STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8754
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
November 25, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CUSICK -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
the eligibility of New York city transit authority employees for
performance of duty disability retirement
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 607-b of the retirement and social security law is
2 amended by adding a new subdivision a-1 to read as follows:
3 a-1. Any member of the New York city employees' retirement system who
4 is employed by the New York city transit authority and who participated
5 in World Trade Center rescue, recovery or cleanup operations, as defined
6 in section two of this chapter, who, on or after September eleventh, two
7 thousand one, becomes physically or mentally incapacitated for the
8 performance of duties as the natural and proximate result of an injury
9 sustained in the performance or discharge of his or her duties as a
10 result of such participation in World Trade Center rescue, recovery or
11 cleanup operations shall be paid a performance of duty disability
12 retirement allowance equal to three-quarters of final average salary,
13 subject to section 13-176 of the administrative code of the city of New
14 York. Any member who has made application or who, after the effective
15 date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand nineteen which added
16 this subdivision, makes application for such performance of duty pension
17 shall be entitled to invoke the medical review procedure provided for in
18 subdivision e of section six hundred five of this article, subject to
19 the terms and conditions set forth in such subdivision.
20 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
SUMMARY OF BILL: This proposed legislation would amend provisions of
the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL) to grant New York City
Transit Authority (NYCTA) active and retired employees, who are or were
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10018-02-9
A. 8754 2
members of the New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS)
subject to Retirement and Social Security Law Article 15, and have
incurred a World Trade Center (WTC) Qualifying Condition, a performance
of duty disability retirement equivalent to 75% of the member's Final
Average Salary (FAS) prospectively as of the effective date. The
proposed legislation would further permit such eligible NYCTA members
and retirees to utilize the Final Medical Review procedures pursuant to
RSSL Section 605-e to appeal from NYCERS Medical Board WTC disability
benefit determinations. Finally, the bill appears to inadvertently grant
such eligible NYCTA members and retirees the ability to utilize the
presumptions for infectious diseases pursuant to subsection b of RSSL
Section 607-b. Costs associated with granting these presumptions have
not been included in this Fiscal Note.
Effective Date: Upon enactment.
IMPACT ON BENEFITS: Under the proposed legislation, if enacted, the
WTC disability benefit for eligible NYCTA WTC retirees would be revised
to equal a retirement allowance of:
* 75% multiplied by FAS,
Reduced by:
* 100% of Workers' Compensation benefits (if any) payable (as required
by RSSL Section 64).
FINANCIAL IMPACT - OVERVIEW: The bill, if enacted, would provide
increased benefits for 28 pensioners who have been approved for WTC
benefits. The bill also potentially provides for increased benefits for
an unknown number of future pensioners, who have submitted a qualified
WTC Notice of Participation. Although there are currently approximately
1,200 active and retired NYCTA members who have submitted a qualified
WTC Notice of Participation Form, the number of members from this group
who could potentially benefit from this proposed legislation in the
future cannot be readily determined.
The additional estimated financial impact for the unknown number of
future pensioners who could benefit has been calculated on a per event
basis equal to the increase in the Present Value of Future Benefits
(PVFB) for an average member who could be approved for WTC benefits and
who is assumed to benefit from the proposed legislation. In determining
the increase in the PVFB for the future members who are assumed to bene-
fit from the proposed legislation, it has been assumed that 50% of the
members who would retire with a WTC benefit were those who would have
retired under an Ordinary Disability Retirement (ODR) benefit and that
the remaining 50% were those who would have continued working if the
proposed legislation were not passed.
With respect to an individual member, the additional cost of this
proposed legislation could vary greatly depending on the member's length
of service, age, and salary history.
FINANCIAL IMPACT - PRESENT VALUES: Based on the census data and the
actuarial assumptions and methods described herein, the enactment of
this proposed legislation would increase the PVFB for 28 pensioners who
have been approved for World Trade Center benefits by approximately $6.2
million.
In addition, the enactment of this proposed legislation would also
increase the PVFB by approximately $250,000, on average, for each addi-
tional occurrence of WTC benefits provided under this proposed legis-
lation.
FINANCIAL IMPACT - ANNUAL EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS: Enactment of this
proposed legislation would increase employer contributions, where such
amount would depend on the number of members affected as well as other
A. 8754 3
characteristics including the age, years of service, and salary history
of each member.
In accordance with Administrative Code of the City of New York (ACCNY)
Section 13-638.2(k-2), new Unfunded Accrued Liability (UAL) attributable
to benefit changes are to be amortized as determined by the Actuary but
generally over the remaining working lifetime of those impacted by the
benefit changes.
For the purposes of this Fiscal Note, since the 28 pensioners who
would benefit are retired, the entire increase in UAL (or PVFB) of
approximately $6.2 million would be recognized immediately.
In addition, since there is insufficient data currently available to
estimate the number of members who might be approved for WTC benefits,
the financial impact would be recognized at the time of event. Conse-
quently, changes in employer contributions for those NYCTA members not
yet approved for WTC benefits have been estimated assuming that the
increase in the PVFB will be financed over a time period comparable to
that used for actuarial losses under the Entry Age Normal cost method.
Using this approach, the additional PVFB would be amortized over a
closed 15-year period (14 payments under the One-Year Lag Methodology
(OYLM)) using level dollar payments.
Based on the Actuary's actuarial assumptions and methods in effect as
of June 30, 2018, the enactment of this proposed legislation is esti-
mated to increase annual employer contributions by approximately $29,000
for each new WTC benefit provided under this proposed legislation.
OTHER COSTS: Not measured in this Fiscal Note are the following:
* The initial, additional administrative costs of NYCERS 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 PVFB and annual employer contributions
for those already retired and receiving WTC benefits would be reflected
for the first time in the Final June 30, 2018 actuarial valuation of
NYCERS. In accordance with the One-Year Lag Methodology (OYLM) used to
determine employer contributions, the increase in employer contributions
for these retirees would first be reflected in Fiscal Year 2020. With
respect to future retirees, increases in employer contributions would
depend upon when members would retire but, generally, increased employer
contributions will first occur the second fiscal year following approval
of the WTC benefit. For the purposes of this Fiscal Note, it is assumed
that these future retirees will be included for the first time in the
June 30, 2020 census data, and therefore the increase in employer
contributions for future retirees that would benefit from this proposed
legislation would first be reflected in Fiscal Year 2022.
CENSUS DATA: The estimates presented herein are based on the census
data used in the Preliminary June 30, 2018 (Lag) actuarial valuation of
NYCERS to determine the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2020 employer contrib-
utions.
This data was supplemented by data provided by NYCERS that identified
NYCTA members subject to Article 15 who are currently in receipt of WTC
disability benefits. NYCERS identified 28 pensioners with an average
benefit of $32,197.
The approximate 1,200 active members who have submitted WTC Notice of
Participation Forms are a subset of the 16,298 NYCTA employees who are
active members in NYCERS as of June 30, 2018 whose date of appointment
is prior to September 11, 2001 and who are not currently entitled to a
A. 8754 4
WTC benefit equal to 75% of FAS and, therefore, could potentially bene-
fit from the proposed legislation. These 16,298 active members had an
average age of approximately 55.6 years, average service of approximate-
ly 23.3 years, and an average salary of approximately $91,300. This
group consisted of 16,289 Tier 4 members and 9 Tier 6 members.
ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The changes in the PVFB 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 contributions of NYCERS.
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 2019-42 dated July 19,
2019 was prepared by the Chief Actuary for the New York City Employees'
Retirement System. This estimate is intended for use only during the
2019 Legislative Session.