Bill Text: NY S06651 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Provides a cost-of-living adjustment for New York public retirement systems.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-06 - PRINT NUMBER 6651B [S06651 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-S06651-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         6651--B

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                      May 11, 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 -- 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 committee

        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 a 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    a. [A] Effective on the first day of September, two  thousand  twenty-
     5  two,  a cost-of-living adjustment shall be payable on the basis provided
     6  for in this section  to:  (i)  all  pensioners  who  have  attained  age
     7  [sixty-two]  fifty-five  and have been retired for five years; (ii) [all
     8  pensioners who have attained age fifty-five and have  been  retired  for
     9  ten  years;  (iii)] all disability pensioners regardless of age who have
    10  been retired for five years; and [(iv)] (iii) all recipients of an acci-
    11  dental death benefit regardless of age  who  have  been  receiving  such
    12  benefit for five years.
    13    § 2. Subdivision a of section 378-a of the retirement and social secu-
    14  rity  law,  as  added  by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to
    15  read as follows:
    16    a. [A] Effective on the first day of September, two  thousand  twenty-
    17  two,  a cost-of-living adjustment shall be payable on the basis provided
    18  for in this section  to:  (i)  all  pensioners  who  have  attained  age
    19  [sixty-two]  fifty-five  and  have been retired for five years; and (ii)

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD09820-06-1

        S. 6651--B                          2

     1  [all pensioners who have attained age fifty-five and have  been  retired
     2  for  ten  years;  and (iii)] all disability pensioners regardless of age
     3  who have been retired for five years.
     4    §  3. Subdivision a of section 532-a of the education law, as added by
     5  chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as follows:
     6    a. [A] Effective on the first day of September, two  thousand  twenty-
     7  two,  a cost-of-living adjustment shall be payable on the basis provided
     8  for in this section  to:  (i)  all  pensioners  who  have  attained  age
     9  [sixty-two]  fifty-five  and have been retired for five years; (ii) [all
    10  pensioners who have attained age fifty-five and have  been  retired  for
    11  ten  years;  (iii)] all disability pensioners regardless of age who have
    12  been retired for five years; and [(iv)] (iii) all recipients of an acci-
    13  dental death benefit regardless of age  who  have  been  receiving  such
    14  benefit for five years.
    15    § 4. Subdivision a of section 13-696 of the administrative code of the
    16  city  of  New  York,  as  amended by chapter 288 of the laws of 2001, is
    17  amended to read as follows:
    18    a. [A] Effective on the first day of September, two  thousand  twenty-
    19  two,  a cost-of-living adjustment shall be payable to retired members of
    20  the New York city employees' retirement system, the New York city teach-
    21  ers' retirement system, the New York city police pension fund,  the  New
    22  York  city  fire  department  pension  fund,  the New York city board of
    23  education retirement system or  the  relief  and  pension  fund  of  the
    24  department  of  street  cleaning  provided for in subchapter one of this
    25  chapter on the basis provided for in this section to:  (i)  all  retired
    26  members  who  have  attained  age  [sixty-two]  fifty-five and have been
    27  retired for five years; (ii) [all retired members who have attained  age
    28  fifty-five  and  have been retired for ten years; (iii)] all members who
    29  retired for disability regardless of age who have been retired for  five
    30  years;  and  [(iv)]  (iii) all recipients of an accidental death benefit
    31  regardless of age who have been receiving such benefit for five years.
    32    § 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, COLA will be payable to pensioners
        who have attained age fifty-five and been retired at least five years.
          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 $532 million.
          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 $112 million. The estimated first year cost would
        be approximately $2.3 million to the State of New York and approximately
        $8.9 million 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.

        S. 6651--B                          3

          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. 2022-40,
        prepared by the Actuary for the New  York  State  and  Local  Retirement
        System.
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