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

                                  8933

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                              March 3, 2014
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  O'DONNELL  --  read once and referred to the
  Committee on Governmental Employees

AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
  providing   equal  retirement  benefits  for  persons  who  have  been
  appointed  to  the  title  of  superintendent  in  the  department  of
  corrections and community supervision

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

  Section 1. Clause (ii) of subparagraph (b) of paragraph 2 of  subdivi-
sion  a  of  section  600  of the retirement and social security law, as
amended by section 149 of subpart B of part C of chapter 62 of the  laws
of  2011, is amended and three new clauses (iii), (iv) and (v) are added
to read as follows:
  (ii) a person who serves in the title of superintendent  as  of  April
first,  two  thousand  six,  who has had at least seven years of service
credited toward the retirement plan established pursuant to this article
while employed by the department of  corrections  and  community  super-
vision  and  who elects the retirement plan established pursuant to this
article on  or  before  September  thirtieth,  two  thousand  six.  Such
election  shall be in writing, shall be duly executed and filed with the
comptroller and shall be irrevocable as long as such person  is  in  the
title of superintendent[.]; OR
  (III)  A  PERSON  WHO IS APPOINTED TO THE TITLE OF SUPERINTENDENT, WHO
HAS SERVED AT LEAST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS  AS  A  MEMBER  IN  THE  UNIFORMED
PERSONNEL  IN  INSTITUTIONS  UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS AND COMMUNITY SUPERVISION AND WHO ELECTS THE RETIREMENT PLAN
ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO THIS ARTICLE WITHIN NINETY DAYS OF  HIS  OR  HER
APPOINTMENT.   SUCH ELECTION SHALL BE IN WRITING, SHALL BE DULY EXECUTED
AND FILED WITH THE COMPTROLLER AND SHALL BE IRREVOCABLE AS LONG AS  SUCH
PERSON IS IN THE TITLE OF SUPERINTENDENT; OR
  (IV)  A PERSON WHO SERVES IN THE TITLE OF SUPERINTENDENT ON THE EFFEC-
TIVE DATE OF THIS CLAUSE, WHO HAS SERVED AT LEAST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AS A
MEMBER IN THE UNIFORMED PERSONNEL IN INSTITUTIONS UNDER THE JURISDICTION
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF  CORRECTIONS  AND  COMMUNITY  SUPERVISION  AND  WHO

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

                                                           LBD05749-05-4

A. 8933                             2

ELECTS  THE  RETIREMENT PLAN ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO THIS ARTICLE WITHIN
NINETY DAYS OF THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS CLAUSE. SUCH ELECTION SHALL BE
IN WRITING, SHALL BE DULY EXECUTED AND FILED WITH  THE  COMPTROLLER  AND
SHALL  BE  IRREVOCABLE  AS LONG AS SUCH PERSON IS IN THE TITLE OF SUPER-
INTENDENT; OR
  (V) A PERSON WHO HAS RETIRED WHILE SERVING IN THE TITLE OF SUPERINTEN-
DENT, WHO HAS SERVED AT LEAST TWENTY-FIVE  YEARS  AS  A  MEMBER  IN  THE
UNIFORMED  PERSONNEL  IN  INSTITUTIONS  UNDER  THE  JURISDICTION  OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND COMMUNITY SUPERVISION AND WHO  ELECTS  THE
RETIREMENT  PLAN ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO THIS ARTICLE WITHIN NINETY DAYS
OF THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS CLAUSE. SUCH ELECTION SHALL BE IN WRITING,
SHALL BE DULY EXECUTED AND FILED WITH THE COMPTROLLER AND SHALL BE IRRE-
VOCABLE.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
  FISCAL NOTE.  This bill would allow certain Tier 3,  5  and  6  super-
intendents  under  the jurisdiction of the department of corrections and
community supervision of New York state to become  eligible  to  receive
benefits under the provisions of Article 15 of the Retirement and Social
Security  Law in addition to the half-pay plan at 25 years benefit. This
bill would  also  cover  retired  superintendents.  Current  and  future
affected  members  and retirees would have 90 days from the later of the
effective date of this bill and their  date  of  being  appointed  to  a
superintendent position to file for this benefit.
  If this bill is enacted, we anticipate that there will be an immediate
past service cost of approximately $3.63 million which would be borne by
the  State  of New York as a one-time payment. This estimate is based on
the assumption that payment will be made on March 1, 2015.
  In addition to this cost, there would also be costs for future  super-
intendents  who elect this benefit. These costs would depend on the age,
service, salary and tier of the affected members, and would be  paid  by
the State of New York as one time payments as they occur.
  These  estimated  costs  are  based on 26 superintendents with a total
annual salary of approximately $2.9 million for the fiscal  year  ending
March 31, 2013.
  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  statements  of  actuarial  opinion
contained herein.
  This estimate, dated February 11,  2014  and  intended  for  use  only
during  the  2014  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No. 2014-79,
prepared by the Actuary for the New  York  State  and  Local  Employees'
Retirement System.