S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9540
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              March 20, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of A. PHEFFER AMATO -- read once and referred to the
   Committee on Governmental Employees
 
 AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
   eligibility for retirement benefits for certain members of the unified
   court system
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Subdivision a of section 503 of the retirement  and  social
 security  law,  as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended
 to read as follows:
   a. The normal service retirement benefit  specified  in  section  five
 hundred  four of this article shall be payable to general members, other
 than elective members, who have met  the  minimum  service  requirements
 upon  retirement  and  attainment of age sixty-two, provided, however, a
 general member who is a peace officer  employed  by  the  unified  court
 system  or  a member of a teachers' retirement system may retire without
 reduction of [his or her] SUCH MEMBER'S retirement benefit upon  attain-
 ment  of  at  least  fifty-five years of age and completion of thirty or
 more years of service. For members who become members of  the  New  York
 state  and  local  employees' retirement system on or after April first,
 two thousand twelve, the normal service retirement benefits specified in
 section five hundred four of this article shall be  payable  to  general
 members,  other  than elective members, who have met the minimum service
 requirements upon retirement and attainment of age sixty-three; PROVIDED
 THAT, A MEMBER WHO IS A PEACE OFFICER  EMPLOYED  BY  THE  UNIFIED  COURT
 SYSTEM  MAY RETIRE WITHOUT REDUCTION OF SUCH MEMBER'S RETIREMENT BENEFIT
 UPON ATTAINMENT OF AT LEAST FIFTY-FIVE YEARS OF AGE  AND  COMPLETION  OF
 THIRTY OR MORE YEARS OF SERVICE.
   §  2.  Subdivisions  a  and  a-1  of section 603 of the retirement and
 social security law, subdivision a as amended  and  subdivision  a-1  as
 added by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, are amended to read as follows:
   a.  The  service  retirement  benefit specified in section six hundred
 four of this article shall be payable to members who have met the  mini-
 mum  service  requirements  upon retirement and attainment of age sixty-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD08385-03-4
 A. 9540                             2
 
 two, other than members who are eligible for  early  service  retirement
 pursuant to subdivision c of section six hundred four-b of this article,
 subdivision c of section six hundred four-c of this article, subdivision
 d  of  section  six  hundred  four-d  of  this article, subdivision c of
 section six hundred four-e of this article, subdivision c of section six
 hundred four-f of this article, subdivision c  of  section  six  hundred
 four-g  of  this article, subdivision c of section six hundred four-h of
 this article or subdivision c of section  six  hundred  four-i  of  this
 article, provided, however, a member of a teachers' retirement system or
 the  New  York  state  and  local employees' retirement system who first
 joins such system before January first, two thousand ten or a member who
 is a uniformed court officer or peace officer employed  by  the  unified
 court system [who first becomes a member of the New York state and local
 employees'  retirement  system  before April first, two thousand twelve]
 may retire without reduction of [his or her]  SUCH  MEMBER'S  retirement
 benefit  upon  attainment  of  at  least  fifty-five  years  of  age and
 completion of thirty or more years of service, provided, however, that a
 uniformed court officer or peace officer employed by the  unified  court
 system  who  first  becomes  a  member  of  the New York state and local
 employees' retirement system on or after January first, two thousand ten
 and retires without reduction of [his or her] SUCH  MEMBER'S  retirement
 benefit  upon  attainment  of  at  least  fifty-five  years  of  age and
 completion of thirty or more years of service pursuant to  this  section
 shall  be required to make the member contributions required by subdivi-
 sion f of section six hundred thirteen of this article for all years  of
 credited and creditable service, provided further that the [the] preced-
 ing  provisions  of  this subdivision shall not apply to a New York city
 revised plan member.
   a-1. For members who first become a  member  of  a  public  retirement
 system of the state on or after April first, two thousand twelve, EXCEPT
 FOR  UNIFORMED  COURT OFFICERS OR PEACE OFFICERS EMPLOYED BY THE UNIFIED
 COURT SYSTEM, the service retirement benefit specified  in  section  six
 hundred  four  of  this article shall be payable to members who have met
 the minimum service requirements upon retirement and have  attained  age
 sixty-three.
   §  3.  Subdivisions  a  and  b-1  of section 604 of the retirement and
 social security law, subdivision a as amended  and  subdivision  b-1  as
 added by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, are amended to read as follows:
   a.  The  service  retirement  benefit  at  normal retirement age for a
 member with less than twenty years of credited  service,  or  less  than
 twenty-five  years  credited service for a member who joins the New York
 state teachers' retirement system on or after January first,  two  thou-
 sand ten, shall be a retirement allowance equal to one-sixtieth of final
 average  salary  times  years of credited service. Normal retirement age
 for members who first become members of a public  retirement  system  of
 the  state  on  or  after  April first, two thousand twelve shall be age
 sixty-three; EXCEPT THAT THE NORMAL RETIREMENT AGE  SHALL  BE  SIXTY-TWO
 FOR  A MEMBER WHO IS A PEACE OFFICER OR UNIFORMED COURT OFFICER EMPLOYED
 BY THE UNIFIED COURT SYSTEM.
   b-1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the  contrary,  the
 service  retirement  benefit  for  members  with twenty or more years of
 [credit] CREDITED service who first become a member of a public  retire-
 ment system of the state on or after April first, two thousand twelve at
 age  sixty-three,  OR  AT  AGE SIXTY-TWO FOR UNIFORMED COURT OFFICERS OR
 PEACE OFFICERS EMPLOYED BY THE UNIFIED COURT SYSTEM, shall be a  pension
 equal  to  the  sum  of thirty-five per centum and one-fiftieth of final
 A. 9540                             3
 
 average salary for each year of service in excess of twenty times  final
 average  salary  times  years of credited service. In no event shall any
 retirement benefit payable without optional modification  be  less  than
 the  actuarially  equivalent  annuitized  value of the member's contrib-
 utions accumulated with interest at five percent  per  annum  compounded
 annually to the date of retirement.
   § 4. Paragraph 3 of subdivision i of section 603 of the retirement and
 social  security  law,  as  added  by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is
 amended to read as follows:
   3. A member of a public retirement system of the state who has met the
 minimum service requirement, but who is not  a  New  York  city  transit
 authority  member,  as  defined  in  paragraph  one  of subdivision a of
 section six hundred four-b of this article, may retire prior  to  normal
 retirement  age,  but  no  earlier than attainment of age fifty-five, in
 which event, the amount of [his or her] SUCH MEMBER'S retirement benefit
 computed without optional modification shall be reduced by six and  one-
 half  per  centum  for  each year by which early retirement precedes age
 sixty-three; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT FOR A MEMBER  WHO  IS  A  UNIFORMED
 COURT OFFICER OR PEACE OFFICER EMPLOYED BY THE UNIFIED COURT SYSTEM, THE
 RETIREMENT  BENEFIT  COMPUTED  WITHOUT  OPTIONAL  MODIFICATION  SHALL BE
 REDUCED IN ACCORDANCE WITH PARAGRAPH ONE OF THIS SUBDIVISION.
   § 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,  none
 of  the  provisions  of  this  act shall be subject to the appropriation
 requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
   § 6. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the  amend-
 ments to subdivision a of section 603 of the retirement and social secu-
 rity law made by section two of this act shall not affect the expiration
 of such subdivision and shall be deemed to expire therewith.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would allow any Tier 6 member who is a uniformed court offi-
 cer  or  peace  officer  employed  by the unified court system to retire
 without early age  reduction  upon  attaining  30  years  of  creditable
 service  and age 55. It would also reduce the normal retirement age from
 63 to 62 and lessen the reductions in  benefits  for  those  who  retire
 prior to normal retirement age.
   Insofar  as  this bill affects the New York State and Local Employees'
 Retirement System (NYSLERS), the increased costs would be borne entirely
 by the State of New York. If this bill  were  enacted  during  the  2024
 Legislative Session, the increase in the present value of benefits would
 be approximately $34.2 million.
   In the NYSLERS, this benefit improvement will be funded by (1) billing
 a  past  service  cost  to cover retrospective benefit increases and (2)
 increasing the billing rates charged annually to cover prospective bene-
 fit increases, as follows:
   (1) To fund retrospective  costs,  the  State  of  New  York  will  be
 required to pay $18.9 million as of March 1, 2025.
   (2) To fund prospective costs, the annual contribution required of the
 State  of New York will include a separate itemized charge equal to 1.0%
 of billable salary reported to the NYSLERS for the affected members,  or
 approximately  $2.2  million  beginning  in fiscal year ending March 31,
 2025. This PERMANENT ANNUAL COST WILL INCREASE as Tier  6  salary  grows
 and  will  vary in subsequent billing cycles with changes in the billing
 rate.
   These estimated costs are based on 2,207 affected members employed  by
 New  York  State, with annual salary of approximately $166 million as of
 March 31, 2023.
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   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership  data as of March 31, 2023 was used in measuring the impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2023 actuari-
 al valuation.  Distributions and other statistics can be  found  in  the
 2023  Report  of the Actuary and the 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial
 Report.
   The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in  the  2023
 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, 2023
 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 March 8, 2024, and intended for use  only  during
 the  2024  Legislative  Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2024-92, prepared by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.