Bill Text: NY S06537 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to the transfer of pension reserves between public retirement systems of the state for certain members who are transferring ten or more years of credited service.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-01-05 - REFERRED TO CIVIL SERVICE AND PENSIONS [S06537 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-S06537-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6537 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN SENATE May 5, 2021 ___________ Introduced by Sen. REICHLIN-MELNICK -- (at request of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System) -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions AN ACT to amend the education law, the retirement and social security law, the administrative code of the city of New York, and chapter 666 of the laws of 1990, amending the administrative code of the city of New York and the education law relating to the availability of addi- tional pension benefits, in relation to the transfer of reserves between public retirement systems of the state for certain members The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 5 of section 522 of the education law, as 2 amended by chapter 41 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, except 5 for the purposes of providing the benefits, if any, of subdivision four 6 of this section, with respect to transfers pursuant to this section 7 which occur on or after the effective date of the chapter of the laws of 8 two thousand twenty-one that amended this subdivision, no transfer of a 9 pension reserve pursuant to subdivision one or two of this section shall 10 be required when the member is transferring from a public [employee] 11 retirement system of [this] the state [to any other public employee12retirement system of this state] with less than ten years of credited 13 service with the transferring retirement system at the time the transfer 14 is initiated. With respect to transfers pursuant to subdivision one or 15 two of this section which occur on or after the effective date of the 16 chapter of the laws of two thousand twenty-one that amended this subdi- 17 vision, the transfer of a pension reserve shall be required when the 18 member is transferring ten or more years of credited service from a 19 public retirement system of this state to any other public retirement EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11221-01-1S. 6537 2 1 system of this state. For the purpose of giving the transferring member 2 such status and crediting such service in the retirement system to which 3 the member is transferring as such member was allowed in the retirement 4 system from which the member has transferred, the transfer shall be 5 deemed complete upon receipt by the transferee retirement system of (a) 6 a statement from the transferor retirement system of the transferring 7 member's date of membership in the transferor retirement system, tier 8 status, service credited to the transferred membership, and such other 9 information as the transferee retirement system may require to effectu- 10 ate the transfer, [and] (b) such member's accumulated contributions from 11 the transferor retirement system, if same had not been previously with- 12 drawn, or notice from the transferor retirement system that such member 13 had no accumulated contributions, or notice from the transferor retire- 14 ment system that such member's accumulated contributions had been with- 15 drawn and the amount thereof and, as applicable, receipt from such 16 member of such member's accumulated contributions and interest, and (c) 17 the pension reserve in the case of a member who transfers in ten or more 18 years of credited service. 19 § 2. Subdivision k of section 43 of the retirement and social security 20 law, as amended by chapter 41 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as 21 follows: 22 k. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any member of 23 the New York state and local employees' retirement system or the New 24 York city teachers' retirement system who retired from service from 25 either the New York city employees' retirement system or the New York 26 city board of education retirement system as a member of the career 27 pension plan maintained by such system and who, but for the fact that he 28 or she retired, would be eligible for transfer and who has not, in fact, 29 received a pension payment from such system shall be permitted to trans- 30 fer his or her retirement system membership pursuant to the provisions 31 of this section. In such event, the application for retirement shall be 32 deemed to have been rescinded and the retirement system from which the 33 service shall be transferred shall transfer the appropriate reserves as 34 provided by this section, provided, however, that with respect to trans- 35 fers pursuant to this subdivision which occur on or after [the twenty-36sixth day of October, two thousand four] the effective date of the chap- 37 ter of the laws of two thousand twenty-one that amended this 38 subdivision, except for the purposes of providing the benefits, if any, 39 of subdivision four of section five hundred twenty-two of the education 40 law, no determination of a reserve pursuant to subdivision c of this 41 section or transfer thereof pursuant to the first sentence of subdivi- 42 sion d of this section shall be required in the case of any transfer 43 pursuant to this subdivision with less than ten years of credited 44 service with the transferring retirement system at the time the transfer 45 is initiated. With respect to transfers pursuant to this section which 46 occur on or after the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two 47 thousand twenty-one that amended this subdivision, the transfer of a 48 pension reserve shall be required when the member is transferring ten or 49 more years of credited service from a public retirement system of the 50 state to any other public retirement system of the state. Notwithstand- 51 ing the provision of this subdivision or any other provision of law, an 52 individual who transfers pursuant to this subdivision shall not be 53 required to render any minimum period of service following transfer in 54 order to be eligible to receive the full benefit provided hereunder. 55 Notwithstanding the foregoing, a retiree covered by either the career 56 pension plan or the fifty-five-year-increased-service-fraction plan whoS. 6537 3 1 has received a pension payment or payments from such system shall be 2 eligible for the provisions of this subdivision upon payment, to the 3 retirement system from which the pension payment or payments were made, 4 of an amount equal to such pension payment or payments. After such 5 payments and the pension reserve, in the case of a member who transfers 6 in ten or more years of credited service, are received, such person 7 shall be permitted to transfer his or her retirement system membership 8 pursuant to the provisions of this section. 9 § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 43 of the retirement and social security 10 law, as amended by chapter 41 of the laws of 2009, is amended to read as 11 follows: 12 l. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, with 13 respect to transfers pursuant to this section which occur on or after 14 [the twenty-sixth day of October, two thousand four] the effective date 15 of the chapter of the laws of two thousand twenty-one that amended this 16 subdivision, except for the purposes of providing the benefits, if any, 17 of subdivision four of section five hundred twenty-two of the education 18 law, no determination of a reserve pursuant to subdivision c of this 19 section or transfer thereof pursuant to the first sentence of subdivi- 20 sion d of this section shall be required in the case of any transfer 21 pursuant to this section with less than ten years of credited service 22 with the transferring retirement system at the time the transfer is 23 initiated. With respect to transfers pursuant to this section which 24 occur on or after the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two 25 thousand twenty-one that amended this subdivision, the transfer of a 26 pension reserve shall be required when the member is transferring ten of 27 more years of credited service from a public retirement system of the 28 state to any other public retirement system of the state. For the 29 purpose of giving the transferring member such status and crediting such 30 service in the second retirement system as such member was allowed in 31 the first retirement system in those cases to which this subdivision 32 shall apply, the transfer shall be deemed complete upon receipt by the 33 second retirement system of: 34 1. a statement from the first retirement system of the transferring 35 member's date of membership in the first retirement system, tier status, 36 service credited to such membership being transferred, and such other 37 information as the second retirement system may require to effectuate 38 the transfer; [and] 39 2. such member's accumulated contributions from the first retirement 40 system, if same had not been previously withdrawn, or notice from the 41 first retirement system that such member had no accumulated contrib- 42 utions, or notice from the first retirement system that such member's 43 accumulated contributions had been withdrawn and the amount thereof and, 44 as applicable, receipt from such member of such member's accumulated 45 contributions and interest; and 46 3. the pension reserve in the case of a member who transfers in ten or 47 more years of credited service. 48 § 4. Subdivision h of section 343 of the retirement and social securi- 49 ty law, as amended by chapter 533 of the laws of 2015, is amended to 50 read as follows: 51 h. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, with 52 respect to transfers pursuant to this section which occur on or after 53 the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand twenty-one 54 that amended this subdivision, no determination of a reserve pursuant to 55 subdivision c of this section or transfer thereof pursuant to the first 56 sentence of subdivision d of this section shall be required in the caseS. 6537 4 1 of any transfer pursuant to this section (other than a transfer from the 2 New York state and local police and fire retirement system to either (1) 3 the New York city police department subchapter two pension fund, (2) the 4 New York city fire department subchapter two pension fund or (3) the MTA 5 police retirement program or a transfer from either (i) the New York 6 city police department subchapter two pension fund or (ii) the New York 7 city fire department subchapter two pension fund to either (A) the New 8 York state and local police and fire retirement system or (B) the MTA 9 police retirement program or a transfer from the MTA police retirement 10 program to the New York state and local police and fire retirement 11 system) in the case of a member with less than ten years of credited 12 service with the transferring retirement system at the time the transfer 13 is initiated. With respect to transfers pursuant to such subdivisions 14 which occur on or after the effective date of the chapter of the laws of 15 two thousand twenty-one that amended this subdivision, the transfer of a 16 pension reserve shall be required when the member is transferring ten or 17 more years of credited service from a public retirement system of the 18 state to any other public retirement system of the state. For the 19 purpose of giving the transferring member such status and crediting such 20 service in the second retirement system as such member was allowed in 21 the first retirement system in those cases to which this subdivision 22 shall apply, the transfer shall be deemed complete upon receipt by the 23 second retirement system of: 24 1. a statement from the first retirement system of the transferring 25 member's date of membership in the first retirement system, tier status, 26 service credited to such membership being transferred, and such other 27 information as the second retirement system may require to effectuate 28 the transfer; [and] 29 2. such member's accumulated contributions from the first retirement 30 system, if same had not been previously withdrawn, or notice from the 31 first retirement system that such member had no accumulated contrib- 32 utions, or notice from the first retirement system that such member's 33 accumulated contributions had been withdrawn and the amount thereof and, 34 as applicable, receipt from such member of such member's accumulated 35 contributions and interest; and 36 3. the pension reserve in the case of a member who transfers in ten or 37 more years of credited service. 38 § 5. Paragraph 4 of subdivision a of section 13-143 of the administra- 39 tive code of the city of New York, as added by chapter 647 of the laws 40 of 2004, is amended to read as follows: 41 (4) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph two of this subdivi- 42 sion, with respect to transfers pursuant to this section which occur on 43 or after the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand 44 twenty-one that amended this paragraph, the actuary of the New York city 45 employees' retirement system shall not be required to determine the 46 reserve on the benefits allowable to the transferring member as the 47 result of employer contributions, including the reserve-for-increased- 48 take-home-pay, and the transfer of such reserve, including the reserve- 49 for-increased-take-home-pay, from the New York city employees' retire- 50 ment system to said police pension fund [shall not be required] when a 51 member is transferring with less than ten years of credited service with 52 the transferring retirement system at the time the transfer is initi- 53 ated. With respect to transfers pursuant to this subdivision which occur 54 on or after the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thou- 55 sand twenty-one that amended this paragraph, the transfer of a pension 56 reserve shall be required when the member is transferring ten or moreS. 6537 5 1 years of credited service from a public retirement system of the state 2 to any other public retirement system of the state. The New York city 3 employees' retirement system, within one year from the date of the 4 request for the transfer of credit, shall comply with all requirements 5 for completing the transfer imposed on it by the provisions of this 6 section, including the pension reserve in the case of a member who 7 transfers ten or more years of credited service. Nothing set forth in 8 this paragraph shall be deemed to modify the requirement set forth in 9 paragraph two of this subdivision that the New York city employees' 10 retirement system transfer to said police pension fund the accumulated 11 deductions of such member. 12 § 6. Paragraph 4 of subdivision a of section 13-144 of the administra- 13 tive code of the city of New York, as added by chapter 647 of the laws 14 of 2004, is amended to read as follows: 15 (4) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph two of this subdivi- 16 sion, with respect to transfers pursuant to this section which occur on 17 or after the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand 18 twenty-one that amended this paragraph, the actuary of the New York city 19 employees' retirement system shall not be required to determine the 20 reserve on the benefits allowable to the transferring member as the 21 result of employer contributions, including [the reserve-for-increased-22take-home-pay, and] the transfer of such reserve[, including] and the 23 reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay[,] from the New York city employees' 24 retirement system to said fire department pension fund [shall not be25required], with less than ten years of credited service from the trans- 26 ferring retirement system at the time of the transfer is initiated. 27 With respect to transfers pursuant to this section which occur on or 28 after the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand 29 twenty-one that amended this paragraph, the transfer of a pension 30 reserve pursuant to paragraph two of this subdivision shall be required 31 when the member is transferring ten or more years of credited service 32 from a public retirement system of the state to any other public retire- 33 ment system of the state. The New York city employees' retirement 34 system, within one year from the date of the request for the transfer of 35 credit, shall comply with all requirements for completing the transfer 36 imposed on it by the provisions of this section, including the pension 37 reverse in the case of a member who transfers ten or more years of 38 member service credit. Nothing set forth in this paragraph shall be 39 deemed to modify the requirement set forth in paragraph two of this 40 subdivision that the New York city employees' retirement system transfer 41 to said fire department pension fund the accumulated deductions of such 42 member. 43 § 7. Subdivision d of section 3 of chapter 666 of the laws of 1990, 44 amending the administrative code of the city of New York and the educa- 45 tion law relating to the availability of additional pension benefits for 46 an extended second public employment to certain retirees, as added by 47 chapter 647 of the laws of 2004, is amended to read as follows: 48 d. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision b of this section or 49 any other provision of law to the contrary, with respect to transfers 50 pursuant to this section which occur on or after the effective date of 51 the chapter of the laws of two thousand twenty-one that amended this 52 subdivision, no determination or transfer of the reserve on the benefits 53 allowable to the transferring member as the result of employer contrib- 54 utions, including the reserve-for-increased-take-home-pay, shall be 55 required for a member with less than ten years of credited service from 56 the transferring system at the time the transfer is initiated. WithS. 6537 6 1 respect to transfers pursuant to this section which occur on or after 2 the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand twenty-one 3 that amended this subdivision, the transfer of a pension reserve shall 4 be required when the member is transferring ten or more years of credit- 5 ed service from a public retirement system of this state to any other 6 public retirement system of the state. 7 § 8. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to any 8 covered membership transfer initiated on or after the effective date of 9 this act; provided, however, that no provision of this act shall affect 10 the transfer of reserves required with respect to transfers between any 11 two of the New York state and local police and fire department system, 12 the New York city police department subchapter two pension fund and the 13 New York city fire department subchapter two pension fund and with 14 respect to transfers from the New York state and local police and fire 15 retirement system to the metropolitan transportation authority police 16 pension fund. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would amend Section 522 of the Education Law and various sections of the Retirement and Social Security Law and the Administra- tive Code of the City of New York to reinstate the transfer of pension reserves in cases in which a member of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System (NYSTRS) or any Retirement System of the State or City of New York transfers a membership with ten or more years of credited service at the time the transfer is initiated. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to any membership transfer initiated on or after the effective date of this act. It is estimated that there will be no additional annual cost to the employers of members of the NYSTRS if this bill is enacted. In fact, this bill will greatly increase equity between the retirement systems of the state by ensuring that a member who transfers with a significant liability will bring with him or her the pension reserve accumulated by the prior retirement system in order to offset the liability assumed by the new retirement system. Member data is from the System's most recent actuarial valuation files, consisting of data provided by the employers to the Retirement System. Data distributions and statistics can be found in the System's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). System assets are as reported in the System's financial statements and can also be found in the CAFR. Actuarial assumptions and methods are provided in the System's Actuarial Valuation Report. The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2021-4 dated October 19, 2020 prepared by the Actuary of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System and is intended for use only during the 2021 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.