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

                                 7942--A

                       2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                              June 11, 2013
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M.  of A. ABBATE, BENEDETTO -- read once and referred to
  the Committee on Governmental Employees -- recommitted to the  Commit-
  tee on Governmental Employees in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec.
  2  -- 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
  additional credit for military service for disabled veterans

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

  Section 1. Subdivision 5 of section 1000 of the retirement and  social
security  law,  as  added by chapter 548 of the laws of 2000, is amended
and a new subdivision 2-a is added to read as follows:
  2-A. IN ADDITION TO THE CREDIT PERMITTED UNDER  SUBDIVISIONS  ONE  AND
TWO  OF  THIS  SECTION,  A  MEMBER,  UPON APPLICATION TO SUCH RETIREMENT
SYSTEM, MAY OBTAIN ADDITIONAL CREDIT NOT TO EXCEED  EIGHTEEN  MONTHS  OF
SERVICE  CREDIT  FOR  MILIARY  DUTY,  AS  DEFINED IN SECTION TWO HUNDRED
FORTY-THREE OF THE MILITARY LAW, IF HONORABLY DISCHARGED  THEREFROM,  IF
SUCH  MEMBER  HAS  AT  LEAST  FIVE  YEARS OF ACTIVE MILITARY DUTY AND IS
RECEIVING A FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SPONSORED DISABILITY  BENEFIT  INCLUDING,
BUT NOT LIMITED TO SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY RETIREMENT. TO OBTAIN SUCH
CREDIT,  A  MEMBER  SHALL PAY SUCH RETIREMENT SYSTEM, FOR DEPOSIT IN THE
FUND USED TO ACCUMULATE EMPLOYER  CONTRIBUTIONS,  A  SUM  EQUAL  TO  THE
AMOUNT REQUIRED AS SET FORTH IN SUBDIVISION FOUR OR TEN OF THIS SECTION,
AS APPLICABLE.
  5. [In] EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION TWO-A OF THIS SECTION, IN no
event  shall  the credit granted pursuant to this section, when added to
credit granted for military service with any retirement system  of  this
state  pursuant to this or any other provision of law, exceed a total of
three years.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD11363-04-4

A. 7942--A                          2
              

  S 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,  none
of  the  provisions  of  this  act shall be subject to section 25 of the
retirement and social security law.
  S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
  FISCAL NOTE.--
  This bill would amend Chapter 548 of the Laws of 2000 to allow certain
members  who were honorably discharged from the military with at least 5
years of active duty, who are now receiving a federal  government  spon-
sored  disability  benefit, to purchase up to an additional 18 months of
service credit for military duty. Such military duty is  not  restricted
to the theater of operations, receipt of an expeditionary medal or peri-
ods  of  conflict  which  are  required  by  current law. The additional
service credit granted pursuant to this legislation, when added to cred-
it granted for military service pursuant to any other provision  of  law
shall  not  exceed  a total of four and a half (4.5) years. Members must
have at least five (5) years of credited  service.    Tier  1-5  members
would  be  required  to  make  a  payment of three percent of their most
recent compensation per year of additional  service  credit  granted  by
this  bill.  Tier  6  members would be required to make a payment of six
percent of their most recent compensation per year of additional service
credit.
  If this bill is enacted, insofar as this proposal affects the New York
State and Local Employees' Retirement System (ERS), it is estimated that
the past service cost will average approximately 12% (9% for Tier 6)  of
an  affected  members'  compensation for each year of additional service
credit that is purchased.
  Insofar as this proposal affects the New York State and  Local  Police
and Fire Retirement System (PFRS), it is estimated that the past service
cost  will  average  approximately  17%  (14% for Tier 6) of an affected
members' compensation for  each  year  of  additional  service  that  is
purchased.
  The  exact number of members who could be affected by this legislation
cannot be readily determined.
  ERS Costs: Pursuant to section 25 of the Retirement and Social Securi-
ty Law, these per person one-time costs could be borne by the  State  of
New York and would require an itemized appropriation by the State of New
York sufficient to pay the cost of the provision. The State may amortize
these per person one-time costs over a period of 5 years.
  PFRS  Costs:  These costs would be shared by the State of New York and
the participating employers in the PFRS.
  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, 2013 actuarial valu-
ation.  Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the  2013
Report  of  the  Actuary  and  the  2013  Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report.
  The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the  2010,
2011,  2012  and  2013  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, 2013
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.

A. 7942--A                          3

  This estimate, dated January 29, 2014 and intended for use only during
the 2014 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No.  2014-68,  prepared  by
the  Actuary  for  the  New  York  State and Local Employees' Retirement
System and the New York State  and  Local  Police  and  Fire  Retirement
System.