S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                 6771--A

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                              April 2, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M.  of A. ABBATE, GOLDFEDER -- read once and referred to
  the Committee on Governmental Employees -- reported  and  referred  to
  the Committee on Ways and Means -- 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
  eligibility for retirement benefits for certain members of the unified
  court system

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Subdivision a of section 503 of the retirement and social
security law, as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012,  is  amended
to read as follows:
  a.  The  normal  service  retirement benefit specified in section five
hundred four of this article shall be payable to general members,  other
than  elective  members,  who  have met the minimum service requirements
upon retirement and attainment of age sixty-two,  provided,  however,  a
general  member  who  is  a  peace officer employed by the unified court
system or a member of a teachers' retirement system may  retire  without
reduction  of  his or her retirement benefit upon attainment of at least
fifty-five years of age and  completion  of  thirty  or  more  years  of
service.  For members who become members of the New York state and local
employees' retirement system on  or  after  April  first,  two  thousand
twelve, the normal service retirement benefits specified in section five
hundred  four of this article shall be payable to general members, other
than elective members, who have met  the  minimum  service  requirements
upon  retirement  and  attainment  of  age sixty-three; PROVIDED THAT, A
MEMBER WHO IS A PEACE OFFICER EMPLOYED BY THE UNIFIED COURT  SYSTEM  MAY
RETIRE  WITHOUT  REDUCTION OF HIS OR HER RETIREMENT BENEFIT UPON ATTAIN-
MENT OF AT LEAST FIFTY-FIVE YEARS OF AGE AND  COMPLETION  OF  THIRTY  OR
MORE YEARS OF SERVICE.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD07734-03-5

              

A. 6771--A                          2

  S  2.  Subdivisions  a  and  a-1  of section 603 of the retirement and
social security law, subdivision a as amended  and  subdivision  a-1  as
added by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, are amended to read as follows:
  a.  The  service  retirement  benefit specified in section six hundred
four of this article shall be payable to members who have met the  mini-
mum  service  requirements  upon retirement and attainment of age sixty-
two, other than members who are eligible for  early  service  retirement
pursuant to subdivision c of section six hundred four-b of this article,
subdivision c of section six hundred four-c of this article, subdivision
d  of  section  six  hundred  four-d  of  this article, subdivision c of
section six hundred four-e of this article, subdivision c of section six
hundred four-f of this article, subdivision c  of  section  six  hundred
four-g  of  this article, subdivision c of section six hundred four-h of
this article or subdivision c of section  six  hundred  four-i  of  this
article, provided, however, a member of a teachers' retirement system or
the  New  York  state  and  local employees' retirement system who first
joins such system before January first, two thousand ten or a member who
is a uniformed court officer or peace officer employed  by  the  unified
court system [who first becomes a member of the New York state and local
employees'  retirement  system  before April first, two thousand twelve]
may retire without reduction of  his  or  her  retirement  benefit  upon
attainment  of at least fifty-five years of age and completion of thirty
or more years of service, provided,  however,  that  a  uniformed  court
officer  or peace officer employed by the unified court system who first
becomes a member of the New York state and local  employees'  retirement
system  on  or after January first, two thousand ten and retires without
reduction of his or her retirement benefit upon attainment of  at  least
fifty-five  years  of  age  and  completion  of  thirty or more years of
service pursuant to this section shall be required to  make  the  member
contributions  required by subdivision f of section six hundred thirteen
of this article for  all  years  of  credited  and  creditable  service,
provided further that the [the] preceding provisions of this subdivision
shall not apply to a New York city revised plan member.
  a-1.  For  members  who  first  become a member of a public retirement
system of the state on or after April first, two thousand twelve, EXCEPT
FOR UNIFORMED COURT OFFICERS OR PEACE OFFICERS EMPLOYED BY  THE  UNIFIED
COURT  SYSTEM,  the  service retirement benefit specified in section six
hundred four of this article shall be payable to members  who  have  met
the  minimum  service requirements upon retirement and have attained age
sixty-three.
  S 3. Subdivisions a and b-1 of  section  604  of  the  retirement  and
social  security  law,  subdivision  a as amended and subdivision b-1 as
added by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, are amended to read as follows:
  a. The service retirement benefit  at  normal  retirement  age  for  a
member  with  less  than  twenty years of credited service, or less than
twenty-five years credited service for a member who joins the  New  York
state  teachers'  retirement system on or after January first, two thou-
sand ten, shall be a retirement allowance equal to one-sixtieth of final
average salary times years of credited service.  Normal  retirement  age
for  members  who  first become members of a public retirement system of
the state on or after April first, two  thousand  twelve  shall  be  age
sixty-three;  EXCEPT  THAT  THE NORMAL RETIREMENT AGE SHALL BE SIXTY-TWO
FOR A MEMBER WHO IS A PEACE OFFICER OR UNIFORMED COURT OFFICER  EMPLOYED
BY THE UNIFIED COURT SYSTEM.
  b-1.  Notwithstanding  any other provision of law to the contrary, the
service retirement benefit for members with  twenty  or  more  years  of

A. 6771--A                          3

[credit]  CREDITED service who first become a member of a public retire-
ment system of the state on or after April first, two thousand twelve at
age sixty-three, OR AT AGE SIXTY-TWO FOR  UNIFORMED  COURT  OFFICERS  OR
PEACE  OFFICERS EMPLOYED BY THE UNIFIED COURT SYSTEM, shall be a pension
equal to the sum of thirty-five per centum  and  one-fiftieth  of  final
average  salary for each year of service in excess of twenty times final
average salary times years of credited service. In no  event  shall  any
retirement  benefit  payable  without optional modification be less than
the actuarially equivalent annuitized value  of  the  member's  contrib-
utions  accumulated  with  interest at five percent per annum compounded
annually to the date of retirement.
  S 4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,  none
of  the  provisions  of  this  act shall be subject to the appropriation
requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
  S 5. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the  amend-
ments to subdivision a of section 603 of the retirement and social secu-
rity law made by section two of this act shall not affect the expiration
of such subdivision and shall be deemed to expire therewith.
  FISCAL NOTE.-- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
  This  bill will allow any Tier 6 member who is a uniformed court offi-
cer or peace officer employed by the  unified  court  system  to  retire
without  early  age  reduction  upon  attaining  30  years of creditable
service and age 55. It would also reduce the normal retirement age  from
63  to  62,  and  lessen the reductions in benefits for those who retire
prior to normal retirement age.
  If this legislation is enacted during the 2015 legislative session, we
anticipate that there will be an increase in the annual contributions of
the state of New York of approximately 1.0% of the compensation  of  the
affected  members.  For  the  fiscal year ending March 31, 2016, this is
estimated to be approximately $88,000.
  In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
an immediate past service cost of approximately $91,600 which  would  be
borne  by  the  state of New York as a one-time payment. The estimate is
based on the assumption that payment will be made on March 1, 2016.
  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, 2014 actuarial valu-
ation.  Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the  2014
Report  of  the  Actuary  and  the  2014  Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report.
  The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2010,
2011,  2012, 2013 and 2014 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, 2014
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 estimate, dated February 10, 2015,  and  intended  for  use  only
during  the  2015  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No. 2015-47,
prepared by the Actuary for the New  York  State  and  Local  Employees'
Retirement System.