S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                  7040--A
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              April 21, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. ABBATE -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on  Governmental  Employees -- recommitted to the Committee on Govern-
   mental Employees in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- commit-
   tee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and  recom-
   mitted to said committee

 AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to a
   child  care  leave credit for New York city uniformed correction offi-
   cers   who   are   members   of   the   New   York   city    uniformed
   correction/sanitation revised plan
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision h of section 513 of the retirement  and  social
 security  law,  as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended
 to read as follows:
   h. Notwithstanding any other provision of this  section,  any  general
 member in the uniformed correction force of the New York city department
 of correction AND ANY MEMBER OF THE UNIFORMED FORCE OF THE NEW YORK CITY
 DEPARTMENT   OF   CORRECTION   WHO   IS   A   NEW  YORK  CITY  UNIFORMED
 CORRECTION/SANITATION REVISED PLAN MEMBER, who is absent without pay for
 a child care leave of absence pursuant to regulations of  the  New  York
 city  department  of  correction  shall  be eligible for credit for such
 period of child care leave provided such member files a claim  for  such
 service  credit with the retirement system by December thirty-first, two
 thousand five or within ninety days of the termination of the child care
 leave, whichever is later, and contributes to the retirement  system  an
 amount  which  such  member  would have contributed during the period of
 such child care leave, together with interest  thereon.  Service  credit
 provided pursuant to this subdivision shall not exceed one year of cred-
 it for each period of authorized child care leave. In the event there is
 a conflict between the provisions of this subdivision and the provisions
 of  any other law or code to the contrary, the provisions of this subdi-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD06269-03-2
              

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 vision shall govern[, provided, however, that  the  provisions  of  this
 subdivision  shall  not  apply to a member of the uniformed force of the
 New York city department of correction who is a New York city  uniformed
 correction/sanitation revised plan member].
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   SUMMARY  OF BILL: This proposed legislation would amend Section 513 of
 the Retirement and Social  Security  Law  (RSSL)  to  permit  Correction
 members  in  the  Tier  3 Revised or Enhanced plans of the New York City
 Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS) to apply for and  purchase  up  to
 one  year  of  service credit for each period of authorized unpaid child
 care leave.
   Effective Date: Upon enactment.
   BACKGROUND: Currently, provisions  permitting  Correction  members  to
 purchase  service  credit  for the time spent while on authorized unpaid
 child care leave do not apply  to  Correction  members  in  the  Tier  3
 Revised or Enhanced plans of NYCERS.
   Under  the proposed legislation, if enacted, Correction members in the
 Tier 3 Revised or Enhanced plans of NYCERS who  take  authorized  unpaid
 child  care leave would be eligible to apply for the purchase of service
 credit for the period of leave within 90 days of the termination of such
 leave. To purchase such leave, members must  contribute  to  NYCERS  the
 amount which would have been contributed during the period of such child
 care  leave,  including interest. The maximum service credit that can be
 purchased for each period of authorized child care leave is one year.
   FINANCIAL IMPACT - PRESENT VALUES: Based on the anticipated number  of
 members  purchasing  service  and  the  assumed  amount  of service they
 purchase each year, as well as the  actuarial  assumptions  and  methods
 described  herein,  the  enactment  of  this  proposed legislation would
 increase the Present Value of Future Benefits by  approximately  $92,000
 each  year,  and  increase  the Present Value of member contributions by
 approximately $5,200 each year after taking into account the member cost
 of the buyback. The net result is an increase in the  Present  Value  of
 future employer contributions of approximately $86,800 each year.
   FINANCIAL  IMPACT  -  ANNUAL EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS: Enactment of this
 proposed legislation would increase employer contributions,  where  such
 amount  would depend on the number of years of eligible child care leave
 service credited as well as other  characteristics  including  the  age,
 years  of  service,  and  salary  history  of  the member purchasing the
 service.
   Since employer contributions to NYCERS  generally  do  not  anticipate
 future  purchases  of  service by members, the financial impact would be
 recognized at the time  of  event.  Consequently,  changes  in  employer
 contributions  have  been  estimated  assuming  that the increase in the
 Present Value of future employer contributions will be financed over the
 same time period used for actuarial losses in  accordance  with  Section
 13-638.2(k-2)  of the Administrative Code of the City of New York. Using
 this approach, the additional Present Value of future employer  contrib-
 utions  would  be  amortized  over  a closed 15-year period (14 payments
 under the One-Year Lag Methodology) using level dollar payments.
   The enactment of this proposed legislation is  estimated  to  increase
 annual  employer  contributions by approximately $10,300 each year. With
 respect to the timing, increases in employer contributions would  depend
 upon  when  members  apply  for  and  purchase  the  service. Generally,
 increased employer contributions will first occur the second fiscal year
 following processing and payment of the buyback application.
 A. 7040--A                          3
 
   CONTRIBUTION TIMING: For the purposes  of  this  Fiscal  Note,  it  is
 assumed  that  the  changes  in  the  Present  Value  of future employer
 contributions and annual employer contributions would be  reflected  for
 the  first  time  in the June 30, 2023 actuarial valuation of NYCERS. In
 accordance  with  the OYLM used to determine employer contributions, the
 increase in employer contributions would first be  reflected  in  Fiscal
 Year 2025.
   CENSUS  DATA:  The  estimates presented herein are based on the census
 data for Corrections used in the Preliminary June 30, 2021 (Lag) actuar-
 ial valuation of NYCERS to determine the Preliminary  Fiscal  Year  2023
 employer contributions.
   There  are  currently  3,720  Correction  members in Tier 3 revised or
 enhanced plans who could immediately benefit from  the  proposed  legis-
 lation. To better reflect the future impact of the proposed legislation,
 it  was  assumed  that  the population of the Correction workforce would
 eventually consist entirely of Tier 3 enhanced  members  with  the  same
 characteristics  as  the  current  population  of Correction members who
 would benefit  from  the  proposed  legislation.  These  characteristics
 include  a  total of 7,850 (out of 8,054) who have less than 25 years of
 service and therefore could potentially benefit from the proposed legis-
 lation, with an average age of  approximately  40.7  years,  an  average
 service  of  approximately 10.2 years, and an average salary of approxi-
 mately $108,100.
   ACTUARIAL ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS: The changes in the Present Value of
 future  employer  contributions  and   annual   employer   contributions
 presented herein have been calculated based on the actuarial assumptions
 and  methods in effect for the Preliminary June 30, 2021 (Lag) actuarial
 valuations used to determine the Preliminary Fiscal Year  2023  employer
 contributions of NYCERS.
   Supplemental data for child care leave service purchased by Correction
 Tiers 1, 2, and original Tier 3 members was provided by NYCERS. Based on
 this  data,  an average frequency of four purchases per year was assumed
 and an average of nine months of credited service was assumed  for  each
 purchase.
   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  NYCERS  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  methods used, and therefore different actuarial methods could
 produce different results. Quantifying these risks is beyond  the  scope
 of this Fiscal Note.
   Not measured in this Fiscal Note are the following:
   o The initial, additional administrative costs of NYCERS and other New
 York City agencies to implement the proposed legislation.
   o  The  impact  of  this  proposed legislation on Other Postemployment
 Benefit costs.
   STATEMENT OF ACTUARIAL OPINION: I, Michael J. Samet,  am  the  Interim
 Chief  Actuary  for,  and  independent  of, the New York City Retirement
 Systems and Pension Funds. I am a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and
 a Member of the American Academy of 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
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 accepted actuarial principles and  procedures  and  with  the  Actuarial
 Standards of Practice issued by the Actuarial Standards Board.
   FISCAL NOTE IDENTIFICATION: This Fiscal Note 2022-43 dated May 5, 2022
 was  prepared  by  the  Interim  Chief  Actuary  for  the  New York City
 EmployeesÆ Retirement System. This estimate is  intended  for  use  only
 during the 2022 Legislative Session.