S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5239
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 28, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sens. SKOUFIS, SALAZAR -- read twice and ordered printed,
   and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and
   Pensions
 
 AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in  relation  to
   establishing  a  twenty-five  year  retirement  plan  for firefighters
   employed by the division of military and naval affairs
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
 a new section 89-x to read as follows:
   §  89-X. TWENTY-FIVE YEAR RETIREMENT PLAN FOR FIREFIGHTERS EMPLOYED BY
 THE DIVISION OF MILITARY AND NAVAL AFFAIRS FIREFIGHTERS. A. A MEMBER WHO
 SERVES AS AN AIRPORT  FIREFIGHTER  APPRENTICE,  AIRPORT  FIREFIGHTER  I,
 AIRPORT  FIREFIGHTER II, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER III, OR TRAINING AND SAFETY
 OFFICER AND IS EMPLOYED BY THE DIVISION OF MILITARY  AND  NAVAL  AFFAIRS
 SHALL  BE ELIGIBLE TO RETIRE PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION.
 SUCH ELIGIBILITY SHALL BE AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE  ELIGIBILITY  PROVISIONS
 AVAILABLE  UNDER  ANY OTHER PLAN OF THIS ARTICLE TO WHICH SUCH MEMBER IS
 SUBJECT.
   B. SUCH MEMBER SHALL BE ENTITLED TO  RETIRE  UPON  THE  COMPLETION  OF
 TWENTY-FIVE  YEARS  OF TOTAL CREDITABLE SERVICE BY FILING AN APPLICATION
 THEREFOR IN THE MANNER PROVIDED FOR IN SECTION SEVENTY OF THIS ARTICLE.
   C. UPON COMPLETION OF TWENTY-FIVE  YEARS  OF  SUCH  SERVICE  AND  UPON
 RETIREMENT,  EACH  SUCH  MEMBER  SHALL RECEIVE A PENSION WHICH, TOGETHER
 WITH AN ANNUITY WHICH SHALL BE THE ACTUARIAL EQUIVALENT OF  HIS  OR  HER
 ACCUMULATED  CONTRIBUTIONS  AT  THE TIME OF HIS OR HER RETIREMENT AND AN
 ADDITIONAL PENSION WHICH IS THE ACTUARIAL EQUIVALENT  OF  THE  RESERVED-
 FOR-INCREASED-TAKE-HOME-PAY  TO  WHICH  HE  OR  SHE MAY THEN BE ENTITLED
 SHALL BE SUFFICIENT TO PROVIDE HIM OR HER WITH  A  RETIREMENT  ALLOWANCE
 EQUAL TO ONE-HALF OF HIS OR HER FINAL AVERAGE SALARY.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD06911-02-3
 S. 5239                             2
              

 
   D. AS USED IN THIS SECTION, "CREDITABLE SERVICE" SHALL INCLUDE ANY AND
 ALL  SERVICES PERFORMED AS A FIREFIGHTER APPRENTICE, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER
 I, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER II, AIRPORT  FIREFIGHTER  III,  OR  TRAINING  AND
 SAFETY OFFICER EMPLOYED BY THE DIVISION OF MILITARY AND NAVAL AFFAIRS.
   E.  CREDIT  FOR SERVICE AS A PAID FIREFIGHTER OR OFFICER OF ANY ORGAN-
 IZED FIRE DEPARTMENT SHALL ALSO BE DEEMED TO BE CREDITABLE  SERVICE  AND
 SHALL  BE  INCLUDED  IN  COMPUTING YEARS OF TOTAL SERVICE FOR RETIREMENT
 PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION.
   F. A MEMBER CONTRIBUTING ON THE BASIS OF THIS SECTION AT THE  TIME  OF
 RETIREMENT,  MAY  RETIRE  AFTER  THE  COMPLETION OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF
 TOTAL CREDITABLE SERVICE. APPLICATION THEREFOR MAY BE FILED IN A  MANNER
 SIMILAR  TO  THAT  PROVIDED  IN  SECTION  SEVENTY  OF THIS ARTICLE. UPON
 COMPLETION OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF SUCH  SERVICE  AND  UPON  RETIREMENT,
 EACH SUCH MEMBER SHALL RECEIVE A PENSION WHICH, TOGETHER WITH AN ANNUITY
 WHICH  SHALL  BE  THE  ACTUARIAL  EQUIVALENT  OF  HIS OR HER ACCUMULATED
 CONTRIBUTIONS AT THE TIME OF HIS OR HER  RETIREMENT  AND  AN  ADDITIONAL
 PENSION  WHICH  IS  THE  ACTUARIAL  EQUIVALENT  OF  THE RESERVED-FOR-IN-
 CREASED-TAKE-HOME-PAY TO WHICH HE OR SHE MAY THEN BE ENTITLED  SHALL  BE
 SUFFICIENT  TO  PROVIDE  HIM OR HER WITH A RETIREMENT ALLOWANCE EQUAL TO
 ONE-HALF OF HIS OR HER FINAL AVERAGE SALARY; FOR SERVICE BEYOND  TWENTY-
 FIVE  YEARS  AND FOR NON-FIREFIGHTER SERVICE THE BENEFIT IS INCREASED BY
 ONE-SIXTIETH OF FINAL AVERAGE SALARY FOR EACH YEAR OF ADDITIONAL SERVICE
 CREDIT.
   G. IN COMPUTING THE TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF TOTAL  SERVICE  OF  A  MEMBER
 PURSUANT  TO  THIS SECTION FULL CREDIT SHALL BE GIVEN AND FULL ALLOWANCE
 SHALL BE MADE FOR SERVICE OF SUCH MEMBER IN TIME OF WAR AFTER WORLD  WAR
 I AS DEFINED IN SECTION TWO OF THIS ARTICLE, PROVIDED SUCH MEMBER AT THE
 TIME  OF HIS OR HER ENTRANCE INTO THE ARMED FORCES WAS IN THE SERVICE OF
 THE STATE.
   H. NOTHING IN THIS SECTION SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO PREVENT A MEMBER, WHO
 DOES NOT RETIRE PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION, FROM UTILIZ-
 ING SERVICE WHICH IS CREDITABLE SERVICE PURSUANT TO  THE  PROVISIONS  OF
 THIS  SECTION FOR SERVICE CREDIT PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF ANY OTHER
 PLAN OF THIS ARTICLE TO WHICH SUCH MEMBER IS SUBJECT.
   I. THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION SHALL BE CONTROLLING NOTWITHSTANDING
 ANY OTHER PROVISION IN THIS ARTICLE TO THE CONTRARY.
   J. ANY MEMBER WHO, ON OR BEFORE THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION, IS
 A FIREFIGHTER APPRENTICE, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER I, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER II,
 AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER III, OR TRAINING AND SAFETY OFFICER EMPLOYED BY  THE
 DIVISION OF MILITARY AND NAVAL AFFAIRS MAY, BY FILING AN ELECTION WITHIN
 ONE  YEAR  AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION, ELECT TO BE SUBJECT
 TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION. SUCH ELECTION SHALL  BE  IN  WRITING,
 SHALL BE DULY EXECUTED AND FILED WITH THE COMPTROLLER AND SHALL BE IRRE-
 VOCABLE.
   § 2. Subdivision a of section 445 of the retirement and social securi-
 ty  law,  as  amended  by chapter 245 of the laws of 2021, is amended to
 read as follows:
   a. No member of a retirement system who is subject to  the  provisions
 of this article shall retire without regard to age, exclusive of retire-
 ment  for  disability, unless he or she is a police officer, an investi-
 gator member of the New York city employees'  retirement  system,  fire-
 fighter,  correction  officer, a qualifying member as defined in section
 eighty-nine-t, as added by chapter six hundred fifty-seven of  the  laws
 of  nineteen hundred ninety-eight, of this chapter, sanitation worker, a
 special officer (including persons employed by the city of New  York  in
 the  title  urban  park  ranger  or associate urban park ranger), school
 S. 5239                             3
 
 safety agent, campus peace officer or a taxi  and  limousine  commission
 inspector  member  of  the New York city employees' retirement system or
 the New York city board of education  retirement  system,  a  dispatcher
 member  of  the  New  York  city  employees' retirement system, a police
 communications member of the New York city employees' retirement system,
 an EMT member of the New York city employees' retirement system, a depu-
 ty sheriff member of the New York city employees' retirement  system,  a
 correction  officer  of  the Westchester county correction department as
 defined in section eighty-nine-e of this chapter or employed in  Suffolk
 county as a peace officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-s, as added
 by  chapter  five  hundred  eighty-eight of the laws of nineteen hundred
 ninety-seven,  of  this  chapter,  employed  in  Suffolk  county  as   a
 correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-f of this chapter,
 or  employed  in  Nassau  county  as  a  correction  officer,  uniformed
 correction division personnel, sheriff, undersheriff or deputy  sheriff,
 as  defined  in  section  eighty-nine-g  of this chapter, or employed in
 Nassau county as an ambulance medical technician, an  ambulance  medical
 technician/supervisor or a member who performs ambulance medical techni-
 cian  related  services, or a police medic, police medic supervisor or a
 member who performs police medic related services, as defined in section
 eighty-nine-s, as amended by chapter five hundred seventy-eight  of  the
 laws  of  nineteen hundred ninety-eight, of this chapter, or employed in
 Nassau county as a peace officer, as defined in  section  eighty-nine-s,
 as  added  by  chapter  five hundred ninety-five of the laws of nineteen
 hundred ninety-seven, of this chapter, or employed in Albany county as a
 sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff, correction officer or identifica-
 tion officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-h of this chapter or  is
 employed in St. Lawrence county as a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sher-
 iff  or  correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-i of this
 chapter or is employed in Orleans county  as  a  sheriff,  undersheriff,
 deputy   sheriff   or   correction   officer,   as  defined  in  section
 eighty-nine-l of this chapter or is employed in Jefferson  county  as  a
 sheriff,  undersheriff, deputy sheriff or correction officer, as defined
 in section eighty-nine-j of this chapter  or  is  employed  in  Onondaga
 county as a deputy sheriff-jail division competitively appointed or as a
 correction  officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-k of this chapter
 or is employed in a county which makes an election under  subdivision  j
 of  section  eighty-nine-p  of  this chapter as a sheriff, undersheriff,
 deputy sheriff or correction officer as defined in such section  eighty-
 nine-p or is employed in Broome County as a sheriff, undersheriff, depu-
 ty sheriff or correction officer, as defined in section eighty-nine-m of
 this  chapter  or  is  a Monroe county deputy sheriff-court security, or
 deputy sheriff-jailor as defined in section eighty-nine-n, as  added  by
 chapter  five hundred ninety-seven of the laws of nineteen hundred nine-
 ty-one, of this chapter or is employed in Greene county  as  a  sheriff,
 undersheriff,  deputy  sheriff  or  correction  officer,  as  defined in
 section eighty-nine-o of this chapter or is a traffic officer  with  the
 town of Elmira as defined in section eighty-nine-q of this chapter or is
 employed  by  Suffolk  county  as  a  park police officer, as defined in
 section eighty-nine-r of this chapter or is a peace officer employed  by
 a  county  probation  department as defined in section eighty-nine-t, as
 added by chapter six hundred three of the laws of nineteen hundred nine-
 ty-eight, of this chapter or is employed in Rockland county as a  deputy
 sheriff-civil  as  defined  in  section eighty-nine-v of this chapter as
 added by chapter four hundred forty-one of the laws of two thousand one,
 or is employed in Rockland county as a superior  correction  officer  as
 S. 5239                             4
 
 defined  in  section  eighty-nine-v  of this chapter as added by chapter
 five hundred fifty-six of the laws of two thousand one or is a paramedic
 employed by the police department in the town of Tonawanda  and  retires
 under  the provisions of section eighty-nine-v of this chapter, as added
 by chapter four hundred seventy-two of the laws of two thousand one,  or
 is  a  county  fire  marshal,  supervising  fire  marshal, fire marshal,
 assistant fire marshal, assistant  chief  fire  marshal  or  chief  fire
 marshal  employed  by the county of Nassau as defined in section eighty-
 nine-w of this chapter, OR IS A FIREFIGHTER  APPRENTICE,  AIRPORT  FIRE-
 FIGHTER  I, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER II, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER III, OR TRAINING
 AND SAFETY OFFICER EMPLOYED  BY  THE  DIVISION  OF  MILITARY  AND  NAVAL
 AFFAIRS  AS DEFINED IN SECTION EIGHTY-NINE-X OF THIS CHAPTER and is in a
 plan which permits immediate retirement upon completion of  a  specified
 period  of service without regard to age. Except as provided in subdivi-
 sion c of section four hundred forty-five-a of this article, subdivision
 c of section four hundred forty-five-b of this article, subdivision c of
 section four hundred forty-five-c of  this  article,  subdivision  c  of
 section  four  hundred  forty-five-d  of  this article, subdivision c of
 section four hundred forty-five-e of  this  article,  subdivision  c  of
 section  four  hundred forty-five-f of this article and subdivision c of
 section four hundred forty-five-h of this article, a member  in  such  a
 plan and such an occupation, other than a police officer or investigator
 member of the New York city employees' retirement system or a firefight-
 er,  shall not be permitted to retire prior to the completion of twenty-
 five years of credited service; provided, however, if such a  member  in
 such an occupation is in a plan which permits retirement upon completion
 of  twenty years of service regardless of age, he or she may retire upon
 completion of  twenty  years  of  credited  service  and  prior  to  the
 completion  of twenty-five years of service, but in such event the bene-
 fit provided from funds other than those based on such  a  member's  own
 contributions  shall  not  exceed two per centum of final average salary
 per each year of credited service.
   § 3. Section 603 of the retirement and social security law is  amended
 by adding a new subdivision u to read as follows:
   U.  THE  SERVICE  RETIREMENT  BENEFIT SPECIFIED IN SECTION SIX HUNDRED
 FOUR OF THIS ARTICLE SHALL BE PAYABLE TO MEMBERS WITH TWENTY-FIVE  YEARS
 OF  CREDITABLE  SERVICE,  WITHOUT REGARD TO AGE, WHO ARE EMPLOYED BY THE
 DIVISION OF MILITARY AND NAVAL  AFFAIRS  AS  A  FIREFIGHTER  APPRENTICE,
 AIRPORT  FIREFIGHTER I, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER II, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER III,
 OR TRAINING AND SAFETY OFFICER AS DEFINED IN  SECTION  EIGHTY-NINE-X  OF
 THIS CHAPTER IF:  (I) SUCH MEMBERS HAVE MET THE MINIMUM SERVICE REQUIRE-
 MENTS  UPON  RETIREMENT; AND (II) IN THE CASE OF A MEMBER SUBJECT TO THE
 PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE FOURTEEN OF THIS CHAPTER,  SUCH  MEMBER  FILES  AN
 ELECTION  THEREFOR  WHICH PROVIDES THAT HE OR SHE WILL BE SUBJECT TO THE
 PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE AND TO NONE OF THE PROVISIONS OF SUCH ARTICLE
 FOURTEEN. SUCH ELECTION, WHICH SHALL BE IRREVOCABLE, SHALL BE  IN  WRIT-
 ING,  DULY  EXECUTED  AND SHALL BE FILED WITH THE COMPTROLLER WITHIN ONE
 YEAR OF THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SUBDIVISION OR WITHIN ONE YEAR  AFTER
 ENTERING  THE EMPLOYMENT WITH THE DIVISION OF MILITARY AND NAVAL AFFAIRS
 UPON WHICH ELIGIBILITY IS BASED, WHICHEVER COMES LATER. FOR THE PURPOSES
 OF THIS SUBDIVISION, THE TERM "CREDITABLE SERVICE" SHALL HAVE THE  MEAN-
 ING  AS SO DEFINED IN BOTH SECTIONS EIGHTY-NINE-X AND SIX HUNDRED ONE OF
 THIS CHAPTER.
   § 4. Section 604 of the retirement and social security law is  amended
 by adding a new subdivision u to read as follows:
 S. 5239                             5
 
   U.  THE  EARLY SERVICE RETIREMENT BENEFIT FOR A MEMBER WHO IS EMPLOYED
 IN THE DIVISION OF MILITARY AND NAVAL AFFAIRS AS A  FIREFIGHTER  APPREN-
 TICE, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER I, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER II, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER
 III,  OR  TRAINING  AND  SAFETY  OFFICER  EMPLOYED AS DEFINED IN SECTION
 EIGHTY-NINE-X  OF  THIS CHAPTER SHALL BE A PENSION EQUAL TO ONE-FIFTIETH
 OF  FINAL  AVERAGE  SALARY  TIMES  YEARS  OF  CREDITED  SERVICE  AT  THE
 COMPLETION  OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF SERVICE AS SUCH DIVISION OF MILITARY
 AND NAVAL AFFAIRS FIREFIGHTER APPRENTICE, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER I, AIRPORT
 FIREFIGHTER II, AIRPORT FIREFIGHTER III, OR TRAINING AND SAFETY OFFICER,
 BUT NOT EXCEEDING ONE-HALF OF HIS OR HER FINAL AVERAGE SALARY.
   § 5. This act shall take effect January 1, 2024.
   FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
   This bill would allow members of the New York State and Local  Employ-
 ees'  Retirement System employed as airport firefighters by the Division
 of Military and Naval Affairs to become covered by the provisions  of  a
 special  25-year  retirement  plan. This plan would provide a benefit of
 one-half of final average salary upon retirement for all  tiers  and  an
 additional benefit of one-sixtieth of final average salary for each year
 of service, including non-firefighter service, in excess of 25 years for
 Tiers 1 and 2 only.
   If this bill is enacted during the 2023 legislative session, we antic-
 ipate  that  there  will be an increase of approximately $180,000 in the
 annual contributions of the State of New York for the fiscal year ending
 March 31, 2024. In future years, this cost  will  vary  as  the  billing
 rates and salaries of the affected members change.
   In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be
 an immediate past service cost of approximately $1.98 million which will
 be  borne  by the State of New York as a one-time payment. This estimate
 assumes that payment will be made on March 1, 2024.
   These estimated costs are based on 63 affected members employed by the
 Division of Military and Naval Affairs, with annual salary  of  approxi-
 mately  $5.0  million  as  of  March 31, 2022. The affected members were
 identified using job title codes provided by the Civil Service Employees
 Association.
   Summary of relevant resources:
   Membership data as of March 31, 2022 was used in measuring the  impact
 of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2022 actuari-
 al  valuation.    Distributions and other statistics can be found in the
 2022 Report of the Actuary and the 2022 Annual  Comprehensive  Financial
 Report.
   The  actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2020,
 2021, and 2022 Annual Report to the  Comptroller  on  Actuarial  Assump-
 tions,  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, 2022
 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  February  27,  2023, and intended for use only
 during the  2023  Legislative  Session,  is  Fiscal  Note  No.  2023-62,
 prepared  by  the  Actuary  for  the New York State and Local Retirement
 System.