Bill Text: NY S05936 | 2013-2014 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Limits participation by employees of the New York state association of town superintendents of highways, inc., the New York state school boards association, the New York state association of counties, the association of towns of the state of New York, the New York conference of mayors and other municipal officials, or any school board association in the retirement system.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-04-04 - PRINT NUMBER 5936A [S05936 Detail]

Download: New_York-2013-S05936-Amended.html

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                           S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
                                        5936--A
                              2013-2014 Regular Sessions
                                   I N  S E N A T E
                                  September 18, 2013
                                      ___________
       Introduced  by  Sens.  MAZIARZ, LIBOUS, SEWARD -- read twice and ordered
         printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules --
         recommitted to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions in  accord-
         ance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- 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
         participation by public or quasi-public organizations in  the  retire-
         ment system
         THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
       BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
    1    Section 1. Subdivision a of section 31 of the  retirement  and  social
    2  security  law, as amended by chapter 379 of the laws of 1989, is amended
    3  to read as follows:
    4    a. Any public or quasi-public organization created wholly or partly or
    5  deriving its powers by the legislature of the state and which  organiza-
    6  tion employs persons engaged in service to the public or any state agen-
    7  cy  as defined in section fifty-three-a of the state finance law, or the
    8  New York state association of town superintendents of highways, inc.  or
    9  any  school  board  association,  by  resolution  legally adopted by its
   10  governing body and approved by the comptroller, may elect  to  have  its
   11  officers  and employees become eligible to participate in the retirement
   12  system.  Acceptance of the officers and employees of  such  an  employer
   13  for membership in the retirement system shall be optional with the comp-
   14  troller.  If  he  shall  approve their participation, such organization,
   15  except as specifically provided in this article to the  contrary,  shall
   16  thereafter  be  treated  as  a participating employer. Any election made
   17  pursuant to this subdivision by a  school  board  association  shall  be
   18  applicable  to  current  employees of such association.  NOTWITHSTANDING
   19  THE FOREGOING PROVISIONS, ANY OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE OF THE NEW YORK  STATE
   20  ASSOCIATION  OF  TOWN  SUPERINTENDENTS  OF  HIGHWAYS, INC., THE NEW YORK
   21  STATE SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION, THE NEW YORK STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUN-
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD11781-07-4
       S. 5936--A                          2
    1  TIES, THE ASSOCIATION OF TOWNS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK,  THE  NEW  YORK
    2  CONFERENCE  OF MAYORS AND OTHER MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS, OR ANY SCHOOL BOARD
    3  ASSOCIATION, FIRST EMPLOYED ON OR AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE  CHAP-
    4  TER OF THE LAWS OF TWO THOUSAND FOURTEEN WHICH AMENDED THIS SUBDIVISION,
    5  SHALL  NOT  BE  ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE AND/OR RECEIVE SERVICE CREDIT IN
    6  THE RETIREMENT SYSTEM BASED ON SUCH EMPLOYMENT.
    7    S 2. Section 609 of the retirement and social security law is  amended
    8  by adding a new subdivision i to read as follows:
    9     I.  NOTWITHSTANDING  ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS SECTION OR ANY OTHER
   10  LAW, RULE OR REGULATION, AN OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE OF THE  NEW  YORK  STATE
   11  ASSOCIATION  OF  TOWN  SUPERINTENDENTS  OF  HIGHWAYS, INC., THE NEW YORK
   12  STATE SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION, THE NEW YORK STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUN-
   13  TIES, THE ASSOCIATION OF TOWNS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK,  THE  NEW  YORK
   14  CONFERENCE  OF MAYORS AND OTHER MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS, OR ANY SCHOOL BOARD
   15  ASSOCIATION, SHALL NOT RECEIVE SERVICE CREDIT FOR EMPLOYMENT  WITH  SUCH
   16  ORGANIZATION ON OR AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SUBDIVISION.
   17    S 3. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
   18  sion,  section  or  part  of  this act shall be adjudged by any court of
   19  competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment  shall  not  affect,
   20  impair,  or  invalidate  the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in
   21  its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph,  subdivision,  section
   22  or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg-
   23  ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of
   24  the  legislature  that  this  act  would  have been enacted even if such
   25  invalid provisions had not been included herein.
   26    S 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
         FISCAL NOTE.--This bill would require that persons first  employed  by
       the  following  associations  on or after the effective date will not be
       eligible for membership in the  New  York  State  and  Local  Employees'
       Retirement System:
         The  New  York  state association of town superintendents of highways,
       inc,
         The New York state school board association,
         The New York state association of counties,
         The association of towns of the state of New York,
         The New York conference of mayors and other municipal officials, and
         Any school board association.
         This legislation also would freeze the benefit accruals  of  employees
       of  one of the boards or associations who are members of the NYS&LERS as
       of the effective date. If this bill is enacted, it is likely to  face  a
       constitutional  challenge based upon the guarantee that a member's bene-
       fits may not be diminished.
         If this bill is enacted, there will  be  no  cost  to  the  retirement
       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, 2013  actuarial  valu-
       ation.    Distributions  and  other  statistics can be found in the 2013
       Report of the Actuary and the 2013 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report
       when released in the fall of 2013.
         The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2010,
       2011,  2012  and  2013  Annual  Report  to  the Comptroller on Actuarial
       Assumptions, and the Codes Rules and Regulations of  the  State  of  New
       York: Audit and Control.
       S. 5936--A                          3
         The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 31, 2013
       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  statement  of  actuarial  opinion
       contained herein.
         This estimate, dated September 13, 2013, and  intended  for  use  only
       during  the  2014  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No. 2014-10,
       prepared by the Actuary for the New  York  State  and  Local  Employees'
       Retirement System.