Bill Text: NY S02464 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Relates to establishing a twenty year retirement plan for members or officers of law enforcement; includes every non-seasonally appointed sworn member or officer of the division of law enforcement in the department of environmental conservation, a forest ranger in the service of the department of environmental conservation, a police officer in the department of environmental conservation, the regional state park police, and university police officers in such twenty year plan.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-09 - RECOMMIT, ENACTING CLAUSE STRICKEN [S02464 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S02464-Introduced.html


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          2464
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    January 25, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sens. AKSHAR, GALLIVAN, HELMING, JACOBS, RITCHIE -- read
          twice and ordered printed, and when printed to  be  committed  to  the
          Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
        AN  ACT  to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
          establishing a twenty year retirement plan for members or officers  of
          law enforcement
          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 state law enforcement; twenty  year
     4  retirement  plan.  a.  Membership.  Every non-seasonally appointed sworn
     5  member or officer of the division of law enforcement in  the  department
     6  of  environmental  conservation,  a  forest ranger in the service of the
     7  department of environmental conservation, which shall mean a person  who
     8  serves  on  a  full-time  basis  in the title of forest ranger I, forest
     9  ranger II, forest ranger III, assistant superintendent  of  forest  fire
    10  control,  superintendent  of forest fire control or any successor titles
    11  or new titles in the forest ranger title series  in  the  department  of
    12  environmental  conservation, a police officer in the department of envi-
    13  ronmental conservation, the regional state park police,  and  university
    14  police officers who enter or re-enter service in any such title shall be
    15  covered by the provisions of this section, and every member described in
    16  this  subdivision  in  such  service  on or before one year prior to the
    17  effective date of this section may elect to be covered by the provisions
    18  of this section by filing an election therefor with the comptroller.  To
    19  be  effective, such election must be duly executed and acknowledged on a
    20  form prepared by the comptroller for that purpose.
    21    b. Retirement allowance. A member, covered by the provisions  of  this
    22  section  at  the  time  of  retirement, shall be entitled to retire upon
    23  completion of twenty years of total creditable service in  such  titles,
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05574-02-9

        S. 2464                             2
     1  and  shall  retire  upon  the attainment of the mandatory retirement age
     2  prescribed by this section, by  filing  an  application  therefor  in  a
     3  manner similar to that provided in section three hundred seventy of this
     4  article.
     5    1.  Upon  completion  of twenty years of such service and upon retire-
     6  ment, each such member shall receive a pension which, together  with  an
     7  annuity  for such years of service as provided in paragraph four of this
     8  subdivision, shall be sufficient to provide him with a retirement allow-
     9  ance of one-half of his final average salary.
    10    2. Upon completion of more than twenty years of such service and  upon
    11  retirement,  each such member shall receive, for each year of service in
    12  excess of twenty, an additional pension which, together with an  annuity
    13  for  each  such  year as provided in paragraph four of this subdivision,
    14  shall be equal to one-sixtieth of his final  average  salary,  provided,
    15  however,  that  the  pension  payable pursuant to this section shall not
    16  exceed three-quarters of final average salary.
    17    3. Upon attainment of the mandatory retirement age without  completion
    18  of  twenty  years  of  such  service,  each  such member shall receive a
    19  pension which, together with an annuity for such  years  of  service  as
    20  provided  in  paragraph four of this subdivision, shall be equal to one-
    21  fortieth of his final average salary for each year of creditable service
    22  in such titles. Every such member shall also be  entitled  to  an  addi-
    23  tional  pension equal to the pension for any creditable service rendered
    24  while not an employee in such titles as provided under paragraphs  three
    25  and  four of subdivision a of section three hundred seventy-five of this
    26  article. This latter pension shall not increase the total  allowance  to
    27  more than one-half of his final average salary.
    28    4.  The  annuity  provided under paragraphs one, two and three of this
    29  subdivision shall be the actuarial equivalent, at the  time  of  retire-
    30  ment,  of  the member's accumulated contributions based upon the rate of
    31  contribution fixed under section  three  hundred  eighty-three  of  this
    32  title  and  upon the salaries earned while in such service. Such annuity
    33  shall be computed as it would be if it were not reduced by the actuarial
    34  equivalent of any  outstanding  loan  nor  by  reason  of  the  member's
    35  election  to  decrease  his  contributions toward retirement in order to
    36  apply the resulting amount toward payment of contributions for  old  age
    37  and survivor's insurance. Any accumulated contributions in excess of the
    38  amount  required  to provide the annuity computed pursuant to this para-
    39  graph shall be used to increase the member's retirement allowance.
    40    c. Credit for previous service. In computing the years of total  cred-
    41  itable  service  for  each member described herein, full credit shall be
    42  given and full allowance shall be made for service rendered as a  police
    43  officer or state university peace officer or member of a police force or
    44  department  of  a  state  park  authority  or commission or an organized
    45  police force or department of a  county,  city,  town,  village,  police
    46  district,  authority  or  other  participating employer or member of the
    47  capital police force in the office of general services while a member of
    48  the New York state and local police and fire retirement system,  of  the
    49  New York state and local employees' retirement system or of the New York
    50  city  police  pension fund and for all service for which full credit has
    51  been given and full allowance made pursuant to the provisions of section
    52  three hundred seventy-five-h of this  article  provided,  however,  that
    53  full  credit  pursuant to the provisions of such section shall mean only
    54  such service as would be creditable service pursuant to  the  provisions
    55  of  section  three  hundred  eighty-three, three hundred eighty-three-a,
    56  three hundred eighty-three-b, as added by chapter six  hundred  seventy-

        S. 2464                             3
     1  four  of  the laws of nineteen hundred eighty-six, three hundred eighty-
     2  three-b, as added by chapter six hundred seventy-seven of  the  laws  of
     3  nineteen  hundred  eighty-six,  three  hundred  eighty-three-c  or three
     4  hundred  eighty-three-d  of  this title or pursuant to the provisions of
     5  title thirteen of the administrative code of the city of  New  York  for
     6  any  member contributing pursuant to this section who transferred to the
     7  jurisdiction of the department of environmental  conservation  including
     8  but  not  limited  to  environmental  conservation  officers  and forest
     9  rangers, regional state park police or  state  university  of  New  York
    10  peace officers.
    11    d.  Retirement  for cause. Upon receipt of a certificate from the head
    12  of the entity where such member is employed or his or  her  designee,  a
    13  member  as  described  in subdivision a of this section, who has accrued
    14  twenty-five or more years of service credit under this section shall  be
    15  retired  on  the  first day of the second month next succeeding the date
    16  such certificate was filed with the comptroller.
    17    e. Credit for military service. In computing the years of total  cred-
    18  itable  service  full  credit shall be given and full allowance shall be
    19  made for service of such member in war after world war I as  defined  in
    20  section  three  hundred two of this article, provided such member at the
    21  time of his or her entrance into the armed forces was in police  service
    22  as  defined  in  subdivision eleven of section three hundred two of this
    23  article.
    24    f. Transfer of membership to employees' retirement system. Any  member
    25  currently  enrolled  pursuant  to this section and who previously trans-
    26  ferred service credit from the  New  York  state  and  local  employees'
    27  retirement  system  to  the  New  York  state  and local police and fire
    28  retirement system, may elect to  transfer  such  previously  transferred
    29  service  credit  back to the New York state and local employees' retire-
    30  ment system, and such member shall  have  the  option  to  retroactively
    31  transfer his or her membership into such employees' retirement system.
    32    g.  The provisions of this section shall be controlling, notwithstand-
    33  ing any provision of this article to the contrary.
    34    §  2.  All  past  service  costs  associated  with  implementing   the
    35  provisions  of  this act shall be borne by the state of New York and may
    36  be amortized over a period of ten years.
    37    § 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
    38  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 division of law enforcement in the department of environ-
        mental conservation, a police officer in the department of environmental
        conservation, a forest ranger in the department of environmental conser-
        vation, a regional state park police  officer  or  a  university  police
        officer to become covered by the provisions of a special 20 year retire-
        ment  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 $3.1 million 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
        $38.0 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-

        S. 2464                             4
        tize this cost over a 10-year period, the cost for the first year  would
        be $5.1 million.
          This  estimate  is based on 1,220 affected officers, with an estimated
        annual salary of approximately $98 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.
          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  January  23,  2019,  and intended for use only
        during the  2019  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2019-24,
        prepared  by  the  Actuary  for  the New York State and Local Retirement
        System.
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