Bill Text: NY S09538 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Authorizes active members of the New York state and local police and fire retirement system to purchase service credit for service with the Long Island Railroad Company police department.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-16 - REFERRED TO CIVIL SERVICE AND PENSIONS [S09538 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S09538-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          9538

                    IN SENATE

                                      May 16, 2024
                                       ___________

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

        AN ACT in relation to authorizing active members of the New  York  state
          and local police and fire retirement system to purchase service credit
          for service with the Long Island Railroad Company police department

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Notwithstanding any other  provision  of  law,  any  active
     2  member of the New York state and local police and fire retirement system
     3  who  was  a  former  police  officer of the Long Island Railroad company
     4  police department shall be eligible to apply to  purchase  up  to  three
     5  years  of  service credit for such employment if, within one year of the
     6  effective date of this act, the member shall (1) file a written  request
     7  to that effect with such retirement system; and (2) shall pay to the New
     8  York  state  and  local police and fire retirement system a sum equal to
     9  the product of the number of years of service being  claimed  and  three
    10  percent of such member's compensation earned during the twelve months of
    11  credited  service  immediately  preceding  the date that the member made
    12  application for credit pursuant to this section. Such members shall have
    13  at least five years of credited service, not including service  credited
    14  by  this section, to be eligible to receive the credit authorized pursu-
    15  ant to this section.
    16    § 2. All past service costs attributable to the implementation of this
    17  act shall be borne by the state of New York.
    18    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          This bill would allow active members of the New York State  and  Local
        Police  and  Fire  Retirement  System (NYSLPFRS) to purchase up to three
        years of service credit for time rendered as a  police  officer  in  the
        Long  Island  Railroad  company  police department. Members must have at
        least five years of credited service (not including Long Island Railroad
        company police department service). Under current law, service with  the
        Long Island Railroad Company must be credited in the Metropolitan Trans-
        portation  Authority  police  retirement program before it can be trans-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD11624-03-4
        S. 9538                             2

        ferred to the NYSLPFRS. Members would be required to make a  payment  of
        three  percent  of their most recent compensation per year of additional
        service credit granted by this bill.
          If  this  bill is enacted during the 2024 Legislative Session, insofar
        as this proposal affects the NYSLPFRS, it is  estimated  that  the  past
        service  cost  will be 22% of an affected member's compensation for each
        year of service credit that is purchased. For the  NYSLPFRS,  this  cost
        will  be  billed to the State of New York annually, based on those bene-
        fiting from this provision.
          The exact number of current members as  well  as  future  members  who
        could  be affected by this legislation cannot be readily determined. For
        one member known to be impacted by this bill, the cost to the  State  of
        New  York  will  be approximately $158,000, based on the assumption that
        payment will be made on March 1, 2025.
          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  May 15, 2024, and intended for use only during
        the 2024 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No.  2024-78,  prepared  by
        the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.