan is the benefits it pays. To the extent NYCERS earnings limitations would have applied in Calen- dar Year 2015 and later, certain Correction ODR Retirees would have had their pension temporarily suspended in years subsequent to the date as of which the retiree would have been eligible for Service Retirement where PSI exceeded those NYCERS earnings limitations. Enactment of the legislation would eliminate the decrease in benefits to those Correction ODR Retirees where PSI exceeds the NYCERS earnings limitations. As the Actuary believes that few, if any, Correction ODR Retirees currently earn excess PSI that results in a suspension of their Ordinary Disability benefits, the increase in benefits would be de minimis. FINANCIAL IMPACT: EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS: The change in employer contributions would depend upon the amount and timing of pension payments that would no longer be suspended as a result of this legis- lation, but would ultimately be comparable to the change in employer costs and is expected to be de minimis. OTHER COSTS: Not measured in this Fiscal Note are any possible increased administrative costs attributable to enactment of the proposed legislation. STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Robert C. North, Jr., am the Acting Chief Actuary for the New York City Retirement Systems. I am a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuar- ies. I meet the Qualification Standards of the American Academy of Actu- aries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein. FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This estimate is intended for use only during the 2015 Legislative Session. It is Fiscal Note 2015-09, dated February 27, 2015 prepared by the Acting Chief Actuary for the New York City Employees' Retirement System.