Bill Text: NY S06060 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Provides cost-of-living adjustments for certain public retirees, including an adjusted benefit in monthly installments that is equal to the percentage of the change in consumer price index according to the included schedule.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-06 - PRINT NUMBER 6060C [S06060 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-S06060-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6060--C 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN SENATE April 1, 2021 ___________ Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit- tee -- recommitted to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit- tee AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, the education law and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to providing cost-of-living adjustments The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision f of section 78-a of the retirement and social 2 security law, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to 3 read as follows: 4 f. Commencing September first, two thousand, all retired members who 5 have retired prior to the calendar year nineteen hundred ninety-seven 6 and who meet the eligibility criteria set forth in subdivision a of this 7 section shall be paid an adjusted benefit in monthly installments on the 8 basis provided for in this subdivision. Said adjusted benefit shall be 9 equal to a percentage of the change in consumer price index (all urban 10 consumers, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, 1982-84=100), published 11 by the United States bureau of labor statistics, measured from the year 12 of retirement through calendar year nineteen hundred ninety-seven 13 according to the following schedule: 14 Year of retirement Percentage 15 1968 through 1996 50% 16 1966 and 1967 55% EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD10513-08-1S. 6060--C 2 1 1965 60% 2 1964 65% 3 1963 70% 4 1962 80% 5 1961 90% 6 prior to 1961 100% 7 Said adjusted benefit shall be computed on a base benefit amount not to 8 exceed eighteen thousand dollars of the retirement allowance otherwise 9 payable, computed without optional modification. Any benefit received 10 pursuant to this subdivision shall be in lieu of any benefit received 11 pursuant to section seventy-eight of this title. 12 Commencing September first, two thousand twenty-two, all retired 13 members who have retired prior to the calendar year nineteen hundred 14 ninety-seven and who meet the eligibility criteria set forth in subdivi- 15 sion a of this section shall be paid an adjusted benefit in monthly 16 installments on the basis provided for in this subdivision. Said 17 adjusted benefit shall be equal to a percentage of the change in consum- 18 er price index (all urban consumers, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all 19 items, 1982-84=100), published by the United States bureau of labor 20 statistics, measured from the year of retirement through calendar year 21 nineteen hundred ninety-seven according to the following schedule: 22 Year of retirement Percentage 23 1973 through 1996 50% 24 1971 and 1972 55% 25 1970 60% 26 1969 65% 27 1968 70% 28 1967 80% 29 1966 90% 30 prior to 1966 100% 31 Said adjusted benefit commencing September first, two thousand twenty- 32 two, shall be computed on the base benefit amount of the retirement 33 allowance otherwise payable, computed without optional modification, set 34 forth herein above. Any benefit received pursuant to this subdivision 35 shall be in lieu of any benefit received pursuant to section seventy- 36 eight of this title. 37 § 2. Subdivision f of section 378-a of the retirement and social secu- 38 rity law, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to 39 read as follows: 40 f. Commencing September first, two thousand, all retired members who 41 have retired prior to the calendar year nineteen hundred ninety-seven 42 and who meet the eligibility criteria set forth in subdivision a of this 43 section shall be paid an adjusted benefit in monthly installments on the 44 basis provided for in this subdivision. Said adjusted benefit shall be 45 equal to a percentage of the change in consumer price index (all urban 46 consumers, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, 1982-84=100), published 47 by the United States bureau of labor statistics, measured from the year 48 of retirement through calendar year nineteen hundred ninety-seven 49 according to the following schedule: 50 Year of retirement Percentage 51 1968 through 1996 50% 52 1966 and 1967 55% 53 1965 60% 54 1964 65%S. 6060--C 3 1 1963 70% 2 1962 80% 3 1961 90% 4 prior to 1961 100% 5 Said adjusted benefit shall be computed on a base benefit amount not to 6 exceed eighteen thousand dollars of the retirement allowance otherwise 7 payable, computed without optional modification. Any benefit received 8 pursuant to this subdivision shall be in lieu of any benefit received 9 pursuant to section three hundred seventy-eight of this title. 10 Commencing September first, two thousand twenty-two, all retired 11 members who have retired prior to the calendar year nineteen hundred 12 ninety-seven and who meet the eligibility criteria set forth in subdivi- 13 sion a of this section shall be paid an adjusted benefit in monthly 14 installments on the basis provided for in this subdivision. Said 15 adjusted benefit shall be equal to a percentage of the change in consum- 16 er price index (all urban consumers, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all 17 items, 1982-84=100), published by the United States bureau of labor 18 statistics, measured from the year of retirement through calendar year 19 nineteen hundred ninety-seven according to the following schedule: 20 Year of retirement Percentage 21 1973 through 1996 50% 22 1971 and 1972 55% 23 1970 60% 24 1969 65% 25 1968 70% 26 1967 80% 27 1966 90% 28 prior to 1966 100% 29 Said adjusted benefit commencing September first, two thousand twenty- 30 two, shall be computed on the base benefit amount of the retirement 31 allowance otherwise payable, computed without optional modification, set 32 forth herein above. Any benefit received pursuant to this subdivision 33 shall be in lieu of any benefit received pursuant to section three 34 hundred seventy-eight of this title. 35 § 3. Subdivision f of section 532-a of the education law, as added by 36 chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as follows: 37 f. Commencing September first, two thousand, all retired members who 38 have retired prior to the calendar year nineteen hundred ninety-seven 39 and who meet the eligibility criteria set forth in subdivision a of this 40 section shall be paid an adjusted benefit in monthly installments on the 41 basis provided for in this subdivision. Said adjusted benefit shall be 42 equal to a percentage of the change in consumer price index (all urban 43 consumers, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, 1982-84=100), published 44 by the United States bureau of labor statistics, measured from the year 45 of retirement through calendar year nineteen hundred ninety-seven 46 according to the following schedule: 47 Year of retirement Percentage 48 1968 through 1996 50% 49 1966 and 1967 55% 50 1965 60% 51 1964 65% 52 1963 70% 53 1962 80% 54 1961 90% 55 prior to 1961 100%S. 6060--C 4 1 Said adjusted benefit shall be computed on a base benefit amount not to 2 exceed eighteen thousand dollars of the retirement allowance otherwise 3 payable, computed without optional modification excluding any annuity 4 derived from voluntary contributions made by members, except those made 5 pursuant to elections under subdivision one of section five hundred 6 eleven-a or paragraph c of subdivision three of section five hundred 7 sixteen of this article. Any benefits received pursuant to this subdivi- 8 sion shall be in lieu of any benefits received pursuant to section five 9 hundred thirty-two of this article, unless such benefits are in excess 10 of those provided by this section, in which case such benefits shall be 11 paid by the retirement system pursuant to such provision. 12 Commencing September first, two thousand twenty-two, all retired 13 members who have retired prior to the calendar year nineteen hundred 14 ninety-seven and who meet the eligibility criteria set forth in subdivi- 15 sion a of this section shall be paid an adjusted benefit in monthly 16 installments on the basis provided for in this subdivision. Said 17 adjusted benefit shall be equal to a percentage of the change in consum- 18 er price index (all urban consumers, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all 19 items, 1982-84=100), published by the United States bureau of labor 20 statistics, measured from the year of retirement through calendar year 21 nineteen hundred ninety-seven according to the following schedule: 22 Year of retirement Percentage 23 1973 through 1996 50% 24 1971 and 1972 55% 25 1970 60% 26 1969 65% 27 1968 70% 28 1967 80% 29 1966 90% 30 prior to 1966 100% 31 Said adjusted benefit, commencing September first, two thousand twenty- 32 two, shall be computed on a base benefit amount not to exceed eighteen 33 thousand dollars of the retirement allowance otherwise payable, computed 34 without optional modification, set forth herein above. Any benefit 35 received pursuant to this subdivision shall be in lieu of any benefit 36 received pursuant to section five hundred thirty-two of this article, 37 unless such benefits are in excess of those provided by this section, in 38 which case such benefits shall be paid by the retirement system pursuant 39 to such provision. 40 § 4. Subdivision f of section 13-696 of the administrative code of the 41 city of New York, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is 42 amended to read as follows: 43 f. Commencing September first, two thousand, all retired members who 44 have retired prior to the calendar year nineteen hundred ninety-seven 45 and who meet the eligibility criteria set forth in subdivision a of this 46 section shall be paid an adjusted benefit in monthly installments on the 47 basis provided for in this subdivision. Said adjusted benefit shall be 48 equal to a percentage of the change in consumer price index (all urban 49 consumers, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all items, 1982-84=100), published 50 by the United States bureau of labor statistics, measured from the year 51 of retirement through calendar year nineteen hundred ninety-seven 52 according to the following schedule: 53 Year of retirement Percentage 54 1968 through 1996 50% 55 1966 and 1967 55%S. 6060--C 5 1 1965 60% 2 1964 65% 3 1963 70% 4 1962 80% 5 1961 90% 6 prior to 1961 100% 7 Said adjusted benefit shall be computed on a base benefit amount not to 8 exceed eighteen thousand dollars of the annual fixed retirement allow- 9 ance otherwise payable, computed without optional modification. Any 10 benefit received pursuant to this subdivision shall be in lieu of any 11 benefit received pursuant to chapter three hundred ninety of the laws of 12 nineteen hundred ninety-eight, and any preceding provision of law 13 providing for supplementation. 14 Commencing September first, two thousand twenty-two, all retired 15 members who have retired prior to the calendar year nineteen hundred 16 ninety-seven and who meet the eligibility criteria set forth in subdivi- 17 sion a of this section shall be paid an adjusted benefit in monthly 18 installments on the basis provided for in this subdivision. Said 19 adjusted benefit shall be equal to a percentage of the change in consum- 20 er price index (all urban consumers, CPI-U, U.S. city average, all 21 items, 1982-84=100), published by the United States bureau of labor 22 statistics, measured from the year of retirement through calendar year 23 nineteen hundred ninety-seven according to the following schedule: 24 Year of retirement Percentage 25 1973 through 1996 50% 26 1971 and 1972 55% 27 1970 60% 28 1969 65% 29 1968 70% 30 1967 80% 31 1966 90% 32 prior to 1966 100% 33 Said adjusted benefit, commencing September first, two thousand twenty- 34 two, shall be computed on the base benefit amount of the retirement 35 allowance otherwise payable, computed without optional modification, set 36 forth herein above. Any benefit received pursuant to this subdivision 37 shall be in lieu of any benefit received pursuant to section 13-695 of 38 this article. 39 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.-- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would provide an increase in the defined benefit cost-of- living adjustment (COLA) for New York public retirement systems. Start- ing with a payment in September 2022, additional payments will be made for those members who retired after 1960 and prior to 1973. Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System, pursuant to Section 25 of the Retirement and Social Security Law, the increased costs would be borne entirely by the State of New York and would require an itemized appropriation sufficient to pay the cost of the provision. If this bill were enacted, the increase in the present value of benefits would be approximately $106,000. Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS), the increased costs would be shared by the State of New York and the participating employers in the PFRS. If this bill were enacted, the increase in the present value of benefits would be approximately $475,000. The estimated first year cost would beS. 6060--C 6 approximately $9,800 to the State of New York and approximately $38,000 to the participating employers in the PFRS. Summary of relevant resources: Membership data as of March 31, 2021 was used in measuring the impact of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2021 actuari- al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2021 Report of the Actuary and the 2021 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2020 and 2021 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, 2021 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 December 28, 2021, and intended for use only during the 2022 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2022-38, prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.