S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   10058
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              April 29, 2022
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Governmental Employees
 
 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 providing cost-of-living adjustments
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision a of section 78-a of the retirement and  social
 security law, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to
 read as follows:
   a.  [A]  EFFECTIVE ON THE FIRST DAY OF SEPTEMBER, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-
 TWO, A cost-of-living adjustment shall be payable on the basis  provided
 for  in  this  section  to:  (i)  all  pensioners  who have attained age
 [sixty-two] FIFTY-FIVE and have been retired for five years;  (ii)  [all
 pensioners  who  have  attained age fifty-five and have been retired for
 ten years; (iii)] all disability pensioners regardless of age  who  have
 been retired for five years; and [(iv)] (III) all recipients of an acci-
 dental  death  benefit  regardless  of  age who have been receiving such
 benefit for five years.
   § 2. Subdivision a of section 378-a of the retirement and social secu-
 rity law, as added by chapter 125 of the laws of  2000,  is  amended  to
 read as follows:
   a.  [A]  EFFECTIVE ON THE FIRST DAY OF SEPTEMBER, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-
 TWO, A cost-of-living adjustment shall be payable on the basis  provided
 for  in  this  section  to:  (i)  all  pensioners  who have attained age
 [sixty-two] FIFTY-FIVE and have been retired for five  years;  AND  (ii)
 [all  pensioners  who have attained age fifty-five and have been retired
 for ten years; and (iii)] all disability pensioners  regardless  of  age
 who have been retired for five years.
   §  3. Subdivision a of section 532-a of the education law, as added by
 chapter 125 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as follows:
   a. [A] EFFECTIVE ON THE FIRST DAY OF SEPTEMBER, TWO  THOUSAND  TWENTY-
 TWO,  A cost-of-living adjustment shall be payable on the basis provided
 for in this section  to:  (i)  all  pensioners  who  have  attained  age
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

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 A. 10058                            2
 
 [sixty-two]  FIFTY-FIVE  and have been retired for five years; (ii) [all
 pensioners who have attained age fifty-five and have  been  retired  for
 ten  years;  (iii)] all disability pensioners regardless of age who have
 been retired for five years; and [(iv)] (III) all recipients of an acci-
 dental  death  benefit  regardless  of  age who have been receiving such
 benefit for five years.
   § 4. Subdivision a of section 13-696 of the administrative code of the
 city of New York, as amended by chapter 288 of  the  laws  of  2001,  is
 amended to read as follows:
   a.  [A]  EFFECTIVE ON THE FIRST DAY OF SEPTEMBER, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-
 TWO, A cost-of-living adjustment shall be payable to retired members  of
 the New York city employees' retirement system, the New York city teach-
 ers'  retirement  system, the New York city police pension fund, the New
 York city fire department pension fund,  the  New  York  city  board  of
 education  retirement  system  or  the  relief  and  pension fund of the
 department of street cleaning provided for in  subchapter  one  of  this
 chapter  on  the  basis provided for in this section to: (i) all retired
 members who have attained  age  [sixty-two]  FIFTY-FIVE  and  have  been
 retired  for five years; (ii) [all retired members who have attained age
 fifty-five and have been retired for ten years; (iii)] all  members  who
 retired  for disability regardless of age who have been retired for five
 years; and [(iv)] (III) all recipients of an  accidental  death  benefit
 regardless of age who have been receiving such benefit for five years.
   § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This  bill  would  provide an increase in the defined benefit cost-of-
 living adjustment (COLA) for New York public retirement systems.  Start-
 ing with a payment in September 2022, COLA will be payable to pensioners
 who have attained age fifty-five and been retired at least five years.
   Insofar  as  this bill affects the New York State and Local Employees'
 Retirement System, pursuant to Section 25 of the Retirement  and  Social
 Security  Law,  the increased costs would be borne entirely by the State
 of New York and would require an itemized  appropriation  sufficient  to
 pay  the  cost of the provision. If this bill were enacted, the increase
 in the present value of benefits would be approximately $532 million.
   Insofar as this bill affects the New York State and Local  Police  and
 Fire  Retirement  System  (PFRS), the increased costs would be shared by
 the State of New York and the participating employers in  the  PFRS.  If
 this  bill  were  enacted, the increase in the present value of benefits
 would be approximately $112 million. The estimated first year cost would
 be approximately $2.3 million to the State of New York and approximately
 $8.9 million to the participating employers in the PFRS.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership data as of March 31, 2021 was used in measuring the  impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2021 actuari-
 al  valuation.  Distributions  and  other statistics can be found in the
 2021 Report of the Actuary and the 2021 Comprehensive  Annual  Financial
 Report.
   The  actuarial  assumptions and methods used are described in the 2020
 and 2021 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, 2021
 New York State and Local  Retirement  System  Financial  Statements  and
 Supplementary Information.
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   I am a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and meet the Quali-
 fication Standards to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.
   This  fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability
 of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a  substitute  for
 the professional judgment of an attorney.
   This  estimate,  dated  December  28,  2021, and intended for use only
 during the  2022  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2022-40,
 prepared  by  the  Actuary  for  the New York State and Local Retirement
 System.