S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7209
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               June 7, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. KENNEDY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT granting a retroactive retirement date of August 5, 2010 from the
   New York state and local police and fire retirement system for  Cariol
   Horne

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
 Cariol Horne, who is a member of the New York state and local police and
 fire retirement system, and was employed by the city of  Buffalo  police
 department  as  a police officer, shall be deemed eligible for a service
 retirement benefit effective August 5, 2010. Due to no fault of her own,
 Ms. Horne was ineligible to file for her service retirement benefit with
 the New York state and local police and fire retirement system on August
 5, 2010, based on her wrongful termination  from  the  city  of  Buffalo
 police  department. At the time of her termination she was ineligible to
 qualify for a service retirement benefit because she did not have twenty
 qualifying years of service credit necessary to retire under her special
 retirement plan established pursuant to section 384-d of the  retirement
 and  social  security  law.  On  April  13,  2021, a grave injustice was
 corrected when Cariol Horne's termination was vacated and she was subse-
 quently reinstated to the Buffalo police department for  the  period  of
 July 26, 2008 through August 4, 2010, which provided her with the neces-
 sary  twenty  years  of  qualifying  service  credit  required under her
 special plan.  Within one year from the  effective  date  of  this  act,
 Cariol  Horne  may file with the New York state and local police retire-
 ment system an application  for  service  retirement  benefits  with  an
 effective date of retirement of August 5, 2010. Once such application is
 received,  any rights or benefits payable to Ms. Horne shall be retroac-
 tive to the effective date of her retirement.    Upon  receipt  of  such
 request, the New York state and local police and fire retirement system,
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD11791-02-1

 S. 7209                             2
 
 shall  pay Cariol Horne the retirement benefits she otherwise would have
 received if she had retired on August 5, 2010, without interest.
   §  2.  All  past  service  costs associated with implementing this act
 shall be borne by the city of Buffalo.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would provide police officer Cariol Horne a service  retire-
 ment  benefit  commencing  August  5,  2010. Currently, Officer Horne is
 entitled to a service retirement benefit commencing April 9, 2019.
   If this bill is enacted during the  2021  legislative  session,  there
 will  be  an immediate past service cost of approximately $300,000 which
 will be borne by the City of Buffalo as a one-time payment.  This  esti-
 mate is based on the assumption that payment will be made on February 1,
 2022.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership  data as of March 31, 2020 was used in measuring the impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2020 actuari-
 al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can  be  found  in  the
 2020  Report  of the Actuary and the 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial
 Report.
   The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in  the  2020
 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, 2020
 New  York  State  and  Local  Retirement System Financial Statements and
 Supplementary Information.
   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 June 7, 2021, and intended for  use  only  during
 the  2021  Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2021-150, prepared by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.