S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5653
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 10, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. JACKSON -- 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
   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 retirement benefit upon attainment 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 HIS OR HER RETIREMENT BENEFIT  UPON  ATTAIN-
 MENT  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:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD08385-02-3
              

 S. 5653                             2
 
   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-
 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  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 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 subdivision f of section six hundred thirteen
 of this article for  all  years  of  credited  and  creditable  service,
 provided further that the [the] preceding 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
 S. 5653                             3
 
 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
 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 retirement benefit computed  with-
 out  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 BENE-
 FIT COMPUTED WITHOUT OPTIONAL MODIFICATION SHALL BE REDUCED  IN  ACCORD-
 ANCE 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 2023
 legislative session, the increase in the present value of benefits would
 be approximately $27.2 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 $12.2 million as of March 1, 2024.
   (2) To fund prospective costs, the annual contribution required of the
 State of New York will increase approximately 1.0%  of  billable  salary
 reported  to  the NYSLERS for the affected members, or an estimated $1.6
 million beginning in fiscal year ending March 31, 2024.  This  PERMANENT
 ANNUAL  COST  will vary in subsequent billing cycles with changes in the
 billing rate and will increase as the salary  of  the  affected  members
 increases.
 S. 5653                             4
 
   These  estimated costs are based on 1,979 affected members employed by
 the Unified Court System as uniformed court officers or peace  officers,
 with annual salary of approximately $133.7 million as of March 31, 2022.
   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 March 10, 2023, and intended for use only  during
 the  2023  Legislative  Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2023-76, prepared by
 the Actuary for the New York State and Local Retirement System.