Bill Text: NY A07261 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Relates to criminal justice faculty employed by a community college.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2019-12-13 - VETOED MEMO.219 [A07261 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A07261-Amended.html


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                         7261--A
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                     April 18, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on  Governmental  Employees  --  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
          criminal justice faculty employed by a community college
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Section 211 of the retirement and social  security  law  is
     2  amended by adding a new subdivision 9 to read as follows:
     3    9.  Any  person  employed  by  a community college as a faculty member
     4  under a criminal justice program of the state university of New York  or
     5  city  university  of New York who retired from public employment while a
     6  member of the New York  state  and  local  police  and  fire  retirement
     7  system, the New York city police pension fund, or the New York city fire
     8  department  pension  fund  and  who  is entitled to receive a retirement
     9  allowance from such retirement system prior to the commencement date  of
    10  such  employment by a community college shall automatically be deemed to
    11  have been granted a waiver of retirement earnings  limitation  and  such
    12  person  may  be employed by a community college without loss, suspension
    13  or diminution of his or her retirement allowance.   Any person  employed
    14  by  a  community  college  as  a faculty member under a criminal justice
    15  program of the state university of New York or city  university  of  New
    16  York  who  has  not  retired as a member of the New York state and local
    17  police and fire retirement system, the  New  York  city  police  pension
    18  fund,  or the New York city fire department pension fund shall not auto-
    19  matically be deemed to have been granted a waiver of retirement earnings
    20  limitation.
    21    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          This bill will allow certain retirees of the New York State and  Local
        Police  and  Fire Retirement System (NYSLPFRS), the New York City Police
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06636-04-9

        A. 7261--A                          2
        Pension Fund (NYCPPF), and the New York  City  Fire  Department  Pension
        Fund  (NYCFDPF)  to work in a community college as a faculty member of a
        criminal justice program of the state university of  New  York  or  city
        university of New York to automatically be deemed to have been granted a
        waiver  of  retirement  earnings  limitation without loss, suspension or
        diminution of his or her retirement allowance. Any such person  employed
        who has not retired from the NYSLPFRS, NYCPPF or NYCFDPF shall not auto-
        matically be deemed to have been granted a waiver of retirement earnings
        limitation.
          If  this bill is enacted, insofar as it will affect the New York State
        and Local Police and Fire Retirement System, we expect few  retirees  to
        be affected. There would be negligible additional annual costs. However,
        if  large numbers of retirees are hired into such positions, there would
        be additional annual costs which would be shared by  the  state  of  New
        York and all of the participating employers in the System.
          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, 2018  actuarial  valu-
        ation.    Distributions  and  other  statistics can be found in the 2018
        Report of the  Actuary  and  the  2018  Comprehensive  Annual  Financial
        Report.
          The  actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015,
        2016, 2017 and 2018  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, 2018
        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  fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability
        of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a  substitute  for
        the professional judgment of an attorney.
          This  estimate,  dated March 5, 2019, and intended for use only during
        the 2019 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No.  2019-87,  prepared  by
        the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          SUMMARY  OF BILL: This proposed legislation would amend Retirement and
        Social Security Law (RSSL) Section 211 to permit  eligible  retirees  of
        the New York City Police Pension Fund (POLICE) or the New York City Fire
        Pension  Fund (FIRE) to serve as faculty members in the criminal justice
        programs of the State University of New York (SUNY) or  City  University
        of New York (CUNY) by way of an automatic post-retirement earnings waiv-
        er pursuant to the provisions of RSSL Section 211.
          Effective Date: Upon enactment.
          IMPACT  ON  PENSION  PAYMENTS:  Currently,  retirees of public pension
        funds and retirement systems who return to  public  service  within  New
        York, and do not rejoin the applicable public fund or system, are gener-
        ally  subject  to  various post-retirement earnings restrictions. Police
        and Fire retirees are subject to, among  other  things,  post-retirement
        earnings restrictions as provided in RSSL Sections 211 and 212.
          Those who elect to be covered under the provisions of RSSL Section 212
        are permitted to earn post-retirement earnings from a public employer in
        an  amount  not  exceeding a specific dollar limit in each calendar year
        without loss, suspension, or diminution of their retirement  allowances.
        Once this dollar limit is reached, the retiree's retirement allowance is

        A. 7261--A                          3
        suspended  for the remainder of that calendar year. Generally, there are
        no earnings limitations in, or following, the calendar year in which the
        retiree attains age 65. Currently, the RSSL Section 212  post-retirement
        earnings limitation in effect for calendar year 2007 and each year ther-
        eafter is $30,000.
          When  certain  exigent  criteria  are met and approval is given to the
        employer by a specially designated entity, a  waiver  pursuant  to  RSSL
        Section  211  may  be granted, for a two-year period. Under RSSL Section
        211, there is no salary restriction for reemployment with a public enti-
        ty that is not the former employer.
          Under the proposed legislation, if enacted, the RSSL Section 211 post-
        retirement public service earnings waiver would be automatically  grant-
        ed, without the need to satisfy the criteria currently required pursuant
        to  RSSL  Section  211, to retired Police and Fire members employed as a
        faculty member in a SUNY or CUNY criminal justice program.
          For purposes of this fiscal note, it has been assumed that Police  and
        Fire  retirees who are or would be employed as faculty members in a SUNY
        or CUNY criminal justice program would not be subject  to  any  post-re-
        tirement  earnings  limitation  pursuant  to RSSL Section 211 since they
        would not be working for their former employer.
          For illustrative purposes only, the table below presents the estimated
        additional retirement allowances paid if RSSL Section  211  waivers  are
        granted  in  lieu  of applying RSSL Section 212 post-retirement earnings
        limitation for various sample  combinations  of  post-retirement  annual
        earnings and annual retirement allowance amounts.
           Annual Retirement   Annual Post-Retirement Earnings in Calendar Year
               Allowance            $40,000        $50,000         $60,000
           ____________________________________________________________________
                $30,000             $ 7,500        $12,000         $15,000
                $40,000             $10,000        $16,000         $20,000
                $50,000             $12,500        $20,000         $25,000
                $60,000             $15,000        $24,000         $30,000
                $70,000             $17,500        $28,000         $35,000
          FINANCIAL  IMPACT  - ANNUAL EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS: In accordance with
        Administrative  Code  of  the  City  of   New   York   (ACCNY)   Section
        13-638.2(k-2),  new  UAL attributable to benefit changes are to be amor-
        tized as determined by the Actuary  but  generally  over  the  remaining
        working  lifetime  of  those  impacted  by the benefit changes. However,
        since changes in the applicable retirement allowances paid to Police and
        Fire retirees under this proposed legislation are not known in  advance,
        the increase in pension payments due to this legislation would be treat-
        ed  as an actuarial loss. These actuarial losses would be amortized over
        a 15-year period (14 payments under the One-Year Lag Methodology (OYLM))
        using level dollar payments.
          The number of Police  and  Fire  retirees  who  could  potentially  be
        impacted  by  this  proposed  legislation  cannot be readily determined.
        However, the Actuary believes the increase in pension payments,  if  the
        proposed  legislation is enacted, would be approximately $1.5 million to
        $2.0 million per year for  each  100  faculty  SUNY  and  CUNY  criminal
        justice  program  positions created for eligible Police and Fire service
        retirees.  This would result in an increase in annual employer  contrib-
        utions  of  $180,000  to $240,000 compounded each year (e.g. $240,000 in
        the first year, $480,000 in the second year, $720,000 in the third year,
        etc.) for 14 years and then will remain level thereafter,  assuming  100

        A. 7261--A                          4
        such  faculty  members are employed each year. Future years' costs would
        depend on factors such as, but not limited to, the  number  of  retirees
        that  benefit under the legislation and the amount of their earnings and
        retirement allowances.
          OTHER COSTS: Not measured in this Fiscal Note are the following:
          * The  initial,  additional  administrative  costs of POLICE, FIRE and
        other New York City agencies to implement the proposed legislation.
          * The impact of this  proposed  legislation  on  Other  Postemployment
        Benefit (OPEB) costs.
          CONTRIBUTION  TIMING:  For  the  purposes  of  this Fiscal Note, it is
        assumed that the  changes  in  the  Present  Value  of  future  employer
        contributions  and  annual employer contributions would be reflected for
        the first time in the June 30, 2020 actuarial valuations of  POLICE  and
        FIRE.  In  accordance  with the OYLM used to determine employer contrib-
        utions, the increase in employer contributions would first be  reflected
        in Fiscal Year 2022.
          CENSUS  DATA:  For  purposes  of  analyzing the impact of the proposed
        legislation, illustrative examples with various  salary  and  retirement
        allowance amounts have been provided above.
          ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The changes in the Present Value of
        future   employer   contributions   and  annual  employer  contributions
        presented herein have been calculated based on the actuarial assumptions
        and methods in effect for the June 30, 2018 (Lag)  actuarial  valuations
        used  to  determine  the  Preliminary Fiscal Year 2020 employer contrib-
        utions of POLICE and FIRE.
          RISK AND UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal  Note  depend
        highly  on the actuarial assumptions and methods used and are subject to
        change based on the realization of  potential  investment,  demographic,
        contribution,  and other risks. If actual experience deviates from actu-
        arial assumptions, the actual costs could differ  from  those  presented
        herein.  Costs  are  also  dependent  on the actuarial methods used, and
        therefore different actuarial methods could produce  different  results.
        Quantifying these risks is beyond the scope of this Fiscal Note.
          STATEMENT  OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Sherry S. Chan, am the Chief Actu-
        ary for, and independent of, the New York City  Retirement  Systems  and
        Pension  Funds.  I  am a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, an Enrolled
        Actuary under the Employee Retirement Income and Security Act of 1974, a
        Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and a Fellow of the Confer-
        ence of Consulting Actuaries. I meet the Qualification Standards of  the
        American  Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained
        herein.  To the best of my knowledge, the results contained herein  have
        been prepared in accordance with generally accepted actuarial principles
        and  procedures  and  with the Actuarial Standards of Practice issued by
        the Actuarial Standards Board.
          FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2019-06 dated  April  11,
        2019  was  prepared  by  the  Chief Actuary for the New York City Police
        Pension Fund and the New York City Fire Pension Fund. This  estimate  is
        intended for use only during the 2019 Legislative Session.
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