Bill Text: NY S02095 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Grants members or officers of the state police credit for service as a deputy sheriff, county corrections officer, or state corrections officer; two years credit; cost borne by member.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO CIVIL SERVICE AND PENSIONS [S02095 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S02095-Amended.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         2095--A

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 22, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  AKSHAR -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
          -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered  reprinted  as  amended
          and recommitted to said committee

        AN  ACT  to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
          granting members or officers of the state police credit for service as
          a deputy sheriff, county corrections  officer,  or  state  corrections
          officer

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

     1    Section 1. Paragraph 1 of  subdivision  c  of  section  381-b  of  the
     2  retirement  and  social  security  law, as amended by chapter 581 of the
     3  laws of 2001, is amended and a new paragraph  3  is  added  to  read  as
     4  follows:
     5    (1) Police service. In computing the years of total creditable service
     6  in such division, full credit shall be given and full allowance shall be
     7  made  for  service  rendered  as  a police officer or member of a police
     8  force or department of a state park authority or commission or an organ-
     9  ized police force or department of a county, city, town, village, police
    10  district, authority or other participating employer  or  member  of  the
    11  capital police force in the office of general services while a member of
    12  the  New  York state and local police and fire retirement system, of the
    13  New York state and local employees' retirement system or of the New York
    14  city police pension fund and for all service for which full  credit  has
    15  been given and full allowance made pursuant to the provisions of section
    16  three  hundred seventy-five-h of this [chapter] article provided, howev-
    17  er, that full credit pursuant to the provisions of  such  section  shall
    18  mean  only  such  service as would be creditable service pursuant to the
    19  provisions of  section  three  hundred  eighty-three  or  section  three
    20  hundred  eighty-three-a or three hundred eighty-three-b enacted by chap-
    21  ter six hundred seventy-seven of the laws of nineteen hundred eighty-six

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05576-05-9

        S. 2095--A                          2

     1  of this [chapter] title or pursuant to the provisions of title  thirteen
     2  of  the  administrative  code  of  the  city  of New York for any member
     3  contributing pursuant to this section who transferred to the division of
     4  state police.
     5    (3)  (a)  Deputy  sheriff,  county  corrections,  or state corrections
     6  service. Upon completion of more than seventeen years of  service,  each
     7  such  member  who was previously credited with service credit in the New
     8  York state and local employees' retirement system as a  deputy  sheriff,
     9  county  corrections  officer,  or  member  in the uniformed personnel in
    10  institutions under the jurisdiction of the department of corrections and
    11  community supervision as defined in subdivision i of section eighty-nine
    12  of this chapter and who was engaged directly in law  enforcement  activ-
    13  ities  while  performing such services shall receive one year of service
    14  credit for each such year of previous service,  up  to  a  total  of  no
    15  greater than two years of previous service credit.
    16    (b)  To obtain such credit, a member shall pay such retirement system,
    17  for deposit in the fund used to accumulate employer contributions, a sum
    18  equal to the product of the number of  years  of  police  service  being
    19  claimed  and  three  percent of such member's compensation earned during
    20  the twelve months of credited service  immediately  preceding  the  date
    21  that the member made application for credit pursuant to this section. If
    22  permitted by rule or regulation of the retirement system, the member may
    23  pay  such member costs by payroll deduction for a period which shall not
    24  exceed the time period of police service to be credited pursuant to this
    25  section. In the event the member leaves the employer  payroll  prior  to
    26  completion  of  payment,  he or she shall forward all remaining required
    27  payments to the appropriate retirement system  prior  to  the  effective
    28  date  of retirement. If the full amount of such member costs is not paid
    29  to the appropriate retirement system prior to the  member's  retirement,
    30  the amount of service credited shall be proportional to the total amount
    31  of the payments made prior to retirement.
    32    (c)  In  no event shall the credit granted pursuant to this paragraph,
    33  when added to credit granted for  police  service  with  any  retirement
    34  system  of  this  state  pursuant to this or any other provision of law,
    35  exceed a total of two years.
    36    (d) To be eligible to receive credit for  police  service  under  this
    37  paragraph,  a  member  must  make application for such credit before the
    38  effective date of retirement.
    39    (e) All costs for service credited to a member pursuant to this  para-
    40  graph, other than the member costs set forth in subparagraph (b) of this
    41  paragraph, shall be paid by the state.
    42    (f)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the event of death
    43  prior to retirement, amounts paid by the  member  for  the  purchase  of
    44  police service credit pursuant to this paragraph shall be refunded, with
    45  interest,  to  the extent the police service purchased with such amounts
    46  does not produce a greater death benefit than would  have  been  payable
    47  had the member not purchased such credit.
    48    (g)  Notwithstanding  any  other  provision  of  law,  in the event of
    49  retirement, amounts paid by  the  member  for  the  purchase  of  police
    50  service  credit  pursuant to this section shall be refunded, with inter-
    51  est, to the extent the police service purchased with such  amounts  does
    52  not  produce a greater retirement allowance than would have been payable
    53  had the member not purchased such credit.
    54    (h) In the event the service credit granted  pursuant  to  this  para-
    55  graph,  when  added to a member's current service credit, renders him or
    56  her eligible for service retirement, such member shall be deemed  eligi-

        S. 2095--A                          3

     1  ble  for such service retirement and may elect to retire under the rules
     2  set forth by the retirement system.
     3    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
          FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
          This  bill  would  allow  up  to  two  (2) years of service credit for
        service rendered as a deputy  sheriff,  county  corrections  officer  or
        state  corrections  officer  to  be creditable to State Police officers.
        Such officers must have at least seventeen years of credited service and
        would be required to make a payment  of  three  percent  of  their  most
        recent   compensation  per  year  of  additional  service  credit  being
        purchased under the provisions of this bill.
          If this bill is enacted during the 2019  legislative  session,  it  is
        estimated  that  the past service cost will average approximately 19% of
        an affected officers' compensation for each year of  additional  service
        credit  that is purchased. This cost will be borne entirely by the State
        of New York.
          Internal Revenue Service (IRS)  plan  qualification  issues:  granting
        service  credit  towards  retirement  in  a 20 year plan in the New York
        State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS) for  employment
        that  was  not  rendered  in  the  PFRS  could jeopardize the Retirement
        System's governmental plan status and its  exemption  from  ERISA.  This
        could  result in the loss of qualified status, which would mean the loss
        of tax benefits and would substantially impair the System's value to our
        more than one million participants.
          Prior to the enactment of this legislation, we recommend that a favor-
        able ruling be obtained from the IRS stating that these provisions would
        not harm the qualification status of the System. It  is  estimated  that
        the  costs  to obtain such a ruling would be $28,000 for the services of
        the IRS, and $800 per hour for legal consultants.
          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 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 June 11, 2019, and intended for use  only  during
        the  2019  Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2019-142, prepared by
        the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.
feedback