Bill Text: NY A11009 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Authorizes William Schumaker and Mark Hennessy to receive certain service credit under section 384-d of the retirement and social security law.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-09-09 - referred to governmental employees [A11009 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A11009-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          11009

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    September 9, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. McDonald) --
          read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees

        AN  ACT  to  authorize  William  Schumaker  and Mark Hennessy to receive
          certain service credit under  section  384-d  of  the  retirement  and
          social security law

          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 to the contrary,
     2  the city of Rensselaer, in the county  of  Rensselaer,  a  participating
     3  employer  in  the  New  York  state and local police and fire retirement
     4  system, which previously elected  to  offer  the  optional  twenty  year
     5  retirement plan, established pursuant to section 384-d of the retirement
     6  and social security law, to firefighters employed by such city, is here-
     7  by  authorized  to  make participation in such plan available to William
     8  Schumaker, a firefighter employed by the city of Rensselaer with a start
     9  date of October 10, 1996, who, for reasons not  ascribable  to  his  own
    10  negligence,  failed  to make a timely application to participate in such
    11  optional twenty year retirement plan. The  city  of  Rensselaer  may  so
    12  elect  by  filing with the state comptroller, within six months from the
    13  effective date of this act, a resolution of its local city common  coun-
    14  cil  together  with  certification  that  such  firefighter  did not bar
    15  himself from participation in such retirement plan as a  result  of  his
    16  own  negligence. Thereafter, such firefighter may elect to be covered by
    17  the provisions of section 384-d and 384-e of the retirement  and  social
    18  security  law,  and  shall  be  entitled to the full rights and benefits
    19  associated with coverage under such section, by filing a request to that
    20  effect with the state comptroller within  the  effective  date  of  such
    21  resolution.
    22    §  2.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the
    23  city of Rensselaer, in the county of Rensselaer, a participating employ-
    24  er in the New York state and local police and  fire  retirement  system,
    25  which  previously  elected  to offer the optional twenty year retirement
    26  plan, established pursuant to section 384-d of the retirement and social
    27  security law, to firefighters employed by such city, is  hereby  author-
    28  ized  to  make  participation in such plan available to Mark Hennessy, a
    29  firefighter employed by the city of Rensselaer  with  a  start  date  of
    30  September 1, 2005, who for reasons not ascribable to his own negligence,

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD14481-04-0
        A. 11009                            2

     1  failed  to  make  a  timely  application to participate in such optional
     2  twenty year retirement plan. The city of  Rensselaer  may  so  elect  by
     3  filing  with the state comptroller, within six months from the effective
     4  date  of this act, a resolution of its city common council together with
     5  certification that such firefighter did not  bar  himself  from  partic-
     6  ipation  in  such  retirement  plan  as  a result of his own negligence.
     7  Thereafter, such firefighter may elect to be covered by  the  provisions
     8  of  section  384-d  and 384-e of the retirement and social security law,
     9  and shall be entitled to the full rights and  benefits  associated  with
    10  coverage under such section, by filing a request to that effect with the
    11  state comptroller within the effective date of such resolution.
    12    §  3.  All  past  costs associated with implementing the provisions of
    13  this act shall be borne by the city of Rensselaer and may  be  amortized
    14  over a period of five years.
    15    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          This  bill would allow the city of Rensselaer to reopen the provisions
        of Section 384-d together with  Section  384-e  of  the  Retirement  and
        Social  Security Law for firefighters William Schumaker and Mark Hennes-
        sy, current members of the New York State  and  Local  Police  and  Fire
        Retirement System (PFRS).
          If  this bill is enacted during the 2020 legislative session and these
        two firefighters become covered under the provisions of  sections  384-d
        and  384-e,  we  anticipate  there  will be an increase of approximately
        $12,000 in the annual contributions of the city of  Rensselaer  for  the
        fiscal  year ending March 31, 2021. In future years, this cost will vary
        as the billing rates and salaries of these firefighters change.
          In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
        an immediate past service cost of approximately $179,000 which  will  be
        borne  by the city of Rensselaer as a one-time payment. This estimate is
        based on the assumption that payment will be made on February  1,  2021.
        If  the  city  of  Rensselaer elects to amortize this cost over a 5 year
        period, the cost for the first year including interest would be $40,700.
          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, 2019 actuarial valu-
        ation.  Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the  2019
        Report  of  the  Actuary  and  the  2019  Comprehensive Annual Financial
        Report.
          The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2015,
        2016,  2017, 2018 and 2019 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, 2019
        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 August 17, 2020, and intended for use only during
        the 2020 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2020-134,  prepared  by
        the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.