S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 7075--B 2009-2010 Regular Sessions I N A S S E M B L Y March 19, 2009 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. McENENY, CANESTRARI, CAHILL, WRIGHT, SCHROEDER, GUNTHER, FIELDS, JAFFEE, RAMOS, HYER-SPENCER -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BOYLAND, BRODSKY, BROOK-KRASNY, COLTON, CUSICK, DINOWITZ, HEASTIE, HOOPER, LATIMER, LIFTON, J. MILLER, PERALTA, PERRY, PHEFFER, SPANO, SWEENEY, WEINSTEIN, WEISENBERG -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit- tee -- recommitted to the Committee on Governmental Employees in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit- tee AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to benefits of members subject to article 11 and article 15 who retire prior to the normal retirement age with twenty-five years of service THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: 1 Section 1. Paragraph 1 of subdivision b of section 442 of the retire- 2 ment and social security law, as amended by chapter 306 of the laws of 3 1996, is amended to read as follows: 4 1. A member who is a peace officer employed by the unified court 5 system or a member of a teacher's retirement system or a member of the 6 New York state and local employees' retirement system OR A MEMBER OF THE 7 NEW YORK CITY EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM OR A MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK 8 CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION RETIREMENT SYSTEM may retire without reduction 9 of his OR HER retirement benefit upon his OR HER attainment of at least 10 fifty-five years of age and completion of [thirty] TWENTY-FIVE or more 11 years of service; and 12 S 2. Paragraph 1 of subdivision d of section 445-d of the retirement 13 and social security law, as amended by chapter 509 of the laws of 2001, 14 is amended to read as follows: 15 1. In addition to the member contributions required by section 13-125 16 or 13-162 of the administrative code or section eight or thirty of the 17 BERS rules and regulations, each participant in the age fifty-five 18 improved benefit retirement program shall contribute, subject to the EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00702-05-0 A. 7075--B 2 1 applicable provisions of section 13-125.2 of the administrative code or 2 subdivision nineteen of section twenty-five hundred seventy-five of the 3 education law, an additional percentage or additional percentages of his 4 or her compensation to the retirement system of which he or she is a 5 member in accordance with the following schedule: 6 (i) (A) each such participant shall contribute an additional four and 7 thirty-five one-hundredths percent of his or her compensation earned 8 from all credited CPP qualifying service (whether or not in a physically 9 taxing position) rendered on and after the starting date of the age 10 fifty-five improved benefit retirement program and prior to the 11 commencement date of the first payroll period which begins after January 12 first, nineteen hundred ninety-eight (1) while such person is a partic- 13 ipant in such program; and (2) before such person becomes such a partic- 14 ipant pursuant to paragraph one or two of subdivision b of this section 15 (whether or not rendered in a New York city eligible position); and (3) 16 after such person ceases to be a participant, but before he or she again 17 becomes such a participant pursuant to paragraph five of such subdivi- 18 sion b (whether or not rendered in a New York city eligible position); 19 and 20 (B) each such participant shall contribute an additional two and 21 eighty-five one-hundredths percent of his or her compensation earned 22 from all credited CPP qualifying service (whether or not in a physically 23 taxing position) rendered on and after the commencement date of the 24 first payroll period which begins after January first, nineteen hundred 25 ninety-eight and prior to the commencement date of the first payroll 26 period which begins subsequent to the effective date of [the] chapter 27 FIVE HUNDRED NINE of the laws of two thousand one which amended this 28 item AND PRIOR TO THE COMMENCEMENT DATE OF THE FIRST PAYROLL PERIOD 29 WHICH BEGINS AFTER JULY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TEN (1) while such person is 30 a participant in such program; and (2) before such person becomes such a 31 participant pursuant to paragraph one or two of subdivision b of this 32 section (whether or not rendered in a New York city eligible position); 33 and (3) after such person ceases to be a participant, but before he or 34 she again becomes such a participant pursuant to paragraph five of such 35 subdivision b (whether or not rendered in a New York city eligible posi- 36 tion); and 37 (C) each such participant shall contribute an additional one and 38 eighty-five one-hundredths percent of his or her compensation earned 39 from all credited CPP qualifying service (whether or not in a physically 40 taxing position) rendered on and after the commencement date of the 41 first payroll period which begins subsequent to the effective date of 42 [the] chapter FIVE HUNDRED NINE of the laws of two thousand one which 43 added this item (1) while such person is a participant in such program; 44 and (2) before such person becomes such a participant pursuant to para- 45 graph one or two of subdivision b of this section (whether or not 46 rendered in a New York city eligible position); and (3) after such 47 person ceases to be a participant, but before he or she again becomes 48 such a participant pursuant to paragraph five of such subdivision b 49 (whether or not rendered in a New York city eligible position); and 50 (ii) each such participant who is employed in a physically taxing 51 position (as defined in paragraph eleven of subdivision a of this 52 section) shall contribute, in addition to the additional member contrib- 53 utions required to be made at the percentage of compensation specified 54 in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph for the credited CPP qualifying 55 service specified in such subparagraph (i), an additional one and nine- 56 ty-eight one-hundredths percent of his or her compensation earned from A. 7075--B 3 1 that portion of such credited CPP qualifying service which is rendered 2 in a physically taxing position on and after the starting date of the 3 age fifty-five improved benefit retirement program (A) while such person 4 is a participant in such program; and (B) before such person becomes 5 such a participant pursuant to paragraph one or two of subdivision b of 6 this section; and (C) after such person ceases to be a participant, but 7 before he or she again becomes such a participant pursuant to paragraph 8 five of such subdivision b. 9 S 3. Subdivision a of section 603 of the retirement and social securi- 10 ty law, as amended by section 7 of part B of chapter 504 of the laws of 11 2009, is amended to read as follows: 12 a. The service retirement benefit specified in section six hundred 13 four of this article shall be payable to members who have met the mini- 14 mum service requirements upon retirement and attainment of age sixty- 15 two, other than members who are eligible for early service retirement 16 pursuant to subdivision c of section six hundred four-b of this article, 17 subdivision c of section six hundred four-c of this article, SUCH 18 SECTION AS ADDED BY CHAPTER FOUR HUNDRED SEVENTY-TWO OF THE LAWS OF 19 NINETEEN HUNDRED NINETY-FIVE, subdivision d of section six hundred 20 four-d of this article, subdivision c of section six hundred four-e of 21 this article, subdivision c of section six hundred four-f of this arti- 22 cle, subdivision c of section six hundred four-g of this article, subdi- 23 vision c of section six hundred four-h of this article or subdivision c 24 of section six hundred four-i of this article, provided, however, a 25 member of a teachers' retirement system or the New York state and local 26 employees' retirement system who first joins such system before January 27 first, two thousand ten or a member who is a uniformed court officer or 28 peace officer employed by the unified court system OR THE NEW YORK CITY 29 EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM OR THE NEW YORK CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION 30 RETIREMENT SYSTEM may retire without reduction of his or her retirement 31 benefit upon attainment of at least fifty-five years of age and 32 completion of [thirty] TWENTY-FIVE or more years of service, provided, 33 however, that a uniformed court officer or peace officer employed by the 34 unified court system who first becomes a member of the New York state 35 and local employees' retirement system on or after January first, two 36 thousand ten and retires without reduction of his or her retirement 37 benefit upon attainment of at least fifty-five years of age and 38 completion of [thirty] TWENTY-FIVE or more years of service pursuant to 39 this section shall be required to make the member contributions required 40 by subdivision f of section six hundred thirteen of this article for all 41 years of credited and creditable service. 42 S 3-a. Subdivision a of section 603 of the retirement and social secu- 43 rity law, as amended by section 3-a of chapter 19 of the laws of 2008, 44 is amended to read as follows: 45 a. The service retirement benefit specified in section six hundred 46 four of this article shall be payable to members who have met the mini- 47 mum service requirements upon retirement and attainment of age sixty- 48 two, other than members who are eligible for early service retirement 49 pursuant to subdivision c of section six hundred four-b of this article, 50 subdivision c of section six hundred four-c of this article, SUCH 51 SECTION AS ADDED BY CHAPTER FOUR HUNDRED SEVENTY-TWO OF THE LAWS OF 52 NINETEEN HUNDRED NINETY-FIVE, subdivision d of section six hundred 53 four-d of this article, subdivision c of section six hundred four-e of 54 this article, subdivision c of section six hundred four-f of this arti- 55 cle, subdivision c of section six hundred four-g of this article, subdi- 56 vision c of section six hundred four-h of this article or subdivision c A. 7075--B 4 1 of section six hundred four-i of this article provided, however, a 2 member who is a peace officer employed by the unified court system or a 3 member of a teachers' retirement system or the New York state and local 4 employees' retirement system OR THE NEW YORK CITY EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT 5 SYSTEM OR THE NEW YORK CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION RETIREMENT SYSTEM may 6 retire without reduction of his or her retirement benefit upon attain- 7 ment of at least fifty-five years of age and completion of [thirty] 8 TWENTY-FIVE or more years of service. 9 S 4. Paragraph 1 of subdivision i of section 603 of the retirement and 10 social security law, as amended by section 8 of part B of chapter 504 of 11 the laws of 2009, is amended to read as follows: 12 1. A member of a teachers' retirement system or the New York state and 13 local employees' retirement system who has met the minimum service 14 requirements but who has less than [thirty] TWENTY-FIVE years of credit- 15 ed service or a member who first joins the New York state and local 16 employees' retirement system or the New York state teachers' retirement 17 system on or after January first, two thousand ten may retire prior to 18 normal retirement age, but no earlier than attainment of age fifty-five, 19 in which event, unless such person is a member of the New York city 20 teachers' retirement system who is otherwise eligible for early service 21 retirement pursuant to subdivision c of section six hundred four-i of 22 this article, the amount of his or her retirement benefit otherwise 23 computed without optional modification shall be reduced in accordance 24 with the following schedule: 25 (i) for each of the first twenty-four full months that retirement 26 predates age sixty-two, one-half of one per centum per month; provided, 27 however, that for members who first join the New York state and local 28 employees' retirement system or the New York state teachers' retirement 29 system on or after January first, two thousand ten, such amounts shall 30 be equal to one-fifteenth per year; and 31 (ii) for each full month that retirement predates age sixty, one-quar- 32 ter of one per centum per month; provided, however, that for members who 33 first join the New York state and local employees' retirement system or 34 the New York state teachers' retirement system on or after January 35 first, two thousand ten, such amounts shall be equal to one-twentieth 36 per year, but in no event shall retirement be permitted prior to attain- 37 ment of age fifty-five. 38 S 5. Paragraph 1 of subdivision d of section 604-c of the retirement 39 and social security law, as amended by chapter 509 of the laws of 2001, 40 is amended to read as follows: 41 1. In addition to the member contributions required by section six 42 hundred thirteen of this article, each participant in the twenty-five- 43 year early retirement program shall contribute (subject to the applica- 44 ble provisions of subdivision d of section six hundred thirteen of this 45 article) an additional percentage or additional percentages of his or 46 her compensation to the retirement system of which he or she is a member 47 in accordance with the following schedule: 48 (i) (A) each such participant shall contribute an additional four and 49 thirty-five one-hundredths percent of his or her compensation earned 50 from all credited service (whether or not in a physically taxing posi- 51 tion) rendered on and after the starting date of the twenty-five-year 52 early retirement program and prior to the commencement date of the first 53 payroll period which begins after January first, nineteen hundred nine- 54 ty-eight (1) while such person is a participant in such program; and (2) 55 before such person becomes such a participant pursuant to paragraph one 56 or two of subdivision b of this section (whether or not rendered in a A. 7075--B 5 1 New York city eligible position); and (3) after such person ceases to be 2 a participant, but before he or she again becomes such a participant 3 pursuant to paragraph five of such subdivision b (whether or not 4 rendered in a New York city eligible position); and 5 (B) each such participant shall contribute an additional two and 6 eighty-five one-hundredths percent of his or her compensation earned 7 from all credited service (whether or not in a physically taxing posi- 8 tion) rendered on and after the commencement date of the first payroll 9 period which begins after January first, nineteen hundred ninety-eight 10 and prior to the commencement date of the first payroll period which 11 begins subsequent to the effective date of [the] chapter FIVE HUNDRED 12 NINE of the laws of two thousand one which amended this item AND PRIOR 13 TO THE COMMENCEMENT DATE OF THE FIRST PAYROLL PERIOD WHICH BEGINS AFTER 14 JULY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TEN (1) while such person is a participant in 15 such program; and (2) before such person becomes such a participant 16 pursuant to paragraph one or two of subdivision b of this section 17 (whether or not rendered in a New York city eligible position); and (3) 18 after such person ceases to be a participant, but before he or she again 19 becomes such a participant pursuant to paragraph five of such subdivi- 20 sion b (whether or not rendered in a New York city eligible position); 21 and 22 (C) each such participant shall contribute an additional one and 23 eighty-five one-hundredths percent of his or her compensation earned 24 from all credited service (whether or not in a physically taxing posi- 25 tion) rendered on and after the commencement date of the first payroll 26 period which begins subsequent to the effective date of [the] chapter 27 FIVE HUNDRED NINE of the laws of two thousand one which added this item 28 (1) while such person is a participant in such program; and (2) before 29 such person becomes such a participant pursuant to paragraph one or two 30 of subdivision b of this section (whether or not rendered in a New York 31 city eligible position); and (3) after such person ceases to be a 32 participant, but before he or she again becomes such a participant 33 pursuant to paragraph five of such subdivision b (whether or not 34 rendered in a New York city eligible position); and 35 (ii) each such participant who is employed in a physically taxing 36 position (as defined in paragraph eleven of subdivision a of this 37 section) shall contribute, in addition to the additional member contrib- 38 utions required to be made at the percentage of compensation specified 39 in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph for the credited service specified 40 in such subparagraph (i), an additional one and ninety-eight one-hun- 41 dredths percent of his or her compensation earned from that portion of 42 such credited service which is rendered in a physically taxing position 43 on and after the starting date of the twenty-five-year early retirement 44 program (A) while such person is a participant in such program; and (B) 45 before such person becomes such a participant pursuant to paragraph one 46 or two of subdivision b of this section; and (C) after such person ceas- 47 es to be a participant, but before he or she again becomes such a 48 participant pursuant to paragraph five of such subdivision b. 49 (iii) notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of 50 this paragraph, a person who becomes a participant in the twenty-five- 51 year early retirement program provided by this section, who prior to 52 such membership was subject to the provisions of section six hundred 53 four-b of this article, shall not be required to pay the additional 54 member contributions required by subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this 55 paragraph for any period of credited service before which such person 56 became a participant pursuant to paragraph one or two of subdivision b A. 7075--B 6 1 of this section and during which such participant was subject to the 2 provisions of such section six hundred four-b and no additional employee 3 contributions were required of such member. 4 S 6. Paragraph 1 of subdivision f of section 604-d of the retirement 5 and social security law, as amended by chapter 509 of the laws of 2001, 6 is amended to read as follows: 7 1. In addition to the member contributions required by section six 8 hundred thirteen of this article, each participant in the age fifty-sev- 9 en retirement program shall contribute (subject to the applicable 10 provisions of subdivision d of section six hundred thirteen of this 11 article) an additional percentage or additional percentages of his or 12 her compensation to the retirement system of which he or she is a member 13 in accordance with the following schedule: 14 (i) (A) each such participant shall contribute an additional four and 15 thirty-five one-hundredths percent of his or her compensation earned 16 from all credited service (whether or not in a physically taxing posi- 17 tion) rendered prior to the commencement date of the first payroll peri- 18 od which begins after January first, nineteen hundred ninety-eight (1) 19 while such person is a participant in such program; and (2) before such 20 person becomes such a participant pursuant to paragraph one or three of 21 subdivision c of this section (whether or not rendered in a New York 22 city eligible position, and whether rendered before or after the enact- 23 ment date of the age fifty-seven retirement program); and (3) after such 24 person ceases to be a participant, but before he or she again becomes 25 such a participant pursuant to paragraph five of such subdivision c 26 (whether or not rendered in a New York city eligible position); and 27 (B) each such participant shall contribute an additional two and 28 eighty-five one-hundredths percent of his or her compensation earned 29 from all credited service (whether or not in a physically taxing posi- 30 tion) rendered on and after the commencement date of the first payroll 31 period which begins after January first, nineteen hundred ninety-eight 32 and prior to the commencement date of the first payroll period which 33 begins subsequent to the effective date of [the] chapter FIVE HUNDRED 34 NINE of the laws of two thousand one which amended this item AND PRIOR 35 TO THE COMMENCEMENT DATE OF THE FIRST PAYROLL PERIOD WHICH BEGINS AFTER 36 JULY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TEN (1) while such person is a participant in 37 such program; and (2) before such person becomes such a participant 38 pursuant to paragraph one or three of subdivision c of this section 39 (whether or not rendered in a New York city eligible position); and (3) 40 after such person ceases to be a participant, but before he or she again 41 becomes such a participant pursuant to paragraph five of such subdivi- 42 sion c (whether or not rendered in a New York city eligible position); 43 and 44 (C) each such participant shall contribute an additional one and 45 eighty-five one-hundredths percent of his or her compensation earned 46 from all credited service (whether or not in a physically taxing posi- 47 tion) rendered on and after the commencement date of the first payroll 48 period which begins subsequent to the effective date of [the] chapter 49 FIVE HUNDRED NINE of the laws of two thousand one which added this item 50 (1) while such person is a participant in such program; and (2) before 51 such person becomes such a participant pursuant to paragraph one or 52 three of subdivision c of this section (whether or not rendered in a New 53 York city eligible position); and (3) after such person ceases to be a 54 participant, but before he or she again becomes such a participant 55 pursuant to paragraph five of such subdivision c (whether or not 56 rendered in A New York city eligible position); and A. 7075--B 7 1 (ii) each such participant who is employed in a physically taxing 2 position (as defined in paragraph eleven of subdivision a of section six 3 hundred four-c of this article, SUCH SECTION AS ADDED BY CHAPTER NINE- 4 TY-SIX OF THE LAWS OF NINETEEN HUNDRED NINETY-FIVE) shall contribute, in 5 addition to the additional member contributions required to be made at 6 the percentage of compensation specified in subparagraph (i) of this 7 paragraph for the credited service specified in such subparagraph (i), 8 an additional one and ninety-eight one-hundredths percent of his or her 9 compensation earned from that portion of such credited service which is 10 rendered in a physically taxing position (A) while such person is a 11 participant in such program; and (B) before such person becomes such a 12 participant pursuant to paragraph one or three of subdivision c of this 13 section (whether rendered before or after the enactment date of the age 14 fifty-seven retirement program); and (C) after such person ceases to be 15 a participant, but before he or she again becomes such a participant 16 pursuant to paragraph five of such subdivision c. 17 (iii) notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of 18 this paragraph, a person who becomes a participant in the age fifty-sev- 19 en early retirement program provided by this section, who prior to such 20 membership was subject to the provisions of section six hundred four-b 21 of this article, shall not be required to pay the additional member 22 contributions required by subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this paragraph 23 for any period of credited service before which such person became a 24 participant pursuant to paragraph one or three of subdivision c of this 25 section and during which such participant was subject to the provisions 26 of such section six hundred four-b and no additional employee contrib- 27 utions were required of such member. 28 S 7. This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to 29 have been in full force and effect on and after June 30, 2010; provided, 30 that the amendments to subdivision a of section 603 of the retirement 31 and social security law made by section three of this act shall be 32 subject to the expiration and reversion of such subdivision pursuant to 33 section 13 of chapter 682 of the laws of 2003, as amended, when upon 34 such date the provisions of section three-a of this act shall take 35 effect. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would allow Tier 2, 3 and 4 members of the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System and certain other public retire- ment systems to retire without a benefit reduction due to early retire- ment upon the attainment of age fifty-five (55) and the completion of at least twenty-five (25) years of service. It would also amend the employ- ee contribution payment schedule for certain members of the New York City Employees' Retirement System who are covered under the Optional Age Fifty-Five Improved Retirement Benefit Program. This bill would be deemed to be in effect on June 30, 2010. Insofar as this bill would affect the New York State and Local Employ- ees' Retirement System, if it is enacted, we anticipate that there would be estimated additional annual contributions of approximately $69 million to the State of New York and $98 million to the participating employers in the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System. This estimate, dated December 21, 2009 and intended for use only during the 2010 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2010-14, prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System.