Bill Text: NY A06990 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relates to establishing a twenty year retirement plan for members or officers of the regional state park police.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-05 - print number 6990a [A06990 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A06990-Introduced.html


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          6990
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                      April 3, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by M. of A. SOLAGES -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Governmental Employees
        AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
          establishing  a twenty year retirement plan for members or officers of
          the regional state park police
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
     2  a new section 383-e to read as follows:
     3    §  383-e.  Retirement  of  officers of the regional state park police;
     4  twenty  year  retirement  plan.  a.  Membership.  Every   non-seasonally
     5  appointed  sworn member or officer of the regional state park police who
     6  enters or re-enters service in any such title shall be  covered  by  the
     7  provisions  of this section, and every member described in this subdivi-
     8  sion in such service on or before one year prior to the  effective  date
     9  of  this  section  may  elect  to  be  covered by the provisions of this
    10  section by filing an election  therefor  with  the  comptroller.  To  be
    11  effective,  such  election  must  be duly executed and acknowledged on a
    12  form prepared by the comptroller for that purpose.
    13    b. Retirement allowance. A member, covered by the provisions  of  this
    14  section  at  the  time  of  retirement, shall be entitled to retire upon
    15  completion of twenty years of total creditable service in  such  titles,
    16  and  shall  retire  upon  the attainment of the mandatory retirement age
    17  prescribed by this section, by  filing  an  application  therefor  in  a
    18  manner similar to that provided in section three hundred seventy of this
    19  article.
    20    1.  Upon  completion  of twenty years of such service and upon retire-
    21  ment, each such member shall receive a pension which, together  with  an
    22  annuity  for such years of service as provided in paragraph four of this
    23  subdivision, shall be sufficient to provide him or her with a retirement
    24  allowance of one-half of his or her final average salary.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10479-02-9

        A. 6990                             2
     1    2. Upon completion of more than twenty years of such service and  upon
     2  retirement,  each such member shall receive, for each year of service in
     3  excess of twenty, an additional pension which, together with an  annuity
     4  for  each  such  year as provided in paragraph four of this subdivision,
     5  shall  be  equal  to  one-sixtieth  of  his or her final average salary,
     6  provided, however, that the pension payable  pursuant  to  this  section
     7  shall not exceed three-quarters of final average salary.
     8    3.  Upon attainment of the mandatory retirement age without completion
     9  of twenty years of such  service,  each  such  member  shall  receive  a
    10  pension  which,  together  with  an annuity for such years of service as
    11  provided in paragraph four of this subdivision, shall be equal  to  one-
    12  fortieth  of his or her final average salary for each year of creditable
    13  service in such titles. Every such member shall also be entitled  to  an
    14  additional  pension  equal  to  the  pension  for any creditable service
    15  rendered while not an employee in such titles as  provided  under  para-
    16  graphs  three  and four of subdivision a of section three hundred seven-
    17  ty-five of this article. This latter  pension  shall  not  increase  the
    18  total  allowance to more than one-half of his or her final average sala-
    19  ry.
    20    4. The annuity provided under paragraphs one, two and  three  of  this
    21  subdivision  shall  be  the actuarial equivalent, at the time of retire-
    22  ment, of the member's accumulated contributions based upon the  rate  of
    23  contribution  fixed  under  section  three  hundred eighty-three of this
    24  title and upon the salaries earned while in such service.  Such  annuity
    25  shall be computed as it would be if it were not reduced by the actuarial
    26  equivalent  of  any  outstanding  loan  nor  by  reason  of the member's
    27  election to decrease his or her contributions toward retirement in order
    28  to apply the resulting amount toward payment of  contributions  for  old
    29  age and survivor's insurance. Any accumulated contributions in excess of
    30  the  amount  required  to  provide the annuity computed pursuant to this
    31  paragraph shall be used to increase the member's retirement allowance.
    32    c. Credit for previous service. In computing the years of total  cred-
    33  itable  service  for  each member described herein, full credit shall be
    34  given and full allowance shall be made for service rendered as a  police
    35  officer or state university peace officer or member of a police force or
    36  department  of  a  state  park  authority  or commission or an organized
    37  police force or department of a  county,  city,  town,  village,  police
    38  district,  authority  or  other  participating employer or member of the
    39  capital police force in the office of general services while a member of
    40  the New York state and local police and fire retirement system,  of  the
    41  New York state and local employees' retirement system or of the New York
    42  city  police  pension fund and for all service for which full credit has
    43  been given and full allowance made pursuant to the provisions of section
    44  three hundred seventy-five-h of this  article  provided,  however,  that
    45  full  credit  pursuant to the provisions of such section shall mean only
    46  such service as would be creditable service pursuant to  the  provisions
    47  of  section  three  hundred  eighty-three, three hundred eighty-three-a,
    48  three hundred eighty-three-b, as added by chapter six  hundred  seventy-
    49  four  of  the laws of nineteen hundred eighty-six, three hundred eighty-
    50  three-b, as added by chapter six hundred seventy-seven of  the  laws  of
    51  nineteen  hundred  eighty-six,  three  hundred  eighty-three-c  or three
    52  hundred eighty-three-d of this title or pursuant to  the  provisions  of
    53  title  thirteen  of  the administrative code of the city of New York for
    54  any member contributing pursuant to this section who transferred to  the
    55  jurisdiction  of  the department of environmental conservation including
    56  but not  limited  to  environmental  conservation  officers  and  forest

        A. 6990                             3
     1  rangers,  regional  state  park  police  or state university of New York
     2  peace officers.
     3    d.  Retirement  for cause. Upon receipt of a certificate from the head
     4  of the entity where such member is employed or his or  her  designee,  a
     5  member  as  described  in subdivision a of this section, who has accrued
     6  twenty-five or more years of service credit under this section shall  be
     7  retired  on  the  first day of the second month next succeeding the date
     8  such certificate was filed with the comptroller.
     9    e. Credit for military service. In computing the years of total  cred-
    10  itable  service  full  credit shall be given and full allowance shall be
    11  made for service of such member in war after World War I as  defined  in
    12  section  three  hundred two of this article, provided such member at the
    13  time of his or her entrance into the armed forces was in police  service
    14  as  defined  in  subdivision eleven of section three hundred two of this
    15  article.
    16    f. Transfer of membership to employees' retirement system. Any  member
    17  currently  enrolled  pursuant  to this section and who previously trans-
    18  ferred service credit from the  New  York  state  and  local  employees'
    19  retirement  system  to  the  New  York  state  and local police and fire
    20  retirement system, may elect to  transfer  such  previously  transferred
    21  service  credit  back to the New York state and local employees' retire-
    22  ment system, and such member shall  have  the  option  to  retroactively
    23  transfer his or her membership into such employees' retirement system.
    24    g.  The provisions of this section shall be controlling, notwithstand-
    25  ing any provision of this article to the contrary.
    26    §  2.  All  past  service  costs  associated  with  implementing   the
    27  provisions  of  this act shall be borne by the state of New York and may
    28  be amortized over a period of ten years.
    29    § 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
    30  have become a law.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          This  bill  will  allow  any  non-seasonally appointed sworn member or
        officer of the regional state park  police  to  become  covered  by  the
        provisions  of  a  special 20 year retirement plan, which will provide a
        benefit of one-half of final average  salary  upon  retirement,  and  an
        additional benefit of one-sixtieth of final average salary for each year
        of  creditable  service  in  excess  of  20 years, not to exceed 12 such
        years.
          If this bill is enacted, there will  be  an  increase  in  the  annual
        contributions of the state of New York of approximately $650,000 for the
        fiscal year ending March 31, 2020.
          In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
        an immediate past service cost to the state of New York of approximately
        $8.01  million.  This  estimate  is based on the assumption that payment
        will be made on March 1, 2020. If the State of New York elects to  amor-
        tize  this cost over a 10 year period, the cost for the first year would
        be $1.07 million.
          This estimate is based on 271 affected  officers,  with  an  estimated
        annual  salary  of  approximately $21 million for the fiscal year ending
        March 31, 2018.
          Summary of relevant resources:
          The membership data used in  measuring  the  impact  of  the  proposed
        change  was  the same as that used in the March 31, 2018 actuarial valu-
        ation.  Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the  2018
        Report  of  the  Actuary  and  the  2018  Comprehensive Annual Financial
        Report.

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          The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2015,
        2016,  2017  and  2018  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, 2018
        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 12, 2019, and intended for use only  during
        the  2019  Legislative  Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2019-89, prepared by
        the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
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