S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9722
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             February 5, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. STERN -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Governmental Employees
 
 AN ACT granting retroactive membership with Tier II status  in  the  New
   York state teachers' retirement system to Lori Cohen
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, Lori  Cohen,
 who  was  employed  as  a  substitute  teacher with the Oceanside school
 district and Rockville Centre school district with a start date of  July
 1,  1975,  and  who  is currently a retired member of the New York state
 teachers' retirement system, who through no fault of  her  own  did  not
 become  a  member  of  the New York state teachers' retirement system on
 July 1, 1975 when first employed by the Oceanside  school  district  and
 Rockville  Centre  school district shall be deemed to have been a member
 of the New York state teachers'  retirement  system  on  such  date  she
 commenced  her  employment and shall be granted Tier II status, provided
 that an application is filed with the head of the New York state  teach-
 ers'  retirement  system within one year from the effective date of this
 act.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE. -- Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would allow Lori Cohen, a retired Tier 3 member of  the  New
 York  State  Teachers' Retirement System, to be reclassified as a Tier 2
 member. Her date of membership would be changed based upon  her  employ-
 ment  as  a  substitute  teacher  with the Oceanside School District and
 Rockville Centre School District which commenced on July 1, 1975.   Upon
 reclassification as a Tier 2 member, Ms. Cohen's pension would be recal-
 culated  with  retroactive adjustment to payments made since her date of
 retirement of July 1, 2018. Additionally,  she  would  be  refunded  the
 member  contributions she made under Tier 3 as well as her prior service
 payment. Ms. Cohen must file a written request with the head of the  New
 York  State Teachers' Retirement System within one year of the effective
 date of this bill.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD09503-05-0

 A. 9722                             2
 
   The cost of this benefit is equal to the increase in the present value
 of liabilities plus the refund of member contributions and prior service
 payments, which is estimated to be $223,000. This cost is to be borne by
 the employers of members of the  New  York  State  Teachers'  Retirement
 System.
   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 2020-5  dated  January  28,
 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'
 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.