S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  4869--A
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 17, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. GAUGHRAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions
   -- recommitted to the Committee  on  Civil  Service  and  Pensions  in
   accordance  with  Senate  Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
   amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said  commit-
   tee
 
 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  the
 Rockville  Centre  School District which commenced on July 1, 1975. Upon
 reclassification as a Tier 2 member, Ms. Cohen's pension would be recal-

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD03945-05-1
              

 S. 4869--A                          2
 
 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.
   The cost of this benefit is equal to the increase in the present value
 of  liabilities  plus  retroactive  monthly  payments, and the refund of
 member contributions and prior service payments, which is  estimated  to
 be $235,000. 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
 Annual Report. System assets are as reported in the  System's  financial
 statements,  and can also be found in the System's Annual Report.  Actu-
 arial assumptions and methods are provided  in  the  System's  Actuarial
 Valuation Report.
   The  source  of  this estimate is Fiscal Note 2022-3 dated December 9,
 2021 prepared by the Actuary of the New York State Teachers'  Retirement
 System and is intended for use only during the 2022 Legislative Session.
 I,  Richard A. Young, am the Chief Actuary for the New York State Teach-
 ers' Retirement System. I am a member of the American Academy of Actuar-
 ies and I meet the Qualification Standards of the  American  Academy  of
 Actuaries to render the actuarial opinion contained herein.