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

                                  7815

                            I N  S E N A T E

                              June 11, 2014
                               ___________

Introduced  by Sen. FLANAGAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Education

AN ACT to amend chapter 675 of the laws of 1984  relating  to  providing
  fringe  benefits  for certain employees of school districts and boards
  of cooperative educational services, in relation to leaves of absence

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

  Section  1.  Section 1 of chapter 675 of the laws of 1984, relating to
providing fringe benefits for certain employees of school districts  and
boards  of  cooperative  educational  services,  is  amended  to read as
follows:
  Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law,  except  in  a
city  having a population of one million or more, an employer as defined
in subdivision three of section five hundred one of  the  education  law
may  grant  a  leave  of absence with full salary to a member of the New
York state teachers' retirement system who is employed  as  a  full-time
teacher  as  defined  in subdivision four of section five hundred one of
the education law from his or her regular position, for the  purpose  of
serving  as  an  elective  officer  [(not  to exceed four)] of the local
employee organization certified or recognized pursuant to article  four-
teen  of the civil service law as the collective negotiating agent of an
employee negotiating unit, OR ITS STATEWIDE AFFILIATE, provided that:
  a. the local employee organization OR ITS STATEWIDE AFFILIATE requests
that a leave of absence be granted with full salary for such purpose;
  b. each such leave, its terms and  renewal  shall  be  subject  to  an
agreement pursuant to article fourteen of the civil service law;
  c.  such  local employee organization OR ITS STATEWIDE AFFILIATE shall
periodically, as specified by the public employer, reimburse the  public
employer for the salary or wages paid to such employee during such leave
of  absence  together  with  the  full cost of fringe benefits including
retirement credit with the New York state teachers'  retirement  system;
and
  d.  The salary paid shall be the salary the employee would have earned
and received had [he] THE EMPLOYEE remained in service in  the  position

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

                                                           LBD15506-01-4

S. 7815                             2

which  [he]  THE  EMPLOYEE held as a full time employee at the time [he]
THE EMPLOYEE was first elected as an  elective  officer,  prior  to  the
granting  of the leave of absence based on the salary schedule in effect
for the negotiating unit during each year of the leave of absence.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
  FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
  This  bill  would  amend  Chapter  675  of the Laws of 1984 to allow a
participating employer of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System
(NYSTRS) to grant a leave of absence with full salary  to  a  member  of
NYSTRS  who  is  employed as a full-time teacher from his or her regular
position for the purpose of serving as an elective officer of the state-
wide affiliate of the local employee organization  certified  or  recog-
nized  by the participating employer pursuant to Article 14 of the Civil
Service Law as the collective negotiating agent of an employee negotiat-
ing unit. Currently this leave of absence is only permitted  on  account
of serving as an elective officer of the local employee organization.
  The  statewide  affiliate  shall reimburse the public employer for the
salary paid to such employee during such leave of absence together  with
the  full  cost of all fringe benefits, including the cost of retirement
credit with NYSTRS. The salary paid shall be  the  salary  the  employee
would have earned had he/she remained in service in the position held at
the time first elected, based on the salary schedule for the negotiating
unit during each year of the leave of absence.
  Inasmuch  as  the  retirement  costs  are  to be paid by the statewide
affiliate, there will be no annual cost to the employers of  members  of
NYSTRS if this bill is enacted.
  Employee  data  is  from  the System's most recent actuarial valuation
files, consisting of data provided by the employers  to  the  Retirement
System.  Data  distributions and statistics can be found in the System's
Comprehensive Annual Financial  Report  (CAFR).  System  assets  are  as
reported  in the System's financial statements, and can also be found in
the CAFR. Actuarial assumptions and methods are provided in the System's
Actuarial Valuation Report.
  The source of this estimate is Fiscal Note 2014-33 dated June 3,  2014
prepared  by  the  Actuary  of  the  New York State Teachers' Retirement
System and is intended for use only during the 2014 Legislative Session.
I, Richard A. Young, am the Actuary for the  New  York  State  Teachers'
Retirement  System.  I  am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries
and I meet the Qualification Standards of the American Academy of  Actu-
aries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.