Bill Text: NY S08788 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Relates to age and service eligibility requirements for ordinary retirement for members of the unified court system; restores 55/30 for all members; reduces the retirement age from 63 to 62.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-06-07 - returned to senate [S08788 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S08788-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          8788

                    IN SENATE

                                     March 12, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions

        AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
          eligibility for retirement benefits for certain members of the unified
          court 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 503 of the retirement  and  social
     2  security  law,  as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended
     3  to read as follows:
     4    a. The normal service retirement benefit  specified  in  section  five
     5  hundred  four of this article shall be payable to general members, other
     6  than elective members, who have met  the  minimum  service  requirements
     7  upon  retirement  and  attainment of age sixty-two, provided, however, a
     8  general member who is a peace officer  employed  by  the  unified  court
     9  system  or  a member of a teachers' retirement system may retire without
    10  reduction of [his or her] such member's retirement benefit upon  attain-
    11  ment  of  at  least  fifty-five years of age and completion of thirty or
    12  more years of service. For members who become members of  the  New  York
    13  state  and  local  employees' retirement system on or after April first,
    14  two thousand twelve, the normal service retirement benefits specified in
    15  section five hundred four of this article shall be  payable  to  general
    16  members,  other  than elective members, who have met the minimum service
    17  requirements upon retirement and attainment of age sixty-three; provided
    18  that, a member who is a peace officer  employed  by  the  unified  court
    19  system  may retire without reduction of such member's retirement benefit
    20  upon attainment of at least fifty-five years of age  and  completion  of
    21  thirty or more years of service.
    22    §  2.  Subdivisions  a  and  a-1  of section 603 of the retirement and
    23  social security law, subdivision a as amended  and  subdivision  a-1  as
    24  added by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, are amended to read as follows:
    25    a.  The  service  retirement  benefit specified in section six hundred
    26  four of this article shall be payable to members who have met the  mini-
    27  mum  service  requirements  upon retirement and attainment of age sixty-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08385-03-4

        S. 8788                             2

     1  two, other than members who are eligible for  early  service  retirement
     2  pursuant to subdivision c of section six hundred four-b of this article,
     3  subdivision c of section six hundred four-c of this article, subdivision
     4  d  of  section  six  hundred  four-d  of  this article, subdivision c of
     5  section six hundred four-e of this article, subdivision c of section six
     6  hundred four-f of this article, subdivision c  of  section  six  hundred
     7  four-g  of  this article, subdivision c of section six hundred four-h of
     8  this article or subdivision c of section  six  hundred  four-i  of  this
     9  article, provided, however, a member of a teachers' retirement system or
    10  the  New  York  state  and  local employees' retirement system who first
    11  joins such system before January first, two thousand ten or a member who
    12  is a uniformed court officer or peace officer employed  by  the  unified
    13  court system [who first becomes a member of the New York state and local
    14  employees'  retirement  system  before April first, two thousand twelve]
    15  may retire without reduction of [his or her]  such  member's  retirement
    16  benefit  upon  attainment  of  at  least  fifty-five  years  of  age and
    17  completion of thirty or more years of service, provided, however, that a
    18  uniformed court officer or peace officer employed by the  unified  court
    19  system  who  first  becomes  a  member  of  the New York state and local
    20  employees' retirement system on or after January first, two thousand ten
    21  and retires without reduction of [his or her] such  member's  retirement
    22  benefit  upon  attainment  of  at  least  fifty-five  years  of  age and
    23  completion of thirty or more years of service pursuant to  this  section
    24  shall  be required to make the member contributions required by subdivi-
    25  sion f of section six hundred thirteen of this article for all years  of
    26  credited and creditable service, provided further that the [the] preced-
    27  ing  provisions  of  this subdivision shall not apply to a New York city
    28  revised plan member.
    29    a-1. For members who first become a  member  of  a  public  retirement
    30  system of the state on or after April first, two thousand twelve, except
    31  for  uniformed  court officers or peace officers employed by the unified
    32  court system, the service retirement benefit specified  in  section  six
    33  hundred  four  of  this article shall be payable to members who have met
    34  the minimum service requirements upon retirement and have  attained  age
    35  sixty-three.
    36    §  3.  Subdivisions  a  and  b-1  of section 604 of the retirement and
    37  social security law, subdivision a as amended  and  subdivision  b-1  as
    38  added by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, are amended to read as follows:
    39    a.  The  service  retirement  benefit  at  normal retirement age for a
    40  member with less than twenty years of credited  service,  or  less  than
    41  twenty-five  years  credited service for a member who joins the New York
    42  state teachers' retirement system on or after January first,  two  thou-
    43  sand ten, shall be a retirement allowance equal to one-sixtieth of final
    44  average  salary  times  years of credited service. Normal retirement age
    45  for members who first become members of a public  retirement  system  of
    46  the  state  on  or  after  April first, two thousand twelve shall be age
    47  sixty-three; except that the normal retirement age  shall  be  sixty-two
    48  for  a member who is a peace officer or uniformed court officer employed
    49  by the unified court system.
    50    b-1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the  contrary,  the
    51  service  retirement  benefit  for  members  with twenty or more years of
    52  [credit] credited service who first become a member of a public  retire-
    53  ment system of the state on or after April first, two thousand twelve at
    54  age  sixty-three,  or  at  age sixty-two for uniformed court officers or
    55  peace officers employed by the unified court system, shall be a  pension
    56  equal  to  the  sum  of thirty-five per centum and one-fiftieth of final

        S. 8788                             3

     1  average salary for each year of service in excess of twenty times  final
     2  average  salary  times  years of credited service. In no event shall any
     3  retirement benefit payable without optional modification  be  less  than
     4  the  actuarially  equivalent  annuitized  value of the member's contrib-
     5  utions accumulated with interest at five percent  per  annum  compounded
     6  annually to the date of retirement.
     7    § 4. Paragraph 3 of subdivision i of section 603 of the retirement and
     8  social  security  law,  as  added  by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is
     9  amended to read as follows:
    10    3. A member of a public retirement system of the state who has met the
    11  minimum service requirement, but who is not  a  New  York  city  transit
    12  authority  member,  as  defined  in  paragraph  one  of subdivision a of
    13  section six hundred four-b of this article, may retire prior  to  normal
    14  retirement  age,  but  no  earlier than attainment of age fifty-five, in
    15  which event, the amount of [his or her] such member's retirement benefit
    16  computed without optional modification shall be reduced by six and  one-
    17  half  per  centum  for  each year by which early retirement precedes age
    18  sixty-three; provided, however, that for a member  who  is  a  uniformed
    19  court officer or peace officer employed by the unified court system, the
    20  retirement  benefit  computed  without  optional  modification  shall be
    21  reduced in accordance with paragraph one of this subdivision.
    22    § 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,  none
    23  of  the  provisions  of  this  act shall be subject to the appropriation
    24  requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
    25    § 6. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the  amend-
    26  ments to subdivision a of section 603 of the retirement and social secu-
    27  rity law made by section two of this act shall not affect the expiration
    28  of such subdivision and shall be deemed to expire therewith.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          This bill would allow any Tier 6 member who is a uniformed court offi-
        cer  or  peace  officer  employed  by the unified court system to retire
        without early age  reduction  upon  attaining  30  years  of  creditable
        service  and age 55. It would also reduce the normal retirement age from
        63 to 62 and lessen the reductions in  benefits  for  those  who  retire
        prior to normal retirement age.
          Insofar  as  this bill affects the New York State and Local Employees'
        Retirement System (NYSLERS), the increased costs would be borne entirely
        by the State of New York. If this bill  were  enacted  during  the  2024
        Legislative Session, the increase in the present value of benefits would
        be approximately $34.2 million.
          In the NYSLERS, this benefit improvement will be funded by (1) billing
        a  past  service  cost  to cover retrospective benefit increases and (2)
        increasing the billing rates charged annually to cover prospective bene-
        fit increases, as follows:
          (1) To fund retrospective  costs,  the  State  of  New  York  will  be
        required to pay $18.9 million as of March 1, 2025.
          (2) To fund prospective costs, the annual contribution required of the
        State  of New York will include a separate itemized charge equal to 1.0%
        of billable salary reported to the NYSLERS for the affected members,  or
        approximately  $2.2  million  beginning  in fiscal year ending March 31,
        2025. This permanent annual cost will increase as Tier  6  salary  grows
        and  will  vary in subsequent billing cycles with changes in the billing
        rate.
          These estimated costs are based on 2,207 affected members employed  by
        New  York  State, with annual salary of approximately $166 million as of
        March 31, 2023.

        S. 8788                             4

          Summary of relevant resources:
          Membership  data as of March 31, 2023 was used in measuring the impact
        of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2023 actuari-
        al valuation.  Distributions and other statistics can be  found  in  the
        2023  Report  of the Actuary and the 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial
        Report.
          The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in  the  2023
        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, 2023
        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 March 8, 2024, and intended for use  only  during
        the  2024  Legislative  Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2024-92, prepared by
        the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
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