Bill Text: NY A10128 | 2011-2012 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Lengthens the time period in which an employee must elect a public retirement plan.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-05-09 - referred to governmental employees [A10128 Detail]
Download: New_York-2011-A10128-Introduced.html
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 10128 I N A S S E M B L Y May 9, 2012 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to election of a public retirement plan THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 393 of the education law, as 2 amended by chapter 696 of the laws of 1965, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 1. Election of the optional retirement program. 5 (a) Each eligible employee initially appointed on or after July first, 6 nineteen hundred sixty-four, within [thirty] THREE HUNDRED SIXTY-FIVE 7 days of his OR HER entry into service, shall elect (i) to join either 8 the New York state teachers' retirement system or the New York state 9 employees' retirement system or other public retirement system in this 10 state in accordance with the provisions of law applicable thereto or 11 (ii) to elect the optional retirement program established pursuant to 12 this article; provided however, that (1) such persons initially entering 13 service during the period July first, nineteen hundred sixty-four 14 through November fourth, nineteen hundred sixty-four may defer such 15 election until December fourth, nineteen hundred sixty-four, and (2) 16 eligible employees of an electing employer initially appointed on or 17 after the effective date of the election to offer such program may defer 18 such election until the [ninetieth] THREE HUNDRED SIXTY-FIFTH day 19 following [such effective date of the election to offer such program 20 established by an electing employer] THE FIRST DAY OF HIS OR HER ENTRY 21 INTO SERVICE. Any such deferred election shall be effective as of the 22 date of entry into service or the effective date of such offer, whichev- 23 er is later. 24 (b) In the event an eligible employee fails to make an election as 25 provided in paragraph (a) of this subdivision, he OR SHE shall be deemed 26 to have elected membership in the New York state teachers' retirement 27 system, or such public retirement system in this state in which his 28 membership may be otherwise required in accordance with law, except that EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD15596-01-2 A. 10128 2 1 eligible employees of institutions under the management and control of 2 Cornell university or Alfred university as the representative of the 3 state university trustees shall be deemed to have elected membership in 4 the New York state employees' retirement system. Such membership shall 5 be effective as of the date of entry into service, or in the case of 6 membership in the New York city [employees] EMPLOYEES' retirement 7 system, at the time otherwise required by law. 8 (c) The amount, if any, required to have been contributed by any 9 employee in accordance with an election, a deferred election or failure 10 to elect pursuant to paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of this subdivision 11 shall be collected by payroll deductions in such manner as may be 12 provided by the comptroller for employees of state university electing 13 the optional retirement program, or by the appropriate fiscal officer 14 for employees of an electing employer, or in the case of membership in 15 either the New York state employees' retirement system or the New York 16 state teachers' retirement system or other public retirement system in 17 this state, by the retirement system concerned. 18 (d) Eligible employees other than those employed by an electing 19 employer appointed on or before June thirtieth, nineteen hundred sixty- 20 four, may elect the optional retirement program established pursuant to 21 this article. Such election shall be made on or before December fourth, 22 nineteen hundred sixty-four, and shall become effective as of January 23 first, nineteen hundred sixty-five. Eligible employees of an electing 24 employer appointed before the effective date of the election to offer 25 such program may elect the optional retirement program established 26 pursuant to this article. Such election shall be made on or before the 27 [ninetieth] THREE HUNDRED SIXTY-FIFTH day following [the effective date 28 of such offer] THE FIRST DAY OF HIS OR HER ENTRY INTO SERVICE and shall 29 become effective [on or as of the first day of January next following 30 the effective date of such offer] AS OF THE DATE OF ENTRY INTO SERVICE. 31 (e) Any state employee or employee of an electing employer who becomes 32 eligible to elect the optional retirement program by reason of (i) the 33 certification of the position held by him pursuant to [paragraph] SUBDI- 34 VISION three of section three hundred ninety of this article or (ii) his 35 appointment, promotion, transfer or reclassification to a position 36 previously so certified, may elect the optional retirement program 37 established pursuant to this article. Such election shall be made within 38 [thirty] THREE HUNDRED SIXTY-FIVE days after notice in writing to such 39 employee of his eligibility, and shall become effective [on the date of 40 such election] AS OF THE DATE OF ENTRY INTO SERVICE, except that in no 41 case shall such election by a state employee become effective prior to 42 January first, nineteen hundred sixty-five, or in the case of an eligi- 43 ble employee of an electing employer, prior to the first day of January 44 next following the effective date of the offer of such program. 45 (f) Any eligible employee who was employed by the University of 46 Buffalo prior to its merger into state university and who elected to 47 continue in the retirement program theretofore provided by the Universi- 48 ty of Buffalo in accordance with section three of chapter nine hundred 49 eighty of the laws of nineteen hundred sixty-two and who elects the 50 optional retirement program established pursuant to this article as 51 provided in paragraphs (d) or (e) of this subdivision shall become inel- 52 igible to continue in the retirement program provided by the University 53 of Buffalo prior to merger on the effective date of such election. Such 54 election shall constitute a waiver of all rights and benefits provided 55 under sections three and seven of chapter nine hundred eighty of the 56 laws of nineteen hundred sixty-two. A. 10128 3 1 (g) No election by an eligible employee of the optional retirement 2 program shall be effective unless it shall be accompanied by an appro- 3 priate application, where required, for the issuance of a contract or 4 contracts under the program. 5 S 2. Subdivision 1 of section 6253 of the education law, as added by 6 chapter 1028 of the laws of 1965, is amended to read as follows: 7 1. Election of the optional retirement program. (a) Each eligible 8 employee initially appointed on or after the effective date of the 9 election to offer such program established by the board shall, within 10 [thirty] THREE HUNDRED SIXTY-FIVE days of his OR HER entry into service, 11 elect (i) to join the New York city teachers' retirement system in 12 accordance with the provisions of law applicable thereto, or (ii) to 13 elect the optional retirement program established pursuant to this arti- 14 cle; provided however, that such persons initially appointed on or after 15 the effective date of the election to offer such program may defer such 16 election until the [ninetieth] THREE HUNDRED SIXTY-FIFTH day following 17 [such effective date of the election to offer such program established 18 by the board] HIS OR HER ENTRY INTO SERVICE. Any such deferred election 19 shall be effective as of the date of entry into service. 20 (b) In the event an eligible employee fails to make an election as 21 provided in paragraph (a) of this subdivision, he OR SHE shall be deemed 22 to have elected membership in the New York City teachers' retirement 23 system. Such membership shall be effective as of the date of entry into 24 service. 25 (c) The amount, if any, required to have been contributed by any 26 employee in accordance with an election, a deferred election or failure 27 to elect pursuant to paragraph (a) or (b) of this subdivision shall be 28 collected by payroll deductions in such manner as may be provided by the 29 comptroller for those persons electing the optional retirement program, 30 or in the case of membership in the New York city teachers' retirement 31 system, by the retirement system. 32 (d) Eligible employees appointed before the effective date of the 33 election to offer such program may elect the optional retirement program 34 established pursuant to this article. Such election shall be made on or 35 before the [ninetieth] THREE HUNDRED SIXTY-FIFTH day following the 36 effective date of such offer, and shall become effective [on or] as of 37 the [first day of January next following the effective date of such 38 offer] DATE OF ENTRY INTO SERVICE. 39 (e) Any employee who becomes eligible to elect the optional retirement 40 program by reason of his OR HER appointment, promotion, transfer or 41 reclassification to an eligible position may elect the optional retire- 42 ment program established pursuant to this article. Such election shall 43 be made within [thirty] THREE HUNDRED SIXTY-FIVE days after notice in 44 writing to such employee of his OR HER eligibility, and shall become 45 effective [on the date of such election, except that in no case shall 46 such election become effective prior to the first day of January next 47 following the effective date of the offer of such program] AS OF THE 48 FIRST DAY OF ENTRY INTO SERVICE. 49 (f) No election by an eligible employee of the optional retirement 50 program shall be effective unless it shall be accompanied by an appro- 51 priate application, where required, for the issuance of a contract or 52 contracts under the program. 53 S 3. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would amend Section 393 and Section 6253 of the Education Law to extend the statutory time period for certain employees of the A. 10128 4 State University of New York, the City University of New York and commu- nity colleges to select membership in a public retirement plan or the optional retirement plan from thirty days to three hundred and sixty- five days. The annual cost to the employers of members of the new York State Teachers' Retirement System is estimated to be negligible if this bill is enacted. The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2012-7 dated January 20, 2012 prepared by the Actuary of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System and is intended for use only during the 2012 Legislative Session. I, Richard A. Young, am the Actuary for the New York State Teachers' Retirement System. I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and I meet the Qualification Standards of the American Academy of Actu- aries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill amends Sections 393 and 6253 of the education law to extend the waiting period for option retirement plan selection from thirty days to one year. The City University of New York's Office of Faculty and Staff Relations has determined that there is no fiscal impact. This fiscal note, dated December 2, 2011, is intended for use only during the 2011-2012 Legislative Session.