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

                                  4907

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             April 23, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  GOLDEN -- 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
  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.
  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:

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD10454-01-5
              

S. 4907                             2

  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
[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

S. 4907                             3

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.