Bill Text: NY A08008 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to transfer of retirement membership for certain employees of SUNY within the professional, scientific and technical bargaining unit.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2019-12-20 - VETOED MEMO.283 [A08008 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A08008-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8008 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY May 30, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to transfer of retirement membership for certain employees of SUNY within the professional, scientific and technical bargaining unit 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 618 to read as follows: 3 § 618. Transfer of membership into New York state and local employees' 4 retirement system. a. Definitions. Whenever used in this section: 5 1. The term "eligible employee" shall mean a person who as of the 6 effective date of this section is an employee of the state university of 7 New York in a position within the professional, scientific and technical 8 bargaining unit and who is, as of said effective date, a member of the 9 optional retirement program and who is a registered nurse who first 10 became an employee of the state university of New York at Stony Brook 11 Hospital on a date between January first, nineteen hundred ninety-six 12 and December thirty-first, nineteen hundred ninety-nine and who is still 13 employed by the state university of New York as of the date said employ- 14 ee files an application pursuant to subdivision b of this section; 15 2. The term "optional retirement program" shall mean the optional 16 retirement program established pursuant to article eight-B of the educa- 17 tion law. 18 b. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an eligible employee 19 shall be allowed to become a member of the New York state and local 20 employees' retirement system by filing an application with said retire- 21 ment system no later than December thirty-first, two thousand twenty. 22 c. An eligible employee who files an application to become a member of 23 the New York state and local employees' retirement system shall be 24 deemed to be a member of that retirement system with a date of member- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD08687-02-9A. 8008 2 1 ship as of the date said eligible employee was first employed by the 2 state university of New York. The eligible employee's membership in the 3 optional retirement program shall terminate as of the date said applica- 4 tion is filed. 5 d. An eligible employee who becomes a member of the New York state and 6 local employees' retirement system pursuant to subdivision b of this 7 section may elect to purchase credit for previous service for any period 8 during which said employee was a member of the optional retirement 9 program by filing an application with the New York state and local 10 employees' retirement system no later than December thirty-first, two 11 thousand twenty and by paying to said retirement system an amount as 12 determined by the comptroller equal to the full cost of such previous 13 service credit purchased which shall include an amount equivalent to the 14 additional costs to the employer of providing retirement service credit 15 to such employee while such employee was a member of the optional 16 retirement program as determined by the actuary for the retirement 17 system. Said payment may be made by a transfer of funds from the employ- 18 ee's optional retirement program account to the New York state and local 19 employees' retirement system. Said payment may also be made in one 20 payment by the employee or by payroll deduction over a period not to 21 exceed five years. 22 § 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none 23 of the provisions of this act shall be subject to section 25 of the 24 retirement and social security law. 25 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill will allow any employee of the State University of New York (SUNY) who is a registered nurse in a position within the Professional, Scientific and Technical bargaining unit, who first became employed with SUNY at Stony Brook Hospital between January 1, 1996 and December 31, 1999, and who enrolled in the Optional Retirement Program, to terminate their membership in the Optional Retirement Program and to be deemed to be a member of the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System (NYSLERS) with a date of membership as of the date of first employment by SUNY. Affected members will be required to pay the entire past service cost as determined by the Comptroller in order to receive retirement service credit for service rendered prior to their dates of membership. If this bill is enacted, the number of employees who may be affected cannot be readily determined. For every employee who does so elect, there will be an annual cost to the State of New York of approximately 15.8% of salary beginning with the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020. In addition to the annual cost above, for every member who elects this benefit, there will be a past service cost that will depend on the age, service and salary of the member. Members will be able to pay this cost using any of three methods, including a transfer of funds from their Optional Retirement Program balance, a one-time payment, or by payroll deduction over a period not to exceed five (5) years. 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. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 Annual Report to the Comptroller on ActuarialA. 8008 3 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 April 30, 2019, and intended for use only during the 2019 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2019-106, prepared by the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
