S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  6974--A
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              March 29, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of A. TAYLOR, L. ROSENTHAL, CARROLL, BLAKE -- Multi-
   Sponsored by -- M. of A. GOTTFRIED, SAYEGH -- read once  and  referred
   to  the  Committee  on  Governmental  Employees  -- recommitted to the
   Committee 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,  the  education
   law,  and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation
   to requiring boards of trustees of public retirement systems  to  post
   board meeting minutes on their websites
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
 a new section 805-a to read as follows:
   § 805-A. MINUTES OF PUBLIC RETIREMENT SYSTEM BOARD MEETINGS. IT  SHALL
 BE THE POLICY OF THE BOARDS OF TRUSTEES OF ALL PUBLIC RETIREMENT SYSTEMS
 TO  MAKE  A  COPY  OF  MINUTES  OF  ANY OFFICIAL MEETING, SUBJECT TO THE
 PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE SEVEN OF THE PUBLIC OFFICERS  LAW,  ELECTRONICALLY
 AVAILABLE ON SUCH PUBLIC RETIREMENT SYSTEM'S WEBSITE TO THE EXTENT PRAC-
 TICABLE OR OTHERWISE REQUIRED BY LAW.
   §  2.  The  education  law is amended by adding a new section 506-a to
 read as follows:
   § 506-A. BOARD MEETINGS; MINUTES AND RECORDS.  THE  BOARD  SHALL  KEEP
 MINUTES  OF  ITS  OWN  PROCEEDINGS  AND  RECORDS  OF  ITS OTHER OFFICIAL
 ACTIONS, AND SHALL MAKE A COPY OF SUCH MINUTES ELECTRONICALLY  AVAILABLE
 ON  ITS WEBSITE TO THE EXTENT PRACTICABLE, PROVIDED THAT ANY INFORMATION
 DEEMED CONFIDENTIAL OR SUBJECT TO THE EXCEPTIONS PROVIDED FOR IN ARTICLE
 SEVEN OF THE PUBLIC OFFICERS LAW MAY BE REDACTED OR  OMITTED  FROM  SUCH
 PUBLIC POSTINGS.
   § 3. Section 13-103 of the administrative code of the city of New York
 is amended by adding a new subdivision h to read as follows:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD01761-04-0

 A. 6974--A                          2
 
   H.  THE BOARD SHALL KEEP MINUTES OF ITS OWN PROCEEDINGS AND RECORDS OF
 ITS OTHER OFFICIAL ACTIONS, AND SHALL MAKE A COPY OF SUCH MINUTES  ELEC-
 TRONICALLY  AVAILABLE ON ITS WEBSITE TO THE EXTENT PRACTICABLE, PROVIDED
 THAT ANY INFORMATION DEEMED CONFIDENTIAL OR SUBJECT  TO  THE  EXCEPTIONS
 PROVIDED FOR IN ARTICLE SEVEN OF THE PUBLIC OFFICERS LAW MAY BE REDACTED
 OR OMITTED FROM SUCH PUBLIC POSTINGS.
   § 4. Section 13-202 of the administrative code of the city of New York
 is amended by adding a new subdivision h to read as follows:
   H.  THE BOARD SHALL KEEP MINUTES OF ITS OWN PROCEEDINGS AND RECORDS OF
 ITS OTHER OFFICIAL ACTIONS, AND SHALL MAKE A COPY OF SUCH MINUTES  ELEC-
 TRONICALLY  AVAILABLE ON ITS WEBSITE TO THE EXTENT PRACTICABLE, PROVIDED
 THAT ANY INFORMATION DEEMED CONFIDENTIAL OR SUBJECT  TO  THE  EXCEPTIONS
 PROVIDED FOR IN ARTICLE SEVEN OF THE PUBLIC OFFICERS LAW MAY BE REDACTED
 OR OMITTED FROM SUCH PUBLIC POSTINGS.
   § 5. Section 13-302 of the administrative code of the city of New York
 is amended by adding a new subdivision h to read as follows:
   H.  THE BOARD SHALL KEEP MINUTES OF ITS OWN PROCEEDINGS AND RECORDS OF
 ITS OTHER OFFICIAL ACTIONS, AND SHALL MAKE A COPY OF SUCH MINUTES  ELEC-
 TRONICALLY  AVAILABLE ON ITS WEBSITE TO THE EXTENT PRACTICABLE, PROVIDED
 THAT ANY INFORMATION DEEMED CONFIDENTIAL OR SUBJECT  TO  THE  EXCEPTIONS
 PROVIDED FOR IN ARTICLE SEVEN OF THE PUBLIC OFFICERS LAW MAY BE REDACTED
 OR OMITTED FROM SUCH PUBLIC POSTINGS.
   § 6. Section 13-516 of the administrative code of the city of New York
 is amended to read as follows:
   §  13-516  Retirement board; MINUTES AND records. The retirement board
 shall keep [a record] MINUTES AND RECORDS of all its proceedings AND ITS
 OTHER OFFICIAL ACTIONS open to public inspection AND SHALL MAKE  A  COPY
 OF  SUCH  MINUTES  ELECTRONICALLY AVAILABLE ON ITS WEBSITE TO THE EXTENT
 PRACTICABLE,  PROVIDED  THAT  ANY  INFORMATION  DEEMED  CONFIDENTIAL  OR
 SUBJECT  TO  THE  EXCEPTIONS PROVIDED FOR IN ARTICLE SEVEN OF THE PUBLIC
 OFFICERS LAW MAY BE REDACTED OR OMITTED FROM SUCH PUBLIC POSTINGS.
   § 7. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
 have become a law.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would add Section 805-a to the Retirement and Social Securi-
 ty  Law and Section 506-a to the Education Law to require the Retirement
 Board of the New York State Teachers' Retirement System (NYSTRS) to make
 a copy of minutes of any official meeting and records of other  official
 actions  electronically  available  on  NYSTRS's  website.  Such meeting
 minutes and records of official actions made electronically available on
 NYSTRS's website will be subject to the provisions of Article 7  of  the
 Public Officers Law.
   The  annual  cost  to  the  employers of members of the New York State
 Teachers' Retirement System is estimated to be negligible if  this  bill
 is enacted.
   Member  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 2020-16 dated March 2, 2020
 prepared by the Actuary of  the  New  York  State  Teachers'  Retirement
 System and is intended for use only during the 2020 Legislative Session.
 I,  Richard  A.  Young,  am the Actuary for the New York State Teachers'

 A. 6974--A                          3
 
 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.
   SUMMARY  OF  BILL: This proposed legislation, as it relates to the New
 York City Pension Funds and Retirement Systems  (NYCRS),  would  require
 applicable  public  retirement  systems  within the State to post public
 portions of Board of  Trustees'  meeting  minutes  on  their  respective
 websites.
   EFFECTIVE DATE: Effective on the 60th day following enactment.
   BACKGROUND:  Currently,  public portions of Board of Trustees meetings
 are generally publicly webcasted, but written meeting minutes are gener-
 ally only available via request.
   The proposed legislation provides that it shall be the policy  of  all
 NYCRS  Boards  of  Trustees to post public portions of Board meetings on
 their respective websites. It thereafter specifically makes the  posting
 a  requirement,  to  the  extent practicable, only for the New York City
 Employees' Retirement System, the Teachers'  Retirement  System  of  the
 City  of  New  York,  the New York City Police Pension Fund, and the New
 York City Fire Pension Fund. For purposes of this Fiscal  Note,  it  has
 been  assumed  that  the  policy  of publicly posting minutes would also
 apply to the New York City Board of Education Retirement System.
   IMPACT ON BENEFITS: If enacted, this proposed legislation  would  have
 no impact on benefits paid to members.
   FINANCIAL   IMPACT  -  ANNUAL  EMPLOYER  CONTRIBUTIONS:  The  Employer
 Contribution for a fiscal year includes  the  amount  of  administrative
 expenses paid during the second prior fiscal year adjusted with interest
 to  the  current  date.  If  enacted,  this  proposed  legislation would
 increase the amount of administrative expenses and  therefore,  increase
 the annual Employer Contribution.
   FINANCIAL  IMPACT  -  SUMMARY:  It  is estimated, based on information
 provided by certain NYCRS and the Office  of  the  Actuary's  experience
 with  Board  of  Trustees meetings and minutes of such meetings, that if
 this proposed legislation is  passed,  the  increase  in  administrative
 expenses  paid  from  NYCRS, and therefore, the increase in the Employer
 Contribution, would be de minimis.
   ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The interest rate for adjusting the
 administrative expenses from the date paid out of NYCRS to the date  the
 Employer Contribution is received is 7%.
   RISK  AND  UNCERTAINTY: The costs presented in this Fiscal Note depend
 highly on the realization of the actuarial assumptions used, as well  as
 certain demographic characteristics of NYCRS and other exogenous factors
 such  as investment, contribution, and other risks. If actual experience
 deviates from actuarial assumptions, the actual costs could differ  from
 those  presented herein. Costs are also dependent on the actuarial meth-
 ods used,  and  therefore  different  actuarial  methods  could  produce
 different  results.  Quantifying these risks is beyond the scope of this
 Fiscal Note.
   STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Sherry S. Chan, am the Chief  Actu-
 ary  for,  and  independent of, the New York City Retirement Systems and
 Pension Funds. I am a Fellow of the Society of  Actuaries,  an  Enrolled
 Actuary under the Employee Retirement Income and Security Act of 1974, a
 Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and a Fellow of the Confer-
 ence  of Consulting Actuaries. I meet the Qualification Standards of the
 American Academy of Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion  contained
 herein.  To  the best of my knowledge, the results contained herein have
 been prepared in accordance with generally accepted actuarial principles

 A. 6974--A                          4
 
 and procedures and with the Actuarial Standards of  Practice  issued  by
 the Actuarial Standards Board.
   FISCAL  NOTE  IDENTIFICATION:  This Fiscal Note 2020-24 dated April 2,
 2020 was prepared by the Chief  Actuary  for  the  five  New  York  City
 Retirement  Systems and Pension Funds. This estimate is intended for use
 only during the 2020 Legislative Session.